BILL ANALYSIS �
SENATE HUMAN
SERVICES COMMITTEE
Senator Carol Liu, Chair
BILL NO: AB 1970
A
AUTHOR: Skinner
B
VERSION: June 4, 2012
HEARING DATE: June 12, 2012
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FISCAL: Yes
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CONSULTANT: Mareva Brown
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SUBJECT
Social Services Modernization and Efficiency Act of 2012
SUMMARY
Requires final state operational plans submitted to the
federal government by any department within the California
Health and Human Services agency be posted on the Internet;
requires the Department of Social Services to promulgate
regulations for electronic communications to recipients;
prohibits a county from requiring an applicant or recipient
of public benefits to verify the information they provide
to the county, except when federally required; requires
county human service departments to maximize electronic
means of verifying applicant information; revises the
various application interview processes; deems a recipient
in compliance with state requirements if they meet minimum
federal welfare-to-work requirements; requires DSS to
implement a transitional CalFresh benefit program, makes
technical changes.
ABSTRACT
Existing law
Continued---
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1. Establishes public social service programs in
California to provide for protection, care, and
assistance to the people of the state in need, and to
promote the welfare and happiness of all of the people
of the state by providing appropriate aid and services
to all of its needy and distressed.
2. Establishes various requirements for providing
notices to participants in public social services
programs.
3. Provides in federal and state law that public
social services shall be administered fairly, that all
persons who are eligible and apply for such public
social services shall receive the assistance to which
they are entitled promptly, with due consideration for
the needs of applicants and the safeguarding of public
funds.
4. Establishes in federal law that states shall set
forth objective criteria for the delivery of benefits
and the determination of eligibility and for fair and
equitable treatment of applicants for aid under the
Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF) program,
administered in California as CalWORKs.
5. Establishes in federal law specific criteria to
determine eligibility for the Supplemental Nutrition
Assistance Program (SNAP), formerly called food stamps
and administered in California as CalFresh.
6. Requires county welfare departments, to the extent
provided by federal law, to provide CalFresh benefits
on an expedited basis to households determined to be
in immediate need of food assistance.
7. Establishes work participation requirements for
individuals participating in the CalWORKs program, as
specified.
This bill
1. Requires that any operational state plan submitted
by any department administered by the Secretary of the
California Health and Human Services agency to any
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federal agency, and any approved waiver requested or
received by any department shall be electronically
available to the public at all times on the relevant
department's Internet web site.
2. Requires, pending approval of necessary federal
waivers, that DSS promulgate regulations to allow for
delivery of notices and communications pertaining to
CalFresh and CalWORKs eligibility and benefit
issuance.
3. Requires DSS establish a process, in consultation
with stakeholders, that allows applicants and
recipients to affirmatively choose to receive notice
of actions electronically, and to opt out, as
specified.
4. Requires that administering agencies respond to
undeliverable or rejected electronic communications by
unsubscribing recipients and reinstating postal
services, as specified.
5. Requires administering agencies to establish a
process for timely delivery of case-related
information when an applicant or recipient has
indicated a preference for electronic communication,
but electronic communication fails or is rejected.
6. Defines delivery, storage and deletion requirements
for electronic notices.
7. Prohibits county welfare departments from requiring
applicants to provide verification of information,
except for fingerprint imaging and other verification
required only for CalWORKs, unless that verification
is federally required and necessary to determine
CalWORKs eligibility or compute the appropriate amount
of aid, and verification is not already available to
the county eligibility worker, as specified. Permits
the county to ask for additional information not
required by federal law, but prohibits the county from
delaying, denying or terminating aid based on failure
to provide information.
8. Requires DSS, with specified stakeholders, to
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establish a statewide protocol enabling the use for
public social service programs of the California
Healthcare Eligibility, Enrollment and Retention
System (CalHEERs) electronic database that is being
developed to verify eligibility for health coverage in
accordance with the federal Patient Protection and
Affordable Care Act of 2010.
9. Requires that applicants and recipients of aid
whose information is electronically verified be given
the opportunity to review the information obtained
electronically and make corrections, as necessary, as
specified.
10. Permits application and recertification interviews
to be conducted in person, via telephone or through
other electronic means to provide for administrative
efficiency and requires that when a county welfare
department schedules an interview that is not
in-person, it also provide an appointment time for a
face-to-face interview. Requires an interview be
conducted within 30 minutes of the scheduled time, as
specified, and permits DSS to apply for a federal
waiver if necessary for implementation.
11. Establishes that an adult recipient of CalWORKs who
meets minimum federal work requirements be deemed in
compliance with state requirements.
12. Requires DSS, as it establishes policy to
transition households receiving CalFresh transitional
benefits to CalFresh regular benefits, to do so in a
way that maximizes participants' continued enrollment
in the regular CalFresh program.
13. Requires DSS to seek federal waivers allowing
expedited service interviews for CalFresh benefits be
postponed and subsequently conducted at the same time
as the interview for regular CalFresh benefits if the
state or county welfare department has no verifiable
information indicating the applicant is ineligible for
expedited service.
FISCAL IMPACT
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According to the Assembly Appropriations committee, costs
associated with this legislation should be minor and
absorbable within existing DSS resources. Current updates
to the Statewide Automated Welfare System (SAWS) include
the capacity to deliver notices electronically. It is
expected that CalHEERs will include the capability to
determine eligibility for the CalFresh program. Therefore,
all automation changes are underway. In addition, this
legislation primarily authorizes counties to deliver
notices electronically and establishes client protections
should they choose to do so. It does not require counties
to provide electronic notices.
BACKGROUND AND DISCUSSION
Purpose of the bill
According to the author, an unprecedented demand for
services during the recent economic downturn combined with
declining state and county administrative resources
highlights the need to modernize social service programs.
The author states:
"(Many) California families' health and
well-being have been threatened as an effect of
the economic crisis, and are now seeking
assistance through the state to stabilize their
livelihood. It is imperative that we remove
unnecessary barriers to social services programs
to help guarantee that the neediest in our
communities have greater access to these
programs."
Counties and advocacy groups say streamlining the
application and recertification processes, including
permitting electronic communication, would remove barriers
for individuals who need assistance and relieve counties of
administrative duties at a time when they are under
resourced. The bill also seeks to establish alternatives to
in-person interviews for applications and redeterminations
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at the option of the applicant or recipient.
This bill was developed following months of meetings among
stakeholders and the Department of Social Services which
were intended to find options for additional program
simplification, barrier removal for applicants, reductions
in administrative complexity and additional coordination
among other state assistance programs. It reflects the
intent of those conversations; however the department has
expressed concern about certain provisions of this bill.
The bill is jointly sponsored by County Welfare Directors
Association, Western Center on Law and Poverty, SEIU and
the California Coalition for Welfare Rights.
Transitional CalFresh benefits
The bill requires DSS to ensure a more seamless transition
from families receiving transitional CalFresh benefits to
regular CalFresh benefits. Current law provides for
transitional CalFresh benefits to be provided to households
that are exiting CalWORKs. They are intended to smooth the
transition from welfare to work, recognizing that when
families leave cash aid, they often forego other benefits
such as CalFresh for which they are eligible. Transitional
CalFresh benefits are provided to families for five months
upon exiting the CalWORKs program, at which point
recipients must apply to receive regular CalFresh benefits
to continue in the program. This bill requires that the
state maximize continued enrollment of eligible recipients,
pursuant to federal law.
Verification
This bill would prohibit counties from requiring applicants
and beneficiaries to provide more than what is minimally
federally required in seeking CalWORKs and CalFresh
benefits. Verification requirements differ in these two
programs. The TANF program, which governs CalWORKs,
requires basic identification to be verified, but permits
that the state establish eligibility criteria in its
mandatory state plan. In California, DSS has chosen to
limit eligibility to those who possess limited assets,
including one car worth $4,650, personal savings of $2,000
or less, and other specified limitations. CalFresh,
governed by the federal Supplemental Assistance Nutrition
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Program (SNAP), has prescriptive eligibility requirements
that provide mechanisms for applicants to receive
deductions, and therefore additional aid, for such things
as dependent care, household size, some medical expenses,
child support payments, and other items.
Removing counties' ability to require verification beyond
the federal minimum from applicants in the CalFresh program
would have little effect on eligibility. However removing
that ability in the CalWORKs program could affect the
state's ability to set policy, including asset limits.
Pending federal waivers
California currently has two waivers pending with the
federal government relevant to language in this bill:
1. A request to postpone the expedited service
interview when the state has attempted but was unable
to contact the applicant household for an interview
and the household meets expedited service criteria, as
specified. This request, dated April 27, 2012, is
similar to language in approved waivers in Florida,
Indiana and Wisconsin. A previously approved federal
waiver allows California to waive the face-to-face
interview for initial and recertification processes.
More than 20 percent of eligible households would
qualify for expedited service for CalFresh benefits,
yet approximately one-third of them do not receive
benefits within the federal expedited time frame.
2. A request to waive the federal requirement that
notices to households be provided in written form,
allowing recipient households to receive notices
electronically. The waiver language would provide that
participants could opt out of electronic
correspondence at any time and would permit those who
opt for electronic communication to receive
correspondence through an electronic notification
system consisting of an email and customer account in
the automated consortia system. This request, also
dated April 27, 2012, is similar to waivers that were
approved in Utah and Mississippi.
Related legislation
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AB 231 (Steinberg), Chapter 743, Statutes of 2003
established the Transitional Food Stamp Program to improve
nutritional outcomes and increase Food Stamp participation.
AB 808 (Skinner) 2011 would have streamlined the
re-application process for former CalWORKs recipients who
need to continue their CalFresh benefits when their
CalFresh transitional benefits are about to expire. The
bill was gutted and amended to a different policy area.
Arguments in support
The County Welfare Directors Association of California
writes that millions of additional cases have been added to
the CalFresh, CalWORKs and Medi-Cal programs in the last
few years due to the economic downturn. At one point during
the recession, county human services departments were
receiving an average of 400,000 applications per month. At
the same time, severe fiscal constraints have forced the
state and counties to cut administration costs for these
programs, leaving them underfunded. "Because of this, it is
imperative that we continue modernizing our eligibility
systems and procedures to ensure these cases are handled as
quickly as possible by our eligibility staff and that
struggling Californians are enrolled expeditiously into the
programs for which they are eligible."
Arguments in opposition
The California District Attorneys Association writes that
allowing application and recertification interviews to be
conducted via telephone or other electronic means reduces
hurdles for applicants, but "we fear that such processes
invite more fraud into these systems." The association also
expressed concern that a county would be prohibited from
requiring an applicant or re-applicant to verify
information unless it is federally required. "Counties may
individually require more information from an applicant or
recipient based on certain circumstances and we feel it is
inappropriate to legislatively mandate that such local
processes be denied. Ensuring program integrity should be a
hallmark of public assistance programs and this bill
frustrates the state's ability to do so."
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Comments
These proposals arise from stakeholder meetings that
included the sponsors and the Department of Social Services
and were intended to move the state toward efficiency
through the use of technology. As a result of those
conversations, DSS submitted waivers that would permit the
use of electronic communication with beneficiaries and
allow a postponement of an interview for CalFresh under
certain conditions.
The administration has raised concerns that this bill may
be too prescriptive and could be in conflict with the
waivers pending with the federal government. DSS and the
bill's sponsors plan to continue working on amendments to
address these concerns. This analysis reflects language in
the bill that is currently in print, rather than those
proposed amendments.
PRIOR VOTES
Assembly Floor: 48 - 24
Assembly Appropriations:12 - 4
Assembly Human Services: 4 - 2
POSITIONS
Support: California Coalition of Welfare Rights
Organizations (sponsor)
County Welfare Directors Association of
California (sponsor)
Service Employees International Union
(sponsor)
Western Center on Law and Poverty (sponsor)
Alameda County Community Food Bank
Asian Law Alliance
California Catholic Conference, Inc.
California Food Policy Advocates
California Grocers Association
California Hunger Action Coalition
California State Association of Counties
City and County of San Francisco
Humboldt County Department of Health and
Human Services
Laborers' Local 777
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Laborers' Local 792
Legal Services of Northern California
Monterey County Board of Supervisors
Regional Council of Rural Counties
Riverside County Department of Public Social
Services
St. Anthony Foundation of San Francisco
Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors
Stanislaus County Community Services Agency
Ventura County Board of Supervisors
Oppose: California District Attorneys Association
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