BILL NUMBER: SB 1410 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY JUNE 15, 1998
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY JUNE 8, 1998
AMENDED IN SENATE APRIL 28, 1998
AMENDED IN SENATE APRIL 16, 1998
AMENDED IN SENATE MARCH 24, 1998
INTRODUCED BY Senator Burton
JANUARY 14, 1998
An act to amend Sections 15200.75 and 15200.81
, 15200.81, and 15200.95 of, and to repeal Section
15200.91 of, the Welfare and Institutions Code, relating to human
services.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
SB 1410, as amended, Burton. Child support enforcement:
incentive program.
Existing law provides that, on and after July 1, 1998, the State
Department of Social Services shall establish a state incentive for
child support collections, for counties that elect to participate.
Existing law requires the office of the Legislative Analyst, in
consultation and collaboration with specified interested groups, to
prepare a performance-based incentive program, using a flat rate, for
the 1998-99 fiscal year and that, for subsequent fiscal years, shall
mirror the federal incentive plan, or the most recent draft of the
federal plan.
Under existing law, the department shall assess on at least an
annual basis each county's compliance with federal and state child
support laws and regulations in effect for the time period being
reviewed, in accordance with specified eligibility requirements, in
order for counties to receive state incentives for child support
collections. Existing law provides for corrective action to be taken
by a county in the event that disproportionate representation is
found in the county's pool of noncompliant cases.
This bill would revise state child support collection incentive
provisions, as well as the manner in which the department assesses
county compliance, and would delete the provisions of existing law
relating to the duties of the office of the Legislative Analyst with
respect to the preparation of a performance-based incentive program.
This bill would state legislative intent that the state child
support incentive for any county that elects to receive the incentive
shall be between 4% and 13% of the county's child support
collections. The bill would declare that in the event that the
federal government imposes a penalty on California's child support
program for its failure to implement an automated child support
system within the time required by specified federal law, no part of
the penalty shall be assessed against Los Angeles County, except as
specified in the bill.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: no.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Section 15200.75 of the Welfare and Institutions Code
is amended to read:
15200.75. (a) The department shall assess on at least an annual
basis each county's compliance with federal and state child support
laws and regulations in effect for the time period being reviewed,
using a statistically valid sample of cases. The information for the
assessment shall be based on reviews conducted by either state or
county staff, as determined by the department.
(1) A county shall be eligible for the state incentives under
Section 15200.81 only if the department determines that the county is
in compliance with all federal and state laws and regulations or if
the county has a corrective action plan in place that has been
certified by the department pursuant to this subdivision. If a
county is determined not to be in compliance in any compliance issue
reviewed, or, after December 31, 1998, if a county fails to have a
statistically valid sample of cases for any compliance issue
reviewed, and fails to achieve substantial compliance with the cases
actually reviewed in that compliance issue, the county may develop
and submit a corrective action plan to the department. The
department shall certify a corrective action plan if the department
determines that the plan will put the county into compliance with
federal and state laws and regulations and the county remains in
compliance with the corrective action plan. A county shall be
eligible for state incentives under Section 15200.81 only for any
quarter the county remains in compliance with a corrective action
plan that has been certified by the department.
(2) Counties under a corrective action plan shall be assessed on a
quarterly basis until the department determines that they are in
compliance with federal and state child support program requirements.
(b) The department shall collect information regarding whether
cases on behalf of families receiving CalWORKs are disproportionately
represented in the portion of each county's case sample that is not
in compliance. In the event disproportionate representation is found
in a county's pool of noncompliant cases, the department shall
require corrective action from that county. However, this corrective
action may not affect the county's right to incentives.
(c) This section shall become operative on July 1, 1998.
SEC. 2. Section 15200.81 of the Welfare and Institutions Code is
amended to read:
15200.81. (a) For the 1998-99 fiscal year, and for July
through December of 1999, the department shall pay to each
county a child support incentive payment. Every county shall receive
the federal child support incentive. A county shall receive the
state child support incentive if it elects to do both of the
following:
(1) Comply with the reporting requirements of Section 11475.8
while federal financial participation is available for collecting and
reporting data.
(2) Comply with federal and state child support laws and
regulations, or has a corrective action plan certified by the
department pursuant to Section 15200.75. The combined federal and
state incentive payment shall be 13.6 percent of distributed
collections, as defined in clause (ii) of subparagraph (B) of
paragraph (2) of subdivision (b). If the amount appropriated by the
Legislature for the state incentives is less than the amount
necessary to satisfy each county's actual incentives pursuant to this
section, each county shall receive its proportional share of
incentives.
(b) (1) Beginning with the 1999-2000 fiscal year
October 1, 1999 , the department shall pay to
each county a child support incentive for child support collections.
Every county shall receive the federal child support incentive. In
addition to the federal child support incentive, each county may also
receive a state child support incentive. Subject to subdivision
(c), a county shall receive the state child support incentive if it
elects to do both of the following:
(A) Comply with the reporting requirements of Section 11475.8
while federal financial participation is available for collecting and
reporting data.
(B) Be in compliance with federal and state child support laws and
regulations, or have a corrective action plan certified by the
department pursuant to Section 15200.75. If the amount appropriated
by the Legislature for the state incentives is less than the amount
necessary to satisfy each county's actual incentives pursuant to this
section, each county shall receive its proportional share of the
incentives.
(2) (A) For purposes of paragraph (1), the federal incentive
component shall be each county's share of the child support incentive
payments that the state receives from the federal government, based
on the county's collections and its performance under the federal
incentive performance measures.
(B) (i) For purposes of this subparagraph, "distributed
collections" means collections used to reduce or repay aid that is
paid pursuant to this chapter, collections paid to an aided family,
collections paid to a nonaided family regardless of the date of
collection, collections paid to other child support agencies on
behalf of children residing in other states, and any other payments
collected that qualify for federal incentives. For the
1999-2000 fiscal year Beginning October 1, 1999,
and thereafter, in determining a county's distributed collections
for purposes of determining its state incentives, collections on
behalf of aided families are doubled, and collections on behalf of
previously aided families are tripled
quadrupled .
(ii) For purposes of this subparagraph, each county's incentive
rate is calculated as follows:
.029 + .029 .034 + (.017 X (the
county's welfare performance score) / (the statewide average welfare
performance score, weighted by size) size))
.
(iii) The welfare performance score for each county is calculated
as follows:
(The county's collections on behalf of children receiving CalWORKs
benefits pursuant to Article 6 (commencing with Section 11450) of
Chapter 2 in the previous fiscal year) / (the county's average
CalWORKs caseload in the previous fiscal year).
(iv) Each county's state incentive component is calculated as
follows:
(The county's incentive rate) X (distributed collections) - (the
county's share of the federal incentives).
(c) (1) Beginning July October 1,
1999, any county whose performance score is in the bottom quartile of
all counties and whose rate of improvement over the prior year is
less than the statewide average shall receive its state incentive
only upon accepting technical assistance from the department, as set
forth in paragraph (2).
(2) The department, in consultation with experts from other
counties, as appropriate, shall conduct a program review of the
county's child support program, which shall include a review of the
county's management practices, and provide technical assistance. If
the county chooses to receive its state incentives under this
section, the county shall comply with the recommendations of this
review.
(d) Each county shall continue to receive its federal child
support incentive funding whether or not it elects to participate in
the state child support incentive funding program.
(e) It is the intent of the Legislature that the state child
support incentive for any county that elects to receive the incentive
shall be at least 4 percent, but no more than 13 percent, of the
county's child support collections.
(f) The department shall provide incentive funds pursuant to
this section only during any fiscal year in which funding is
provided for that purpose in the Budget Act.
SEC. 3. Section 15200.91 of the Welfare and Institutions Code is
repealed.
SEC. 4. Section 15200.95 of the Welfare and Institutions Code is
amended to read:
15200.95. (a) Each county shall be responsible for its nonfederal
share of administrative expenditures for administering the child
support program.
(b) Notwithstanding subdivision (a), effective July 1, 1991, to
June 30, 1992, inclusive, counties shall pay the nonfederal share of
the administrative costs of conducting the reviews required under
Section 15200.8 from the savings counties will obtain as a result of
the reduction in the maximum aid payments specified in Section 11450.
Effective July 1, 1992, to June 30, 1993, inclusive, the state
shall pay the nonfederal share of administrative costs of conducting
the reviews required under Section 15200.8. Funding for county costs
after June 30, 1993, shall be subject to the availability of funds
in the annual Budget Act.
(c) In the event that the federal government does not provide the
funding for federal financial participation in administrative costs
of the child support program at the scheduled rates of 66 percent for
regular federal financial participation and the enhanced rates as
specified in federal law as of July 1, 1997, for federal financial
participation, the department shall increase the incentive rate
authorized under Section 15200.1 to supplant the dollar reduction to
federal financial participation.
(1) This increase shall be based on the difference between the
estimated dollar reimbursement resulting from the scheduled federal
financial participation and the estimated dollar reimbursement
resulting from the reduced federal financial participation rates.
This increase to the base incentive rate, when applied to estimated
total collections for the state fiscal year, shall approximately
equal the federal reduction.
(2) This increase shall be determined annually, and shall apply to
total distributed collections as defined in paragraph (1) of
subdivision (a) of Section 15200.1.
(3) In no event shall the increased incentive rate exceed 4
percent in any fiscal year.
(4) This increase to the incentive rate shall apply to the period
of time in which the federal financial participation rate in
administrative expenditures is reduced.
(d) In the event that the federal government imposes a penalty on
California's child support program for its failure to implement, by
October 1, 1997, an automated child support system, as required by
the federal Family Support Act of 1988 (Public Law 100-485), no
portion of that penalty shall be assessed against Los Angeles County,
unless Los Angeles County fails to interface with California's child
support automation system, when functional. Nothing in this
subdivision shall relieve Los Angeles County from either any further
automation requirements under the federal Personal Responsibility and
Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 (Public Law 104-193), or
other subsequently imposed automation requirements, or for any
penalties for failure to meet such requirements.