BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SB 947
Page 1
SENATE THIRD READING
SB
947 (Pan)
As Amended August 18, 2016
Majority vote
SENATE VOTE: 29-9
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|Committee |Votes|Ayes |Noes |
| | | | |
| | | | |
| | | | |
|----------------+-----+-----------------------+---------------------|
|Human Services |6-1 |Bonilla, Arambula, |Grove |
| | |Lopez, Maienschein, | |
| | |Mark Stone, Thurmond | |
| | | | |
| | | | |
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SUMMARY: Establishes the County Option of Efficient Interviewing
of California Work Opportunity and Responsibility to Kids
(CalWORKs) Applicants Act of 2016. Specifically, this bill:
1)Authorizes a county to conduct the interview of an applicant
for CalWORKs via telephone or other electronic means in lieu
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of an in-person interview, unless otherwise requested by the
applicant.
2)Requires a county that elects to conduct interviews
telephonically or through other electronic means to include in
its county plan a set of procedures for conducting interviews
in that manner that ensure that interviewed clients are
provided with the same information as clients interviewed in
person.
3)Makes technical changes.
EXISTING LAW:
1)Establishes in federal law the Temporary Assistance for Needy
Families (TANF) program, which provides block grants to states
to develop and implement their own state welfare-to-work
programs designed to provide cash assistance and other
supports and services to low-income families. (42 United
States Code Section (USC) 601 et seq.)
2)Establishes the state's TANF program, the CalWORKs program.
CalWORKs provides cash assistance and other supports and
services to low-income families and is administered by the
counties. (California Welfare and Institutions Code Section
(WIC) 11200 et seq.)
3)Prohibits applicants for CalWORKs and certain other social
service programs from being granted public assistance prior to
being personally interviewed by the county department or state
staff for patients in state hospitals, as specified. (WIC
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11052.5)
4)Establishes in federal law the Supplemental Nutrition
Assistance Program (SNAP), formerly known as the Food Stamp
Program, to permit low-income households to obtain a more
nutritious diet by increasing food purchasing power for all
eligible households. (7 USC 2011 et seq.)
5)Establishes, in state law, the CalFresh program to administer
the provision of federal SNAP benefits to low-income families
and individuals meeting specified criteria. (WIC 18900 et
seq.)
6)Requires each county welfare department to, if appropriate and
to the extent permissible by federal law, exempt a household
from complying with face-to-face interview requirements in
order to initially apply or seek recertification for CalFresh
benefits, if certain conditions are met, as specified. (WIC
18901.1)
FISCAL EFFECT: According to the Senate Appropriations
Committee, on May 27, 2016:
1)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
efficiencies could result in significant ongoing future cost
savings.
2)CalWORKs benefits/administration: Potential increases or
decreases in CalWORKs benefits and administration costs
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(General Fund) to the extent conducting interviews by
telephone or electronic means 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.
COMMENTS:
CalWORKs: The CalWORKs program provides monthly income
assistance and employment-related services aimed at moving
children out of poverty and helping families meet basic needs.
Federal funding for CalWORKs comes from the TANF block grant.
The average 2016-17 monthly cash grant for a family of three on
CalWORKs (one parent and two children) is $497.35, and the
maximum monthly grant amount for a family of three, if the
family has no other income and lives in a high-cost county, is
$704. According to recent data from the California Department
of Social Services (DSS), around 497,000 families rely on
CalWORKs, including over one million children. Nearly 60% of
cases include children under 6 years old.
Maximum grant amounts in high-cost counties of $704 per month
for a family of three, with no other income, means $23.46 per
day, per family, or $7.82 per family member, per day to meet
basic needs, including rent, clothing, utility bills, food, and
anything else a family needs to ensure children can be cared for
at home and safely remain with their families. This grant
amount puts the annual household income at $8,448 per year, or
42% of poverty. Federal Poverty Guidelines for 2016 show that
100% of poverty for a family of three is $20,160 per year.
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CalFresh: CalFresh benefits are funded entirely by the federal
government through the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program
(SNAP), and the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA)
sets specific eligibility requirements for SNAP programs across
the United States, including a gross and net income test, work
requirements, and other documentation requirements. The maximum
allowable gross income is typically 200% of the Federal Poverty
Level (FPL). Households with elderly or disabled members are
not subject to gross income criteria but must have a net monthly
income at or below 100% of the FPL. Other households must meet
both gross and net monthly income tests. CalFresh is
administered locally by county human services agencies, and the
federal, state, and county governments share in the cost of
administration of the program.
Benefits are made available on a monthly basis for food purchase
through an automated teller machine (ATM)-like electronic
benefits transfer (EBT) card. However, unlike other types of
benefits that may be accessed through an EBT card, CalFresh
benefits cannot be withdrawn in cash at point-of-sale terminals
or at ATMs. CalFresh benefits can only be used to purchase food
items to be prepared and consumed at home, as well as seeds and
plants that can be grown at home and produce food. The average
monthly benefit for a CalFresh recipient is $144.35 per month,
or $4.81 per person per day.
CalFresh interviews: States have been required, in certain
instances, to waive the face-to-face interview for food stamp
eligibility determination and redetermination for some time;
federal Food Stamp Program (now "SNAP" as of 2008) regulations
(7 Code of Federal Regulations Section (CFR) 273.14(e)(2)) state
that:
The State agency must notify the applicant that it will
waive the face-to-face interview in favor of a telephone
interview on a case-by-case basis because of household
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hardship situations as determined by the State agency.
These hardship conditions include, but are not limited to:
illness, transportation difficulties, care of a household
member, hardships due to residency in a rural area,
prolonged severe weather, or work or training hours which
prevent the household from participating in an in-office
interview. The State agency must document the case file to
show when a waiver was granted because of a hardship. The
State agency may opt to waive the face-to-face interview in
favor of a telephone interview for all households which have
no earned income and all members of the household are
elderly or disabled. Regardless of any approved waivers,
the State agency must grant a face-to-face interview to any
household which requests one.
AB 231 (Steinberg), Chapter 743, Statutes of 2003, required
counties to screen applicants for food stamps for the need to
have a face-to-face application or recertification interview and
to grant an exemption from face-to-face interviews when
appropriate. State regulations at the time required the
face-to-face interview to be waived, and a telephone interview
conducted in its place, for initial application and
recertification for any household in which all members were 60
years old or older or had disabilities. State regulations also
permitted counties to waive face-to-face interviews, and instead
conduct telephone interviews, in instances where no household
member was able to come to the interview due to transportation
difficulties or other hardships determined by the county to
warrant waiving the face-to-face interview.
In 2009, the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA)
approved a waiver request from California, giving counties the
option to waive the face-to-face interview requirement, and to
instead conduct telephone interviews, for all food stamp
households without the need to show hardship. DSS All-County
Letter Number 09-62 stated that:
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Implementing this waiver will reduce the application process
burden for the household, increase timeliness, increase
program access, decrease the volume of activity in the local
offices, and remove barriers that prevent households from
completing an interview. The waiver will allow the
household to complete the eligibility process without being
required to arrange for transportation and child care,
possibly numerous times.
In 2012, DSS required (versus permitted) counties to offer
telephone interviews in lieu of face-to-face interviews. DSS
All-County Letter Number 12-26 stated that:
According to the United States Department of Agriculture
Food and Nutrition Services, waiving the requirement for a
face-to-face interview has not negatively affected payment
error rates, is beneficial for CalFresh applicants and
recipients, and provides administrative relief for county
staff. The majority of counties are utilizing this waiver
at both intake and recertification. As an element of
program simplification and as part of California Department
of Social Services commitment to improving access, offering
the option of a telephone interview in lieu of a
face-to-face interview will now be required at intake and
recertification. Counties not currently taking full
advantage of the waiver are encouraged to do so beginning as
soon as possible, but no later than July 1, 2012. However,
current county practices (including conducting a
face-to-face interview on the first day if the applicant is
in the office) may be maintained at the option of the
applicant if such practice expedites the determination of
eligibility and issuance of benefits.
In 2013, the USDA granted California an extension of its waiver
of the face-to-face interview requirement through May 31, 2017.
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Need for this bill: According to the author:
Currently, CalWORKs requires a face-to-face interview even
though today 21st century tools make it possible to do
interviews telephonically, video or electronically that is
more efficient.
For the past 5 years California has been conducting
telephone interviews for the CalFresh program. This effort
started when California was in deep recession and the
CalFresh caseload ballooned without the administrative
resources to process the applications the old fashion way -
face-to-face interviews. Today all counties offer the
applicant the choice of in-person face-to-face interview or
a telephone interview. Some counties have even adopted
telephonic signature to make the process more efficient.
California CalFresh error rate did not go up, in fact it
went down, when CalFresh face-to-face interviews were mostly
eliminated statewide five years ago.
This bill would give the county the option to do telephone
interviews just like they do for CalFresh.
PRIOR LEGISLATION:
SB 312 (Pan), of 2015, was substantially similar to this bill.
It died in the Senate Appropriations Committee.
AB 1970 (Skinner) of 2012, would have established the Social
Services Modernization and Efficiency Act of 2012 to, among
other things, require all application and recertification
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interviews for specified public social service programs to be
conducted in person, by telephone, or through other electronic
means. It died in the Senate Appropriations Committee.
AB 231 (Steinberg), Chapter 743, Statutes of 2003, among other
things, required each county welfare department to, if
appropriate and to the extent permissible by federal law, exempt
a household from complying with face-to-face interview
requirements in order to initially apply or seek recertification
for CalFresh benefits, if certain conditions are met.
Analysis Prepared by:
Daphne Hunt / HUM. S. / (916) 319-2089 FN:
0004350