BILL ANALYSIS �
AB 1691
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Date of Hearing: March 20, 2012
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON HUMAN SERVICES
Jim Beall Jr., Chair
AB 1691 (Bonnie Lowenthal) - As Introduced: February 15, 2012
SUBJECT : CalWORKs: welfare-to-work activities
SUMMARY : Includes English as a second language (ESL) education
as a core welfare-to-work activity in the California Work
Opportunity and Responsibility to Kids (CalWORKs) program.
Specifically, this bill :
1)Includes ESL education as a core welfare-to-work activity in
the CalWORKs program for 8 months, but authorizes a county to
extend this period to 12 months.
2)Authorizes CalWORKs recipients to continue to participate in
ESL education beyond the specified time limit as a noncore
activity.
EXISTING LAW
1)Establishes, under federal law, the Temporary Assistance for
Needy Families (TANF) program, providing block grants to
eligible states as part of a welfare-to-work program for
qualified low-income families.
2)Establishes, under federal law, work participation rates for
states, counting single-parent participants toward the rate
who engage in qualified work activity for 30 hours per week,
or 20 hours for parents or caretakers with a child under the
age of six, and two-parent families who engage in 35 hours of
countable work activity per week.
3)Establishes, under state law, the CalWORKs program, which is
funded through a combination of state and county funds and
federal funds received through the TANF program, to provide
eligible low-income families cash assistance and employment
services.
4)Requires, with certain exceptions, that an individual
participate in work activities in order to remain eligible for
CalWORKs benefits.
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5)Requires adult recipients of CalWORKs, unless exempt, to
participate in a total of 32 hours (35 hours for two-parent
families when neither parent is exempt) per week of approved
welfare-to-work activities from a range of allowable work,
training, education, mental health, substance treatment and
domestic violence prevention activities.
6)Provides that of the 32 or 35 weekly hours, 20 hours must be
in defined "core" work activities, consisting of employment,
on-the-job training, work experience, community service and,
for up to 12 months, vocational training and education.
7)Defines core and non-core work activities, and classifies ESL
as included in "adult basic education," a non-core activity.
Welfare & Institutions (W&I) Code �� 11322.6, 11322.8.
8)Allows hours spent in adult basic education, job skills
training and education leading directly to employment to count
toward the 20-hour core activity requirement to the extent
they cannot be accomplished within the 12-15 additional hours
of participation required to satisfy the total hourly
obligation, the county determines the program is likely to
lead to self-supporting employment, and the recipient makes
satisfactory progress. (W&I Code � 11322.8(e).
9)Requires concurrent participation in work activities if the
current educational program is not at least 32 hours.
FISCAL EFFECT : Unknown
COMMENTS :
Background : 1996 federal welfare reform legislation established
the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program. In
response, California created the CalWORKs program, which is
funded through a combination of state and county funds and
federal funds received through the TANF program, to provide
eligible low-income families cash assistance and employment
services. CalWORKs provides cash assistance and welfare-to-work
services to approximately 587,000 eligible needy families with
1.2 million children. The CalWORKs program supports families by
helping them to attain self-sufficiency and by providing a
safety net so that children can have their most basic needs met.
Federal law generally requires states to ensure that at least
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50% of able-bodied TANF recipients participate in designated
categories of work activities for a specified number of hours.
Both federal and state law distinguish between "core" and
"noncore" activities. The California work requirement for a
single parent is 32 hours, of which 20 must be core hours. For
a two-parent family the requirement is 35 hours, 20 of which
must be core hours.
Core activities under both federal and state law include:
Subsidized and unsubsidized employment, work experience,
community service, vocational education (up to 12 months),
on-the-job training, job search and job readiness training, and
providing child care to a community service program.
Federal and state noncore activities are generally the same;
although, some state noncore activities are less restrictive
than the federally allowable activities. Federal noncore
activities include: Job skills training directly related to
employment, education directly related to employment, and
satisfactory attendance at a secondary school or course leading
to a certificate or general equivalence degree (GED). State
noncore activities also include mental health, substance abuse,
and domestic abuse services beyond six weeks, any higher
education (typically up to 24 months), and other activities
necessary to assist in obtaining employment. State law also
allows some noncore activities, including ESL, to count as core
activities in some circumstances.
Need for this bill : DSS' CalWORKs Characteristics Survey for
federal fiscal year 2004 (the most recent year for which the
survey is posted on the department's Web site) indicates that
the primary language of the head of household for CalWORKs
families was a language other than English in 29.9% of cases.
According to the author, "under current rules, �ESL] and
Work-related �ESL] are not core activities, even though lack of
language proficiency is one of the greatest barriers to
successfully obtaining employment for refugees and other
non-English-speaking CalWORKs clients." Because of this, the
author says,
�T]hese recipients may be sanctioned or lose
eligibility for aid entirely if they're unable to
complete the required amount of core activity hours.
Without ESL classes, it is very unlikely that these
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populations can find gainful employment. These
populations also find it difficult to fully
participate in other education, training or work
programs that are core CalWORKs activities without
appropriate language skills.
Exceptions permit some non-core activities, including ESL, to be
counted as core activities under some circumstances, access is
limited. This bill, the author says, "alleviates this problem
by allowing CalWORKs recipients to pursue ESL classes as a core
activity, remaining in CalWORKs while developing language skills
that will enable them to participate in other core activities,
as well as improve their chances of finding permanent employment
and leave the CalWORKs system." The County Welfare Directors
Association of California (CWDA) (the bill's sponsor) says that
this bill "would lead to greater workforce participation by our
refugee and legal immigrant parents, and give them a better
chance of finding employment that allows them to leave CalWORKs
altogether." Therefore, CWDA points out, this bill would both
increase the state's Workforce Participation Rate and achieve
savings for the state.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
County Welfare Directors Association of California (CWDA)
(sponsor)
Butte County Department of Employment and Social Services
California Communities United Institute
California Partnership to End Domestic Violence
California State Association of Counties (CSAC)
California WIC Association
City and County of San Francisco, Human Services Agency
Coalition of California Welfare Rights Organizations, Inc.
Laborers' Local's 777 &792
Western Center on Law and Poverty
Opposition
None on file.
Analysis Prepared by : Eric Gelber / HUM. S. / (916) 319-2089
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