BILL ANALYSIS �
Senate Appropriations Committee Fiscal Summary
Senator Kevin de Le�n, Chair
AB 1516 (Gonzalez) - CalWORKs: special needs supplement.
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 1516 would do the following:
Establish a young child special needs supplement of $80 per
month, to be adjusted annually by a cost of living
adjustment (COLA), within the CalWORKs program for each
child younger than two years of age who is in an assistance
unit (AU).
Require counties to allow participants to request
supportive services through the internet website of the
county, if the county is capable of accepting requests via
its website. Otherwise, requires counties to accept requests
in a manner necessary to ensure that participants are able
to request the supportive services they need.
Fiscal Impact:
Ongoing major costs of about $119 million (General Fund)
per year to serve approximately 12.3 percent of total
CalWORKs children, or 123,500 children who are under two
years of age, with future annual costs increasing due to the
annual COLA on the supplement. A 2 percent COLA after five
years would increase costs assuming a static caseload to
$131 million per year.
Potential additional costs of about $0.8 million (General
Fund) per year for 800 SSI children served in CalWORKs AUs,
as the bill provides that the young child special needs
supplement is to be paid "in addition to any other amounts
payable under this section or any other law."
Potential ongoing reduction in CalFresh benefits (Federal)
to families whose CalWORKs grant levels will increase due to
the special needs supplement.
Ongoing minor costs to county eligibility workers to screen
for the new special needs supplement, as well as remove the
supplement once the child reaches two years of age.
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Potential one-time costs (General Fund) of an unknown
amount to DSS to program the eligibility change into
existing automation systems.
Potential state-reimbursable costs (General Fund) to
counties to staff requests for supportive services through
the internet. Although counties may have the capability to
accept such requests, counties may not be sufficiently
staffed to receive and process the volume of such requests
in this manner.
Unknown increase in supportive services costs (TANF/General
Fund) to the extent the utilization of internet requests
facilitates the provision of more services.
Background: Existing state law establishes the California Work
Opportunity and Responsibility to Kids (CalWORKs) program,
administered by the Department of Social Services (DSS) to
provide cash benefits, employment training and other supports to
low-income families through a combination of state and county
funds, as well as federal funds through the Temporary Assistance
for Needy Families (TANF) block grant.
Existing law requires that necessary supportive services be made
available to every participant in the welfare-to-work program in
order to participate in the program activity to which he or she
is assigned or to accept employment, or requires that the
participant be given a good cause waiver. Supportive services
include child care, transportation costs, ancillary expenses, as
defined, personal counseling and case management.
Although child care is among the supportive services required to
be available to welfare-to-work participants, it has been
suggested that one of the barriers to employment for low-income
parents includes the inability to take advantage of subsidized
child care, as many child care providers require the provision
of diapers.
As included in the bill's legislative findings and declarations,
"Existing federal law classifies diapers with cigarettes,
alcohol, and pet food as disallowed purchases under CalFresh and
the California Special Supplemental Food Program for Women,
Infants, and Children."
There are federal programs that explicitly identify diapers as
necessary items to be provided to families in need. Both the
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Head Start (serving children three to five years old) and Early
Head Start (serving children under three years) Programs are
required to provide diapers and formula to participants who need
them. Federal programs in support of foster children also
recognize diapers as a needed expense in child rearing. Federal
policies include diaper expenses in maintenance allowances to
foster parents as part of the child's "personal incidentals."
Proposed Law: This bill establishes a young child special needs
supplement of $80 per month, to be adjusted annually by a cost
of living adjustment, within the CalWORKs program to any child
younger than two years of age who is in an AU. Additionally,
this bill:
Requires DSS to implement the supplement through the
provision of an all-county letter or similar instruction
from the director no later than April 1, 2015, and requires
the adoption of regulations no later than July 1, 2016.
Requires counties to allow participants to request
supportive services through the internet website of the
county, if the county is capable of accepting requests via
its website. Otherwise, requires counties to accept requests
in a manner necessary to ensure that participants are able
to request the supportive services they need.
Includes uncodified legislative findings and declarations.
Staff Comments: This bill would provide for a monthly supplement
of $80 to each child under two years of age in a CalWORKs AU.
Utilizing DSS data indicating approximately 12.3 percent of
children in CalWORKs families (excluding SSI children) are under
the age of two years, providing the monthly supplement to
123,500 children would result in ongoing costs of about $119
million (General Fund), with future annual costs increasing due
to the annual COLA on the supplement. A 2 percent COLA after
five years would increase costs assuming a static caseload to
$131 million per year.
This bill provides that the supplement is to be paid "in
addition to any other amounts payable under this section or any
other law." To the extent this provision is interpreted to
provide the supplement to all children under two years of age in
CalWORKs AUs, including children in receipt of federal SSI
benefits, would result in additional costs of $0.8 million
(General Fund) per year for 800 SSI children in CalWORKs AUs.
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Families whose CalWORKs grant levels will increase due to the
special needs supplement will potentially experience a reduction
in federal CalFresh benefits due to the increase in countable
income to the family.
This bill is estimated to result in minor ongoing costs to
county eligibility workers to screen for the new special needs
supplement, as well as remove the supplement once the child
reaches two years of age. The eligibility change could also
result in potential one-time costs (General Fund) to DSS of an
unknown amount to program the eligibility change into existing
automation systems.
By requiring participants to have the option to request support
services through the internet website of the county if the
county is capable of accepting those requests, this bill creates
a potentially significant state-reimbursable mandate on
counties. Although counties may have the capability to accept
such requests, counties may not be sufficiently staffed and
trained to receive and process the volume of such requests in
this manner. To the extent utilization of internet requests for
support services facilitates the provision of more services.to
recipients could result in future ongoing increases in
supportive services and costs (TANF/General Fund).