BILL NUMBER: AB 1970	INTRODUCED
	BILL TEXT


INTRODUCED BY   Assembly Member Skinner

                        FEBRUARY 23, 2012

   An act to amend Section 18914 of, and to add Sections 10003,
11023.6, 11023.7, and 11023.8 to the Welfare and Institutions Code,
relating to public social services.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   AB 1970, as introduced, Skinner. Social Services Modernization and
Efficiency Act of 2012.
   Existing law provides for protection, care, and assistance for
people of the state, and the promotion of the welfare and happiness
of all people in the state by providing appropriate aid and services
to the needy and distressed. Programs established for this purpose
include CalWORKs, which provides cash assistance and other social
services to needy families, using federal Temporary Assistance for
Needy Families (TANF) block grant program, state, and county funds,
and CalFresh, whereby nutrition assistance benefits allocated to the
state federal government are distributed to eligible individuals by
each county. Counties administer the CalWORKs and CalFresh programs.
   This bill, the Social Services Modernization Act of 2012, would
require a state plan submitted by any state department to a federal
agency in the context of providing public social services to be
electronically available on the department's Internet Web site, as
specified.
   This bill would require the State Department of Social Services
and the California Healthcare Eligibility, Enrollment, and Retention
System to seek a waiver from the United States Department of
Agriculture to deliver notices and communications pertaining to
CalFresh eligibility and benefits electronically, or both
electronically and by mail, as specified. The bill would authorize
applicants and recipients to opt out of receiving electronic notice,
and would provide for the confidentiality of an applicant's or
recipient's electronic information, as specified.
   This bill would prohibit a county from requiring an applicant or
recipient for public benefits to verify information provided to the
county, except when the verification is required by federal law, or
is necessary to determine eligibility for aid or to compute the
amount of aid.
   This bill would require county human services departments to
maximize use of electronic means of verifying applicant and recipient
information, and would require the state to work with counties to
develop a protocol enabling statewide use by applicants and
recipients of public social services programs of a specified
electronic database developed to verify eligibility information for
the federal Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010.
   This bill would revise procedures relating to public social
services application and recertification interviews to require these
interviews to be conducted in person, by telephone, or by other
electronic means, to promote administrative efficiency and reduce
costs to applicants and recipients.
   Existing law requires a county welfare department, to the extent
provided by federal law, to provide CalFresh benefits on an expedited
basis to certain households.
   This bill would require the expedited service interview to be
postponed, as specified, if there is no information indicating the
applicant's ineligibility for expedited service.
   This bill would authorize the State Department of Social Services
to implement the bill by means of all-county letters or similar
instructions, by January 1, 2013.
   Existing law continuously appropriates moneys from the General
Fund to defray a portion of county costs under the CalWORKs program.
   This bill would declare that no appropriation would be made for
purposes of implementing the bill.
   Because this bill would increase duties of counties administering
public social services programs, the bill would impose a
state-mandated local program.
   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 1.  This act shall be known, and may be cited, as the
Social Services Modernization and Efficiency Act of 2012.
  SEC. 2.  Section 10003 is added to the Welfare and Institutions
Code, to read:
   10003.  Any state plan submitted by any department to any federal
agency for a program administered by any department pursuant this
division, and any and all communication relative to the plan,
including any writings relative to any waiver requested or received
by the department, shall be electronically available to the public at
all times on the relevant department's Internet Web site.
  SEC. 3.  Section 11023.6 is added to the Welfare and Institutions
Code, to read:
   11023.6.  (a) The State Department of Social Services shall seek a
waiver from the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) to
authorize county human services departments and the California
Healthcare Eligibility, Enrollment, and Retention System (CalHEERs)
developed pursuant to the California Patient Protection and
Affordable Care Act, to deliver notices and communication pertaining
to CalFresh eligibility and benefit issuance as allowed by
subdivision (c).
   (b) The Legislature recognizes that applicants or recipients may
not always have access to electronic mail or the Internet. In order
to ensure that due process and privacy of all applicants and
recipients are protected, the department, in consultation with client
and patient advocates, representatives of county human services
departments, and representatives of county eligibility workers, shall
develop a process whereby applicants and recipients can
affirmatively choose to receive notice of actions or other
communications relevant to their case electronically as provided in
paragraphs (1) to (6), inclusive, of subdivision (c).
   (c) All applicants and recipients of public social services,
including applicants and recipients of CalFresh benefits under
Section 18900 and any state health subsidy program shall be allowed,
at any time, to affirmatively choose to receive communications and
notices electronically, or both electronically and via the United
States Postal Service as provided by this section.
   (1) No notice or other form of communication shall be sent
electronically unless that method of communication has been
affirmatively requested in writing by the applicant or recipient. A
record of the request required by this paragraph and of each notice
and communication sent electronically or otherwise shall be
maintained in the recipient's case file for three years, as required
by Section 10851.
   (2) An applicant or recipient may opt out of receiving electronic
notices, in writing, in person, by telephone, or by electronic mail.
A request to opt out shall be processed within 24 hours of receipt.
For victims of domestic violence, the county shall cease all
communication with the applicant or recipient until the request to
opt out of electronic communication has been processed.
   (3) All notices sent electronically shall be sent via secured
server. No notice shall be sent as an electronic mail attachment. For
all notices sent, administering agencies or departments shall have
the ability to be informed when the recipient has opened or
"downloaded" the notice, and shall send notices via the United States
Postal Service if the recipient has not opened or downloaded the
notice or there is not proof that a notice sent electronically was
received and opened within seven days of having been sent.
   (4) Notwithstanding any other provision of this section, notices
terminating benefits, sanctioning benefits, or establishing an
intentional program violation for any household member or for
establishing or collecting an overpayment, underpayment, overissuance
or underissuance from recipients or former recipients shall be sent
via the United States Postal Service.
   (5) Every effort shall be made to maintain privacy and security of
applicant or recipient information at all times.
   (6) All electronic communication and data storage shall comply
with state security standards, which shall be posted on the
department's Internet Web site and on all online applications.
   (d) Under no circumstances shall data that is available
electronically that identifies an applicant or recipient, the
permanent or temporary internet protocol (IP) address assigned to an
applicant or recipient, or the geographic location of the IP address
or mobile device, their Internet activity or any other information
that is available through the Internet, be collected or used for any
purpose other than transmitting information to the applicant or
recipient as authorized by this section.
  SEC. 4.  Section 11023.7 is added to the Welfare and Institutions
Code, to read:
   11023.7.  (a) A county shall not require an applicant for or
recipient of aid pursuant this chapter to provide verification of
information provided to the county, unless verification is federally
required, and necessary to determine eligibility for aid or to
compute the amount of aid, and the information is not already
available to the county eligibility worker. Additional information
not required by federal law or necessary to determine eligibility for
aid or compute the amount of aid may be requested from an applicant
or recipient, but the individual's eligibility for aid shall not be
delayed, denied, or terminated due to his or her failure to provide
this information.
   (b) A county human services department shall maximize the use of
electronic means of verifying information required to be verified for
any applicant or recipient of aid pursuant to this chapter, except
for information that federal law permits to be verified through
self-attestation statement of the applicant or recipient. At a
minimum, the state shall work with representatives of county human
services departments and representatives of county eligibility
workers, and public benefits advocates to establish a statewide
protocol enabling the use of the electronic database developed for
verification of eligibility information for applicants and recipients
under the federal Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010
(PPACA) for applicants for and recipients of CalWORKs, CalFresh, and
other social services programs.
   (c) An applicant for or recipient of aid under this chapter whose
information is electronically verified pursuant to this section shall
be given an opportunity to review the information obtained
electronically and to make corrections, as necessary. An applicant or
recipient of aid who disputes the accuracy of electronically
verified information that is federally required and necessary to
determine eligibility for aid or to compute the amount of aid may be
required to provide verification of the disputed information.
  SEC. 5.  Section 11023.8 is added to the Welfare and Institutions
Code, to read:
   11023.8.  (a) Notwithstanding any other law, all application and
recertification interviews shall be conducted in person, by
telephone, or through other electronic means to provide for more
efficiency in the administration of the program and to reduce the
transportation costs to applicants and recipients associated with
those interviews.
   (b) The department or the county welfare department shall schedule
the interview at least 10 working days in advance, and shall provide
a notice that contains the date, time, and place of the interview.
If the applicant or recipient appears for the scheduled interview,
the interview shall be conducted within 30 minutes of the time that
the individual arrives at the interview location.
   (c) If the department or county welfare department offers an
on-demand telephone interview option, the notice required by
subdivision (b) shall inform the applicant or recipient of this
option and how to phone in for the interview.
   (d) The notice shall also inform the applicant or recipient that
he or she may conduct the interview through the various electronic
means available prior to the scheduled appointment, including
telephone interview, online interview, or interview in a chat room.
The notice shall be developed in consultation with advocates,
counties and labor representatives, and shall provide this
information in language that is accessible to applicants and
recipients, including language access.
  SEC. 6.  Section 18914 of the Welfare and Institutions Code, as
amended by Section 88 of Chapter 227 of the Statutes of 2011, is
amended to read:
   18914.  (a) To the extent provided by federal law, the county
welfare department shall provide CalFresh benefits on an expedited
basis to households determined to be in immediate need of food
assistance.
   (b) At the time an applicant initially seeks assistance, the
county welfare department shall screen all expedited service
applications on a priority basis. Applicants who meet the federal
criteria for expedited service shall receive either a manual
authorization to participate or automated card or the immediate
issuance of CalFresh benefits no later than the third day following
the date the application was filed. To the maximum extent permitted
by federal law, the amount of income to be received from any source
shall be deemed to be uncertain and exempt from consideration in the
determination of eligibility for expedited service. For purposes of
this subdivision, a weekend shall be considered one calendar day.
   (c) The State Department of Social Services shall develop and
implement for expedited issuance a uniform procedure for verifying
information required of an applicant. 
   (d) The expedited service interview shall be postponed and
conducted at the same time that the interview for regular issuance of
CalFresh benefits is scheduled pursuant to Section 11023.8, if there
is no verifiable information at the disposal of the state or county
welfare department that indicates the applicant's ineligibility for
expedited service. 
  SEC. 7.  Notwithstanding the rulemaking provisions of the
Administrative Procedure Act (Chapter 3.5 (commencing with Section
11340) of Part 1 of Division 3 of Title 2 of the Government Code),
the department may implement this act through an all-county letter or
similar instruction from the director. The all-county letter or
similar instruction shall be issued no later than January 1, 2014.
  SEC. 8.  No appropriation pursuant to Section 15200 of the Welfare
and Institutions Code shall be made for purposes of this act.
  SEC. 9.  If the Commission on State Mandates determines that this
act contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement to local
agencies and school districts for those costs shall be made pursuant
to Part 7 (commencing with Section 17500) of Division 4 of Title 2 of
the Government Code.