BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SENATE COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Senator Ricardo Lara, Chair
2015 - 2016 Regular Session
SB 947 (Pan) - Public assistance: personal interviews
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|Version: March 31, 2016 |Policy Vote: Human Services |
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|Urgency: No |Mandate: Yes |
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|Hearing Date: April 18, 2016 |Consultant: Jolie Onodera |
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This bill meets the criteria for referral to the Suspense File.
Bill
Summary: SB 947 would authorize county human services agencies
to conduct personal interviews for CalWORKs eligibility
applicants telephonically or through electronic means. This bill
would provide that an in-person personal interview shall be
conducted if requested by an applicant, and would remove the
requirement for a county to verify "by personal contact" that an
applicant is incapable of acting on his or her own behalf before
CalWORKs aid is authorized.
Fiscal
Impact:
Interviews via telephonic/electronic means : Potentially
significant one-time and near-term non-reimbursable local
costs for equipment, staffing, and/or training to implement
new processes. To the extent conducting interviews by
telephone or electronic means results in administrative
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efficiencies could result in significant ongoing future cost
savings.
CalWORKs benefits/administration : Potential increases or
decreases in CalWORKs benefits and administration costs
(General Fund) to the extent conducting interviews by
telephone or electronic means, including removing the
verification requirement by personal contact for persons
unable to act on their own behalf, results in a greater or
lesser number of applications for aid granted. To the extent
the bill removes barriers and/or delays in applying for and
being granted aid, CalWORKs program costs could increase.
However, to the extent reduced utilization of in-person
interviews prevents or delays the receipt of verification
and/or clarification, applications that otherwise may have
been approved could potentially be delayed or denied.
Background: Existing law provides that no applicant shall be granted
CalWORKs benefits until he or she is first personally
interviewed by the office of the county department or state
staff for patients in state hospitals. Under existing law, if an
applicant is incapable of acting in his or her own behalf, the
county department is required to verify this fact by personal
contact with the applicant before aid is authorized. (Welfare
and Institutions Code (WIC) § 11052.5.)
Existing state regulations require a face-to-face interview with
a CalWORKs applicant prior to the granting of aid. (DSS Manual
of Policy and Procedures 40-131.11.)
Proposed
Law: This bill would enact the "County Option of Efficient
Interviewing of CalWORKs Applicants Act of 2016," as follows:
Provides that in lieu of an in-person personal interview, a
county may elect to conduct the personal interviews for
CalWORKs applicants telephonically or through other electronic
means.
Specifies that an in-person personal interview shall be
conducted if requested by an applicant.
For a CalWORKs applicant incapable of acting in his or her own
behalf, removes the requirement for a county to verify that
fact by "personal contact" with the applicant before
authorizing CalWORKs aid, but retains the requirement to
SB 947 (Pan) Page 2 of
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verify the fact with the applicant.
Prior
Legislation: SB 312 (Pan) 2015 was similar to this measure but
mandated that counties conduct personal interviews through
telephonic or electronic means. This bill was held on the
Suspense File of this Committee.
SB 297 (McGuire) 2015 required the DSS to establish an
electronic signature storage hub to enable counties to record
telephonic and electronic signatures during a CalFresh
interview. This bill additionally required county eligibility
workers to conduct a CalFresh application interview by
telephone. This bill was held on the Suspense File of this
Committee, and was subsequently amended to address an unrelated
issue.
AB 1970 (Skinner) 2012 would have required counties to use
electronic methods of communication for the application and
recertification process in CalWORKs and CalFresh upon applicant
or recipient request, and would have established alternatives to
in-person interviews for applications and redeterminations. This
bill was held on the Suspense File of this Committee.
Staff
Comments: By authorizing county human services agencies to
conduct "personal interviews" for CalWORKs applicants by
telephonic or other electronic means, this bill could result in
increased non-reimbursable local costs to the extent county
agencies incur up-front costs for equipment, staffing, and/or
training to implement the process of conducting interviews via
telephone or electronic means, which is undefined. Staff notes
that to the extent conducting interviews by telephone or
electronic means results in administrative efficiencies,
counties could realize significant future cost savings.
The net impact of this bill on the CalWORKs program is
unquantifiable, as it would be dependent on numerous factors
including but not limited to the decisions and actions of 58
counties, the current level of efficiency and effectiveness of
the application/interview process in each county, and the
behavior of CalWORKs applicants in each county. This bill could
result in increases and/or decreases in the provision of
CalWORKs aid of an unknown, but potentially significant amount.
SB 947 (Pan) Page 3 of
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Current state regulations require a face-to-face interview with
a CalWORKs applicant prior to granting aid. To the extent
conducting interviews by telephone or electronic means results
in applicants receiving benefits sooner than they otherwise
would have under existing law due to the removal of existing
barriers to application, CalWORKs program costs could increase.
However, to the extent the bill results in fewer face-to-face
interviews that result in failure or delays in verifying or
clarifying a condition of eligibility, additional applications
that otherwise may have been approved could potentially be
denied.
Recommended amendments:
1. To remove the potential state-reimbursable mandate
created by requiring a county to provide an in-person
personal interview at the request of an applicant, staff
recommends the following amendment:
On page 2, strike out lines 23-24 and insert:
WIC 11052.5 (d) If a county elects to conduct the personal
interview as required under subdivision (a) telephonically
or through other electronic means, the county shall conduct
an in-person personal interview in lieu of an interview
through telephonic or electronic means if requested by an
applicant.
2. Staff additionally recommends re-inserting the
requirement that verification be made by personal contact
with an applicant incapable of acting in his or her own
behalf, as follows:
SB 947 (Pan) Page 4 of
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On page 2, in line 17 after "fact" insert:
WIC 11052.5 (b) In lieu of an in-person personal interview
as required under subdivision (a), the county may elect to
conduct the interview required by this section
telephonically or through other electronic means. If an
applicant is incapable of acting in his or her own behalf,
the county department shall verify this fact by personal
contact with the applicant before aid is authorized. As
used in this section, the term public assistance does not
include health care as provided in Chapter 7.
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