BILL ANALYSIS �
SENATE HUMAN
SERVICES COMMITTEE
Senator Jim Beall, Chair
BILL NO: AB 264
A
AUTHOR: Maienschein
B
VERSION: May 29, 2014
HEARING DATE: June 10, 2014
2
FISCAL: Yes
6
4
CONSULTANT: Mareva Brown
SUBJECT
CalWORKs: temporary shelter assistance
SUMMARY
This bill deletes the requirement that CalWORKs temporary
shelter assistance be provided consecutively to a limit of
16 days. Instead the bill allows a family to receive
temporary shelter assistance for a total of 16 calendar
days to be used at any time they are both homeless and
receiving CalWORKs aid.
ABSTRACT
Existing law:
1) Establishes in federal law the Temporary Assistance
for Needy Families (TANF) program to provide
assistance to needy families so that children may be
cared for in their own homes or in the homes of
relatives, and to end the dependence on government
benefits by promoting job preparation, work and
marriage. (45 CFR 260.2)
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STAFF ANALYSIS OF ASSEMBLY BILL 264 (Maienschein)
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2) Establishes the California Work Opportunity and
Responsibility to Kids (CalWORKs) Act, to provide cash
benefits, employment training and other supports to
low-income families through a combination of state and
county funds and federal funds through the TANF block
grant. (WIC 11200, et seq.)
3) Provides that additional cash benefits may be
granted to individuals for recurring and nonrecurring
special needs, as specified, including homeless
assistance for families that are homeless and seeking
shelter, as defined. (WIC 11450 (e) and (f))
4) Limits eligibility to one period of up to 16
consecutive calendar days of temporary assistance and
one payment of permanent assistance, unless families
qualify for an exception, as specified. (WIC 11450
(f)(2)(E))
5) Prohibits any family that includes a parent or
nonparent caretaker relative living in the home who
has previously received temporary or permanent
homeless assistance at any time on behalf of an
eligible child from eligibility for further homeless
assistance. (WIC 11450 (f)(2)(E))
6) Requires that any person who applies for homeless
assistance benefits shall be informed that the
temporary shelter benefit of up to 16 consecutive days
is available only once in a lifetime, with certain
exceptions, and that a break in the consecutive use of
the benefit constitutes permanent exhaustion of the
temporary benefit. (WIC 11450 (f)(2)(E))
7) Establishes exceptions to the 16-day limit when
homelessness is a direct result of domestic violence
by a spouse, partner, or roommate; physical or mental
illness that is medically verified that shall not
include a diagnosis of alcoholism, drug addiction, or
psychological stress; or, the uninhabitability of the
former residence caused by sudden and unusual
STAFF ANALYSIS OF ASSEMBLY BILL 264 (Maienschein)
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circumstances beyond the control of the family
including natural catastrophe, fire, or condemnation,
as defined, and limits homeless assistance payments
based on these specific circumstances to not more
often than once in any 12-month period. If domestic
violence contributes to homelessness, as defined,
limits homeless assistance payments to two periods of
not more than 16 consecutive calendar days of
temporary assistance and two payments of permanent
assistance. (WIC 11450 (f)(2)(E)(iii))
This bill:
1) Deletes the requirement that homeless
assistance be provided consecutively for up to 16
days and instead permits homeless assistance be
provided to eligible families for up to a total of
16 calendar days in a lifetime.
2) In cases of domestic violence, deletes the
requirement that homeless assistance be provided no
more than twice, in two periods not to exceed 16
consecutive days and instead permits homeless
assistance be provided to eligible families for a
total of 32 calendar days in a lifetime.
FISCAL IMPACT
An analysis prepared by the Assembly Committee on
Appropriations estimated provisions of this bill could cost
in excess of $2 million in increased housing benefits.
BACKGROUND AND DISCUSSION
Purpose of the bill:
The author contends that because temporary housing
assistance is only available for 16 consecutive days, a
break in assistance inadvertently punishes families who,
for one reason or another, have to vacate their temporary
lodgings for even one day. AB 264 will remove the
disincentive to refuse or interrupt temporary housing
assistance during the 16-consecutive-day period, according
to the author. It does this by simply removing the
STAFF ANALYSIS OF ASSEMBLY BILL 264 (Maienschein)
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requirement that the 16 days be consecutive. In order to
avoid forfeiting the remainder of the one-time benefit, the
current rule also serves as a disincentive for families to
find alternative arrangements, seek prospective
opportunities for employment, or tend to other health or
family obligations during the 16-day period, the author
states.
Homelessness
Rising rental prices, decreased availability of federal
housing vouchers and continued effects of the Great
Recession have thwarted national and statewide efforts to
make substantial decreases in the numbers of homeless
people. In 2010, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban
Development (HUD) created a federal strategic plan to
prevent and end homelessness by 2015. While that plan
reports improvement in some areas of homelessness - and
specifically a decrease in the numbers of people
experiencing chronic homelessness - the number of homeless
families with children remains a concern.
On a single January night in 2013, more than 610,000 people
were homeless. Of those, 36 percent, or 222,000 people were
part of families, according to the 2013 Annual Homeless
Assessment Report to Congress, prepared by HUD. Nearly
one-quarter (138,149) of homeless people were children
under the age of 18. People in families accounted for 50
percent of those in homeless shelters.
California is home to nearly one-quarter of the nation's
homeless populations, some 136,826 people. Nearly 67
percent of them were unsheltered. And while the report
found that people in families were much more likely to be
sheltered (86 percent) than unsheltered, four California
cities were in the top five major U.S. cities with homeless
families who were unsheltered: in Fresno, 57 percent of
homeless families were unsheltered, followed by 49 percent
in Long Beach, 31 percent in Los Angeles, and 16 percent in
Oakland.
Effect on children
Homelessness has particularly damaging effects on children.
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According to a fact sheet provided by the American
Psychological Association (APA),<1> nearly 1 million
homeless children were enrolled in public schools during
the 2009-2010 school year, a 38 percent increase from the
2006-2007 academic year.
The APA cites a series of adverse effects for children who
experience homelessness including a lack of stability
leading to disruptions in schooling and decreased academic
achievement, increased likelihood of grade repetition,
suspension or identification of a learning disability.
Homeless children are twice as likely to experience hunger
as their non-homeless peers, which has negative effects on
the physical, social, emotional and cognitive development
of children. One-quarter of homeless children have
witnessed violence, 22 percent have been separated from
their families, half of homeless children experience
problems with depression and anxiety and one in five
homeless preschoolers have emotional problems that require
professional care.
CalWORKs
The California Work Opportunity and Responsibility to Kids
(CalWORKs) program provides monthly income assistance and
employment-related services to move children out of poverty
and help families meet basic needs. Federal funding for
CalWORKs comes from the Temporary Assistance for Needy
Families (TANF) block grant. The average monthly CalWORKs
cash grant for a family of three is $463, or $15.43 per day
to meet basic needs such as rent, clothing, utilities and
other necessities. According to CDSS data, 554,292 families
received CalWORKs benefits in January 2014, including more
than 1 million children. Nearly 80% of the children were
under age 12. While federal law limits cash assistance to a
family with an adult to 60 months, California law limits
eligibility for the CalWORKs program to 24 months, although
benefits to families may be extended to 48 months if
families meet federal work participation requirements.
Homeless Assistance program
A CalWORKs family is considered homeless under WIC 11450
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<1> https://www.apa.org/pi/families/poverty.aspx?item=6
STAFF ANALYSIS OF ASSEMBLY BILL 264 (Maienschein)
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(f) when the family lacks a fixed and regular nighttime
residence or under other specific conditions. These can
include that the family has a primary nighttime residence
that is a supervised publicly or privately operated shelter
designed to provide temporary living accommodations, or the
family is residing in a public or private place not
designed for, or ordinarily used as, a regular sleeping
accommodation for human beings.
A family also is considered homeless under California law
if the family has received a notice to pay rent or quit.
The family must demonstrate that the eviction is the result
of a verified financial hardship as a result of
extraordinary circumstances beyond their control, and not
other lease or rental violations, and that the family is
experiencing a financial crisis that could result in
homelessness if preventative assistance is not provided.
Benefits are allocated either for temporary shelter or for
permanent housing assistance. If a family demonstrates that
it is homeless, it may receive a nonrecurring special-need
benefit of $65 per day for families of up to four members
for the costs of temporary shelter. The fifth and
additional members of the family receive $15 per day, up to
a maximum of $125, although statute permits county welfare
departments to increase the daily allotment for temporary
shelter as necessary to secure needed bed space.
16-day limit
California law provides temporary shelter assistance to
families receiving CalWORKs for a single period of 16
consecutive days, unless the family meets criteria for an
exception, and counts a break in the use of this assistance
as a permanent exhaustion of the benefit. A family may
receive temporary shelter assistance more than once in a
lifetime if the family's homelessness is the direct result
of domestic violence, a medically verified physical or
mental illness, excluding diagnoses that include substance
abuse, or a fire or other natural catastrophe beyond the
family's control. However, a family cannot receive the 16
consecutive days of homeless assistance more than once in a
12-month period, and families can only receive shelter
assistance for domestic violence twice in in a lifetime.
According to CDSS, the average time used in 2013 by
temporary homeless assistance recipients was 10.2 days.
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This bill removes the requirement that the 16 days of
homeless assistance be used consecutively and instead
provides for a lifetime limit of 16 days, unless a family
qualifies for an exception.
Related legislation
AB 1452 (Stone), 2014, would increase the daily maximum
homeless allowance for a family of four from $65 to $75 per
day, and increase the maximum daily assistance for larger
families from $125 to $135. It would require that homeless
assistance benefits be included in annual recalculations
and cost-of-living adjustments for CalWORKs benefits.
AB 1808 (Committee on Budget) Chapter 75, Statutes of 2006,
increased the daily homeless allowance from $40 to $65 and
added criteria for eligibility that permitted assistance to
avoid eviction.
COMMENTS
Due to a number of information technology changes to
welfare systems statewide, staff recommends moving the
implementation date of this bill to April 1, 2015, to allow
the Office of Systems Integration sufficient time to make
program changes. Staff recommends the following amendment:
Section 4:
(a) Notwithstanding 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 State
Department of Social Services shall implement this act
through an all-county letter or similar instructions from
the director no later than April 1, 2015.
(b) The department shall adopt regulations as necessary to
implement this act no later than July 1, 2016.
PRIOR VOTES
Assembly Floor 78 - 0
Assembly Appropriations 16 - 0
Assembly Human Services 5 - 0
STAFF ANALYSIS OF ASSEMBLY BILL 264 (Maienschein)
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POSITIONS
Support: Western Center on Law & Poverty (Sponsor)
AFSCME
American Academy of Pediatrics, California
California Catholic Conference, Inc.
California Communities United Institute
California Hunger Action Coalition
California State Association of Counties
Coalition of California Welfare Rights
Organization, Inc.
Corporation for Supportive Housing
Housing California
Legal Services of Northern California
San Diego Hunger Coalition
United Way of San Diego County
Oppose: None received
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