SB 1339, as introduced, Monning. Public social services: intercounty transfers.
Existing law provides for the California Work Opportunity and Responsibility to Kids (CalWORKs) program under which, through a combination of state and county funds and federal funds received through the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program, each county provides cash assistance and other benefits to qualified low-income families.
Existing law establishes the Medi-Cal program, administered by the State Department of Health Care Services, under which qualified low-income persons are provided with health care services.
Existing law establishes a statewide program to enable eligible low-income persons to receive food stamps under the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), known in California as CalFresh. Existing law requires counties to implement the program, including determining eligibility and distributing CalFresh benefits. Existing law requires the State Department of Social Services to establish and implement a process of intercounty transfer of eligibility for CalFresh benefits, and to take various regulatory actions.
Under existing law, a recipient of aid who is changing residence from one county to another within the state is required to notify the county paying aid to the recipient of the move, and to apply for a redetermination of eligibility within the new county of residence. Existing law imposes various requirements on the relevant counties, including requiring the county to which the recipient has moved to determine the recipient’s continued eligibility for payment of aid and, to the extent possible, the recipient’s eligibility for the Medi-Cal program.
This bill would delete a requirement that the first county notify the second county of the recipient’s move, and would instead provide that the new county of residence is responsible for the payment of aid and CalFresh benefits as soon as either county becomes aware of the recipient’s move, and is responsible for the provision of Medi-Cal benefits as of the first day of the month following 30 days after the new county is notified of the recipient’s relocation. The bill would also provide that a Medi-Cal beneficiary who is enrolled in a Medi-Cal managed care plan and who changes residence to a county in which that managed care plan does not operate, shall, prior to the transfer of his or her Medi-Cal benefits, be entitled to receive services from a Medi-Cal provider in the county to which he or she has moved. Because this bill imposes additional duties on counties with regard to the provision of aid, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program.
This bill would extend the dates upon which the State Department of Social Services would be required to establish and implement the CalFresh intercounty transfer process and take related regulatory action.
Existing law continuously appropriates moneys from the General Fund to defray a portion of county costs under the CalWORKs program.
This bill would instead provide that the continuous appropriation would not be made for purposes of implementing the bill.
The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement.
This bill would provide that, if the Commission on State Mandates determines that the bill contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to these statutory provisions.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes. State-mandated local program: yes.
The people of the State of California do enact as follows:
Section 11053 of the Welfare and Institutions
2Code is amended to read:
begin insert(a)end insertbegin insert end insert It shall be the responsibility of a recipient changing
2residence from one county to another within the state to promptly
3notify the county paying aid to the recipient of the move and to
4apply for a redetermination of eligibility within the new county of
5residence.begin delete The first
county shall notify the second county of the
6recipient’s move as soon as the recipient’s location in the second
7county is known. Theend delete
8move, theend insert county to which the recipient has moved will be
9responsiblebegin delete for determining the recipient’s continued eligibilityend delete
10 for payment of aid and, to the extent possible, as determined by
11the Director of Healthbegin insert Careend insert Services,begin delete eligibility for the Medi-Cal begin insert
responsible for providing Medi-Cal benefitsend insert as of the
12program,end delete
13first day of the month following 30 days after the first county has
14notified the second county of the recipient’s relocation.begin delete The first
15county shall provide the second county with copies of
those
16documents, as specified by the department, necessary to establish
17current eligibility and grant amount.end delete
18(b) Notwithstanding subdivision (a) or any other law, a
19Medi-Cal beneficiary who is enrolled in a Medi-Cal managed care
20plan, and who changes residence to a county in which that
21managed care plan does not operate, shall, prior to the transfer
22of his or her Medi-Cal benefits, be entitled to receive services from
23a Medi-Cal provider in the county to which he or she has moved.
Section 11053.2 of the Welfare and Institutions Code
25 is amended to read:
(a) Notwithstanding any other law, the department
27shall establish a process of intercounty transfer of eligibility for
28CalFresh benefits provided under Chapter 10 (commencing with
29Section 18900) of Part 6 when a recipient changes residence from
30one county to another within the state. The intercounty transfer
31process shall facilitate a recipient’s move from one county to
32another without a break in benefits and without requiring a new
33application to be submitted to the new county of residence.
34(b) (1) For CalFresh recipients who are receiving CalWORKs
35benefits pursuant to Chapter 2 (commencing with Section 11200),
36the intercounty transfer process utilized for CalWORKs shall be
37used.
38(2) For CalFresh recipients who are receiving Medi-Cal benefits
39pursuant to Chapter 7 (commencing with Section 14000), but are
40not receiving CalWORKs benefits pursuant to Chapter 2
P4 1(commencing with Section 11200), the intercounty transfer process
2utilized for the Medi-Cal program shall be used.
3(3) This subdivision shall be implemented no later than April
41,begin delete 2011end deletebegin insert 2017end insert.
5(c) For CalFresh recipients who are not receiving CalWORKs
6or Medi-Cal benefits as described in paragraphs (1) and (2) of
7subdivision (b), an intercounty transfer process shall be developed,
8in consultation with representatives of county human services
9departments and advocates for recipients. To the greatest
extent
10possible, the process shall be simple, client friendly, ensure the
11client does not need to provide copies of documents that were
12previously provided to the prior county of residence, build on
13existing processes for the programs described in paragraphs (1)
14and (2) of subdivision (b), and minimize workload for county
15 eligibility operations. The process developed pursuant to this
16subdivision shall be implemented no later than July 1,begin delete 2011.end deletebegin insert 201end insertbegin insert7.end insert
17(d) Upon the implementation of the intercounty transfer
18procedures set forth in this section, it shall be the responsibility of
19a recipient changing residence from one county to another within
20the state
to notify his or her prior county of residence of his or her
21move. The prior county of residence shall notify the new county
22of the recipient’s move as soon as the recipient’s location in the
23new county is known. The new county of residence shall be
24responsible for determining the recipient’s continued eligibility
25for payment of CalFresh benefits. To the extent permitted by
26federal law, the new county of residence shall not be required to
27interview persons in the CalFresh household to determine continued
28eligibility until the next scheduled recertification or other regularly
29scheduled interview.
30(e) Notwithstanding the Administrative Procedure Act (Chapter
313.5 (commencing with Section 11340) of Part 1 of Division 3 of
32Title 2 of the Government Code), the department may implement
33this section through all-county letters, or similar instructions from
34the director no later than April 1,begin delete 2011,end deletebegin insert
201end insertbegin insert7,end insert with respect to
35subdivision (b), and no later than July 1,begin delete 2011,end deletebegin insert
201end insertbegin insert7,end insert with respect
36to subdivision (c).
37(f) The department shall adopt regulations as otherwise
38necessary to implement this section no later than July 1,begin delete 2012.end delete
39begin insert
201end insertbegin insert7.end insert Emergency regulations adopted for implementation of this
40section may be adopted by the director in accordance with the
P5 1Administrative Procedure Act (Chapter 3.5 (commencing with
2Section 11340) of Part 1 of Division 3 of Title 2 of the Government
3Code). The adoption of emergency regulations shall be deemed to
4be an emergency and necessary for immediate preservation of the
5public peace, health and safety, or general welfare. The emergency
6regulations shall be exempt from review by the Office of
7Administrative Law. The emergency regulations authorized by
8this section shall be submitted to the Office of Administrative Law
9for filing with the Secretary of State and shall remain in effect for
10no more than 180 days.
No appropriation pursuant to Section 15200 of the
12Welfare and Institutions Code shall be made for purposes of
13implementing this act.
If the Commission on State Mandates determines that
15this act contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement to
16local agencies and school districts for those costs shall be made
17pursuant to Part 7 (commencing with Section 17500) of Division
184 of Title 2 of the Government Code.
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