BILL ANALYSIS �
Senate Appropriations Committee Fiscal Summary
Senator Kevin de Le�n, Chair
AB 1502 (Mullin) - CalWORKs: Family Unity Act of 2015.
Amended: August 4, 2014 Policy Vote: Human Services 3-1
Urgency: No Mandate: Yes
Hearing Date: August 4, 2014
Consultant: Jolie Onodera
This bill meets the criteria for referral to the Suspense File.
Bill Summary: AB 1502 would expand eligibility for the CalWORKs
program through deletion of the consideration of child
deprivation as a factor in determining eligibility, as follows:
Provides that CalWORKs aid be granted to a family with a
related child who is under 18 years of age if the family
meets applicable eligibility requirements, without regard to
the employment status of the parent (current law requires
the principal earner to be unemployed or working less than
100 hours per month).
Provides that the absence of a parent, as defined, is not
a condition of eligibility to receive CalWORKs benefits, and
expands the definition of "absent parent" to include parents
absent solely by reason of the performance of active duty in
the armed forces (current law excludes parents on active
military duty from the definition of an absent parent).
Fiscal Impact: Ongoing major increase in CalWORKs grant,
services, and administrative costs of $13.2 million to $17.5
million (General Fund) to the extent removing the child
deprivation rule results in additional eligible cases and fewer
cases discontinued from the CalWORKs program.
Background: Existing federal law under the Temporary Assistance
for Needy Families (TANF) program provides aid and
welfare-to-work services to eligible families, and in
California, provides that TANF funds for welfare-to-work
services are administered through the California Work
Opportunity and Responsibility to Kids (CalWORKs) program.
Existing state law provides that CalWORKs aid and services be
granted to families with related children under the age of 18
years, with exceptions, who are considered to be deprived of
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parental support or care due to the following circumstances:
The death, physical or mental incapacity, or
incarceration of a parent;
The unemployment of a parent or parents;
Continued absence of a parent from the home due to
divorce, separation, or, desertion, or any other reason,
except absence occasioned solely by reason of the
performance of active duty in the uniformed services of the
United States.
Under existing law, "unemployment of a parent" means a natural
or adoptive parent with whom the child is living and works less
than 100 hours in the preceding four weeks and meets specified
federal definitions of an unemployed parent. Existing law
provides that a family receiving CalWORKs benefits with a child
who is considered to be deprived of parental support due to
unemployment may continue to receive assistance regardless of
the number of hours his or her parent works provided the family
does not exceed the applicable gross or net income limits and is
otherwise eligible for assistance.
Proposed Law: This bill would expand eligibility for the
CalWORKs program through deletion of the consideration of child
deprivation as a factor in determining eligibility, as follows:
Provides that CalWORKs aid be granted to a family with a
related child who is under 18 years of age if the family
meets applicable eligibility requirements, without regard to
the employment status of the parent (current law requires
the principal earner to be unemployed or working less than
100 hours per month).
Provides that the absence of a parent, as defined, is not
a condition of eligibility to receive CalWORKs benefits.
Expands the definition of "absent parent" to include
parents absent solely by reason of the performance of active
duty in the uniformed services of the United States.
Requires the DSS to implement the provisions of the bill
through an all-county letter or similar instructions no
later than July 1, 2015, and shall adopt regulations no
later than July 1, 2017.
Staff Comments: By removing the consideration of child
deprivation as a factor in determining CalWORKs eligibility,
this bill will result in both newly eligible cases as well as
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cases that will no longer be discontinued from the CalWORKs
program.
Based on DSS reports (CA 255CW and CA 253CW) indicating the
annual number of cases denied eligibility due to not meeting the
child deprivation requirement and the number of cases
discontinued due to no longer meeting the child deprivation
requirement, and discounting for those cases that would have
been found ineligible under existing law due to excess income
and resources, results in a monthly average of about 800 newly
eligible cases and about 1,000 cases that would no longer be
discontinued. Total annual costs for grants, services,
administration, and child care (for the newly eligible cases),
based on applicable utilization rates would result in costs of
about $17.5 million. To the extent 25 percent of cases denied or
discontinued due to not meeting the child deprivation
requirement would have successfully reapplied at a later date
and would otherwise have been found eligible, results in annual
costs of $13.2 million.