BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SENATE COMMITTEE ON HUMAN SERVICES
Senator Mike McGuire, Chair
2015 - 2016 Regular
Bill No: SB 947 Hearing Date:
March 29, 2016
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|Author: |Pan |
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|Version: |February 3, 2016 |
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|Urgency: |No |Fiscal: |No |
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|Consultant:|Taryn Smith |
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Subject: Public assistance: personal interviews
SUMMARY
This bill authorizes county human services agencies to conduct a
personal interview of CalWORKs applicants telephonically or
through electronic means. The bill requires a personal interview
to be conducted if requested by an applicant or recipient. It
deletes the requirement that the county department verify an
applicant is incapable of acting on his or her own behalf.
ABSTRACT
Existing law:
1) Establishes the federal Temporary Assistance for Needy
Families (TANF) program, which permits states to implement
the program under a state plan. (42 USC § 601 et seq.)
2) Establishes in state law the California Work Opportunity
and Responsibility to Kids (CalWORKs) program to provide
cash assistance and other social services for low-income
families through the federal Temporary Assistance for Needy
Families (TANF) program. Under CalWORKs, each county
provides assistance through a combination of state, county
and federal TANF funds. (WIC 10530)
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3) Prohibits an applicant from being granted public
assistance under CalWORKs until he or she is personally
interviewed by the county human services agency or state
hospital staff. (WIC 11052.5)
4) Requires the personal interview to be conducted promptly
following the application for CalWORKs assistance. 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. (WIC
11052.5)
5) Establishes under federal law the Supplemental Nutrition
Assistance Program (SNAP) within the US Department of
Agriculture (USDA) to promote the general welfare and to
safeguard the health and wellbeing of the nation's
population by raising the levels of nutrition among
low-income households. It establishes SNAP eligibility
requirements, including income that is at or below 130
percent of the federal poverty level and is determined to
be a substantial limiting factor in permitting a recipient
to obtain a more nutritious diet. (7 CFR 271.1; 7 CFR
273.9)
6) Establishes in California statute the CalFresh program
to administer the provision of federal SNAP benefits to
families and individuals meeting specified criteria. (WIC
18900 et seq.)
This bill:
1) Names this bill the County Option of Efficient
Interviewing of CalWORKs Applicants Act of 2016.
2) Deletes the requirement that applicants for some social
services, including child welfare, adult protective and in
home support services, shall not be granted those services
until he or she is first personally interviewed by the
county human services agency or state staff for patients in
state hospitals.
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3) Permits that, in lieu of an in-person personal
interview, county human services agencies, or state staff
or patients in state hospitals, may elect to conduct an
interview of CalWORKs applicants telephonically or through
other electronic means.
4) Deletes the requirement that, 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.
5) Requires a personal interview to be conducted if
requested by an applicant.
FISCAL IMPACT
This bill has not been analyzed by a fiscal committee.
BACKGROUND AND DISCUSSION
According to the author, the counties that have set up the
infrastructure to do telephone interviews for CalFresh
applicants should have the option to do the same for CalWORKs
applicants if it would achieve administrative efficiency. The
author also states the cost of transportation can be very
burdensome, especially for families living in rural California.
As noted by one of the bill's sponsors, the Coalition of
California Welfare Rights Organization, current law was "enacted
before the advent of modern tools that allow for interviews to
be completed and, recorded and stored electronically in the case
file. Today, these interviews can be completed telephonically,
by video or electronically in ways that are more efficient
without compromising the integrity of the program."
According to CDSS, if SB 947 were signed into law, CalWORKs
applicants will still be required to sign their application
forms and submit fingerprints and photographs to the county
human services agencies.
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CalWORKs
According to California Public Policy Institute, 21% of
Californians were living in poverty and 23.9% of California's
children were living in poverty in 2013. During and after the
Great Recession, California saw growing rates of childhood deep
poverty - those living below 50 percent of the federal poverty
line. One of California's most essential anti-poverty strategies
is the CalWORKs program, which provides cash assistance to
approximately 540,000 families - including more than 1 million
children, according to 2014 federal data.
CalWORKs implements the federal TANF program in California. In
addition to temporary cash assistance to meet basic family
needs, CalWORKs provides education, employment and training
programs. CDSS is the designated state agency responsibility
for program supervision at the state level. The counties are
responsible for administering the caseloads at the local level.
The CalWORKs program is funded with a mix of federal, state, and
county funds.
State law provides for a cumulative 48-month lifetime limit on
cash aid for adults. During those 48 months, adults may receive
a total of 24 months of Welfare-to-Work (WTW) services and
activities. WTW activities include subsidized and unsubsidized
employment, community service, adult basic education, job
skills, training, mental health counseling, substance abuse
treatment and other activities necessary to assist recipients in
obtaining employment. Once the 24 months of WTW activities have
been exhausted, adults must meet the stricter federal work
participation requirements (20, 30, or 35 hours weekly,
depending on family composition) unless they are exempt or
receive an extension. Children of adults who exhaust the
48-month lifetime limit may continue to receive cash aid, if
otherwise eligible, up to age 18.
Use of telephone Interviews for CalFresh
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Under a federal USDA waiver,<1> and under current regulatory
requirements,<2> California's county human services agencies
have the option to allow CalFresh applicants to satisfy the
interview requirement over the telephone rather than mandating a
face-to-face interview.
In 2009, CDSS informed county welfare departments that they had
the option of waiving the face-to-face interview for CalFresh
applicants and recipients at initial application,
recertification, or both.<3> In 2012, CDSS issued an All County
Letter stating, "As an element of program simplification and as
part of CDSS 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." The same
ACL reported that 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.<4>
According to data from USDA, overpayments to Cal Fresh
recipients in California have not shown significant increase
since telephone interviews were initiated in 2009:
---------------------------------
| Year | CalFresh Overpayment |
| | Rate |
|----------+----------------------|
| 2009 | 3.07 % |
|----------+----------------------|
| 2010 | 3.56% |
|----------+----------------------|
| 2011 | 2.65 % |
|----------+----------------------|
| 2012 | 3.06% |
|----------+----------------------|
| 2013 | 2.82% |
|----------+----------------------|
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<1> USDA Food and Nutrition Services Waiver #2130007,
implemented August 1, 2013.
<2> US 7 CFR 273.2(e)(3) and California Manual of Policies and
Procedures Section 63-300.46
<3> CDSS All County Letter #09-62, October 23, 2009
<4> CDSS All County Letter #12-26, May 31, 2012
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| 2014 |4.14% |
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Online Application for Medi-Cal
California's version of the federal Medicaid program, Medi-Cal,
services low-income individuals, including but not limited to:
families, seniors, persons with disabilities, children in foster
care, pregnant women, and childless adults with incomes below
138% of federal poverty level. Applications for Medi-Cal
benefits may be filed online, in person or by mail. All
applicants are required to submit some signed documents, so
there is still paperwork component of the Medi-Cal application
process.
Related legislation:
Senate Bill 297 (McGuire, 2015) had provisions that would have
facilitated electronic verification of eligibility for certain
means-tested public benefits programs; clarified when an
eligibility worker should conduct a telephone interview;
required the CDSS to issue guidance for recording and storing
electronic and telephonic signatures; and required CDSS to
coordinate with county human services agencies to make available
standard technological solutions with the capacity to store
telephonic and electronic signatures. The bill was held in
Senate Appropriations Committee.
Senate Bill 312 (Pan, 2014) would have authorized the county
human services agency or state hospital staff to conduct a
personal interview of CalWORKs applicants telephonically or
through electronic means. The bill would have required a
face-to-face interview to be conducted if requested by an
applicant or recipient. This bill was held in the Senate
Appropriations Committee.
Assembly Bill 1970 (Skinner, 2012) sought to modernize and
streamline the administration of, and remove barriers to
participation in, social services programs, including removing
the face-to-face interview requirement for CalWORKs and CalFresh
as a condition of receipt of aid. AB 1970 was held in the
Senate Appropriations Committee.
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AB 6 (Fuentes, Chapter 501, Statutes of 2011) removed the
CalFresh fingerprinting requirement, modified reporting
requirements from quarterly to semi-annually, and made other
changes.
AB 231 (Steinberg, Chapter 743, Statutes of 2003) permitted
counties to exempt a household from complying with the
face-to-face interview required by a CalFresh applicant, in
addition to other policy changes.
COMMENTS
There is precedence for allowing telephone interviews in lieu of
face-to-face interviews to determine eligibility for other
social services. Expanding the option for CalWORKs applicants to
be interviewed over the phone would take advantage of modern
communication systems. It would also be consistent with other
efforts to modernize statewide services, such as telephone
interviews for CalFresh and online applications for Medi-Cal
services.
For reasons listed below, the committee recommends the following
amendments to the bill.
Amendment #1
The bill proposes to delete reference to "Chapter 5 (commencing
with Welfare and Institutions Code Section 13000)," which would
remove the requirement for county human services agencies to
interview applicants for some social services, including child
welfare, adult protective and in home support services. The
author states that he never intended to delete that requirement.
It appears deleting reference to Chapter 5 (commencing with
Section 13000) was a drafting error.
The committee recommends the following amendment to WIC Section
11052.5 (a):
An applicant shall not be granted public assistance under
Chapters 2 (commencing with Section 11200) and 5.1 (commencing
with Section 13000) until he or she is first personally
interviewed by the office of the county human services agency or
state staff for patients in state hospitals.
Amendment #2
Current law, WIC Section 11052.5(b) requires an interview to be
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conducted "promptly" following the application for assistance.
Similarly, Section 11052.5(c) states that the interview "shall
occur within seven days" after the application is received. For
purposes of clarity, it may be beneficial to delete the language
in section (b), as shown below. Additionally, as currently
drafted, SB 947 deletes the requirement that if an applicant is
incapable of acting in her or her own behalf, the county human
services agency must verify this fact by personal contact with
the applicant before aid is authorized. Conducting the
verification by personal contact may not be necessary, but it
could be performed via telephone or other electronic means.
The committee recommends the following amendment to 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. The interview shall be conducted promptly
following the application for assistance. If an applicant is
incapable of acting in his or her own behalf, the county
department shall verify this fact with the applicant before aid
is authorized . As used in this section, the term public
assistance does not include health care as provided by Chapter 7
(commencing with Section 14000).
Amendment #3
WIC Section 11052.5(d) requires a personal interview to be
conducted, if requested by an applicant. The committee
recommends clarifying that an "in-person" interview may be
requested by an applicant.
The committee recommends the following amendment to WIC
11052.5(d):
(d) A n in-person personal interview shall be conducted if
requested by an applicant.
POSITIONS
Support:
Coalition of California Welfare Rights Organizations
(Sponsor)
County Welfare Directors Association of California
(Co-sponsor)
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California Association of Food Banks
California Food Policy Advocates
Children's defense Fund - California
Courage Campaign
National Association of Social Workers
Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors
St Anthony's Foundation
Oppose:
None received.
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