BILL ANALYSIS �
SENATE HUMAN
SERVICES COMMITTEE
Senator Jim Beall, Chair
BILL NO: AB 1452
A
AUTHOR: Stone
B
VERSION: April 2, 2014
HEARING DATE: June 10, 2014
1
FISCAL: Yes
4
5
CONSULTANT: Mareva Brown
2
SUBJECT
CalWORKs: temporary homeless assistance
SUMMARY
This bill would increase the amount of CalWORKs homeless
assistance from $65 to $75 per day for families of up to 4
members, and would increase the daily maximum from $125 to
$135 for families with additional members. The bill would
require that this amount be adjusted annually to reflect
any increases or decreases in the cost of living.
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)
Continued---
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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) Establishes a calculation for providing aid to
families of various sizes and provides a
cost-of-living adjustment for those payments. (WIC
11450)
4) 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))
5) Provides that sixty-five dollars ($65) a day shall
be available to families of up to four members for the
costs of temporary shelter and that additional members
of the family shall each receive fifteen dollars ($15)
per day, up to a daily maximum of one hundred
twenty-five dollars ($125). Permits county welfare
departments to increase the daily amount available for
temporary shelter as necessary to secure the
additional bed space needed by the family. (WIC 11450
(f)(2)(A)(i))
6) Requires that the maximum aid payment rate be
adjusted annually by the department to reflect any
increases or decreases in the cost of living. (WIC
11453)
This bill:
1) Increases the daily allowance for homeless
assistance to $75 per day for families up to four
STAFF ANALYSIS OF ASSEMBLY BILL 1452 (Stone)
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members, and a maximum of $135 per day for larger
families.
2) Requires homeless assistance funding be added to
those benefits subject to the annual cost-of-living
adjustments.
FISCAL IMPACT
An analysis prepared by the Assembly Committee on
Appropriations estimated provisions of this bill could cost
in excess of $3 million in housing benefits and an
additional $75,000 annually to counties for increased grant
costs.
BACKGROUND AND DISCUSSION
Purpose of the bill:
According to the author, AB 1452 helps address the real
costs of temporary housing for homeless CalWORKs families.
California's one-time cash assistance benefit for eligible
families who are facing homelessness is $65 for a family of
four. The assistance is designed to help families afford a
hotel room or comparable lodging while they find more
permanent housing. AB 1452 increases the base benefit for
temporary homeless assistance available through CalWORKs
from $65 to $75 for families of four or fewer. It requires
that this amount be adjusted annually to reflect increases
or decreases in the cost of living.
The author states long-term and temporary homelessness have
detrimental effects on the physical and mental health and
well-being of children and families. Families who have
experienced homelessness have higher rates of family
separation in which children live apart from a parent or
guardian. According to the National Center on Family
Homelessness, homeless children are at high risk for being
placed in foster care, with 12% of homeless children
experiencing foster care compared to 1% of the rest of the
child population.
Homelessness
Rising rental prices, decreased availability of federal
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housing vouchers and continued effects of the Great
Recession have thwarted national and statewide efforts to
make substantial changes in the numbers of homeless people.
In 2010, the US 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 numbers of homeless families with children remains a
concern.
On a single January night in 2013, more than 610,000 people
were homeless. Of those, 222,000 were part of families,
accounting for 36 percent of all homeless people and 50
percent of people living in sheltered locations, 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.
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. Jacksonville, Florida, had a 15 percent rate of
unsheltered families.
Effect on children
Homelessness has particularly damaging effects on children.
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 three
years prior.
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,
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<1> https://www.apa.org/pi/families/poverty.aspx?item=6
STAFF ANALYSIS OF ASSEMBLY BILL 1452 (Stone)
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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.
Additionally, according to a 2011 fact sheet prepared by
the National Center on Family Homelessness, children
experiencing homelessness face more psychological and
physical adversity than housed children. Specifically: 83
percent of homeless children had been exposed to at least
one serious violent event; homeless children are four times
more likely than housed children to have respiratory
infections and five times as likely to have
gastrointestinal problems; homeless children go hungry at
twice the rate of other children, and have three times the
rate of behavioral and emotional problems as housed
children.<2>
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. A family of three receiving the average
grant amount would have an annual household income at
$5,556 per year -- about one quarter of the Federal Poverty
Guidelines level for the same size family of $19,790.
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. Benefits solely
for children may be extended beyond that date if the family
continues to meet income eligibility.
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<2> http://www.familyhomelessness.org/media/306.pdf
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Homeless Assistance program
A CalWORKs family is considered homeless under WIC 11450
(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, and are limited to 16
consecutive days of temporary assistance and one payment of
permanent 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. In January
2014, there were 24,755 days authorized for CalWORKs
temporary shelter.
According to a worldwide Hotel Price Index,<3> California's
average hotel price was $118 per night in 2009, the most
recent year available, although average rates varied
throughout the state. In Sacramento, for example, the
average was $102 per night; Fresno hotels averaged $122 per
night and Santa Barbara's hotel average was $148 per night.
-------------------------
<3>
http://files.hotel-price-index.com/2010/full-year/pdf/2010-M
arch-HPI-USA.pdf
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The nation's lowest average price, in Macon, Ga., was $75
per night.
Related legislation
AB 264 (Maienschein), 2014, deletes the requirement that
CalWORKs temporary shelter assistance be provided for a
lifetime limit of 16 consecutive days, and instead allows a
family to receive temporary shelter assistance for a
lifetime limit of 16 calendar days, with certain
exceptions.
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 5:
(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 58 - 11
Assembly Appropriations 13 - 4
Assembly Human Services 6 - 1
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POSITIONS
Support: Coalition of California Welfare Rights
Organizations (co-sponsor)
Sacramento Regional Coalition to End
Homelessness (co-sponsor)
AFSCME
California Alternative Payment Program
California Catholic Conference, Inc.
California Communities United Institute
California Family Resource Association
California Partnership
California Police Chiefs Association, Inc.
California State Association of Counties
California Welfare Directors Association
Community Food and Justice Coalition
Housing California
Legal Services for Prisoners With Children
Mutual Housing California
National Association of Social Workers -
California Chapter
Paratransit
River City Food Bank
St. Anthony Foundation
The County of Santa Clara
Western Center on Law and Poverty
Oppose: California Department of Finance
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