BILL NUMBER: AB 1691	INTRODUCED
	BILL TEXT


INTRODUCED BY   Assembly Member Bonnie Lowenthal

                        FEBRUARY 15, 2012

   An act to amend Section 11322.8 of the Welfare and Institutions
Code, relating to CalWORKs.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   AB 1691, as introduced, Bonnie Lowenthal. CalWORKs:
welfare-to-work activities.
   Existing law requires each county to provide cash assistance and
other social services to needy families through the California Work
Opportunity and Responsibility to Kids (CalWORKs) program using
federal Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF) block grant
program, state, and county funds. Under existing law, with certain
exceptions, every individual, as a condition of eligibility for aid
under the CalWORKs program, is required to participate in
welfare-to-work activities. Under existing law, the activities in
which a recipient may engage include various education and vocational
training activities, as described, including English as a second
language education. Certain of these activities are defined as core
welfare-to-work activities, in which an adult recipient is required
to participate for at least 20 hours each week.
   This bill would include as a core welfare-to-work activity English
as a second language education, as specified.
   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 11322.8 of the Welfare and Institutions Code is
amended to read:
   11322.8.  (a) Unless otherwise exempt, an adult recipient in a
one-parent assistance unit shall participate in welfare-to-work
activities for 32 hours each week.
   (b) Unless otherwise exempt, an adult recipient who is an
unemployed parent, as defined in Section 11201, shall participate in
at least 35 hours of welfare-to-work activities each week. However,
both parents in a two-parent assistance unit may contribute to the 35
hours if at least one parent meets the federal one-parent work
requirement applicable on January 1, 1998.
   (c) An adult recipient required to participate under subdivision
(a) or (b) shall participate for at least 20 hours each week in core
welfare-to-work activities. The welfare-to-work activities listed in
subdivisions (a) to (j), inclusive,  English as a second language
  education as listed in subdivision (k),  and (m) and
(n)  ,  of Section 11322.6, are core activities for the
purposes of this section.  Participation in English as a 
 second   language   education under
subdivision (k) of Section 11322.6 as a core activity shall be
limited to a total of eight months. On a case-by-case basis, a county
may extend this period of time to 12 months. Following the receipt
of these services as a core activity, an adult recipient may continue
to participate in this activity as a noncore activity. 
Participation in core activities under subdivision (m) of Section
11322.6 shall be limited to a total of 12 months. Additional hours
that the applicant or recipient is required to participate under
subdivisions (a) or (b) of this section may be satisfied by any of
the welfare-to-work activities described in Section 11322.6 that are
consistent with the assessment performed in accordance with Section
11325.4, and included in the individual's welfare-to-work plan,
described in Section 11325.21.
   (d) Hours spent in activities listed under subdivision (q) of
Section 11322.6 shall count toward the core activity requirement in
subdivision (c) to the extent that these activities are necessary to
enable the individual to participate in core activities and to the
extent these activities cannot be accomplished within the additional
noncore hours of participation required by subdivision (c).
   (e) Hours spent in classroom, laboratory, or internship activities
pursuant to subdivisions (k), (  l  ), (o), and (p) of
Section 11322.6 shall count toward the core activity requirement in
subdivision (c) to the extent these activities cannot be accomplished
within the additional noncore hours of participation, the county
determines the program is likely to lead to self-supporting
employment, and the recipient makes satisfactory progress. The
provisions in paragraph (2), and subparagraphs (A) and (B) of
paragraph (3), of subdivision (a) of Section 11325.23 shall apply to
participants in these activities.
   (f) Spending hours in any or all of the activities specified in
subdivision (r) of Section 11322.6 shall not make a recipient
ineligible to count activities set forth in subdivisions (d) and (e)
toward the core activities requirements, as appropriate.