BILL ANALYSIS �
AB 1776
Page 1
Date of Hearing: April 29, 2014
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON HUMAN SERVICES
Mark Stone, Chair
AB 1776 (Nazarian) - As Amended: April 21, 2014
SUBJECT : Public social services: hearings
SUMMARY : Enacts the State Hearings Efficiency Act of 2014
Specifically, this bill :
1)Allows a recipient of public social services to receive
electronic notice of the time and place of a state hearing if
he or she has opted for electronic access, as specified.
2)Authorizes a recipient of public social services requesting a
state hearing to, at any time, submit a written request to
receive communications and notices electronically instead of
by mail in counties where electronic communication is
available. Requires the county to inform the recipient in
writing of his or her right to opt out of the electronic
communications designation at any time, as specified.
3)Requires the Department of Social Services (DSS), in
consultation with the State Department of Health Care Services
(DHCS), to develop a process by which recipients of public
social services may choose to receive electronic notices of
action or other communications relevant to a state hearing,
which includes maintaining the due process and privacy rights
of all recipients, and implement a system for determining when
an electronic communication has failed, as specified.
4)Prohibits any electronic communication unless it has been
affirmatively requested by the recipient, and requires a
record of the request and electronically-sent notices to be
maintained in the recipient's case file for three years, as
specified.
5)Requires electronic communications to be sent or made
available using a secured server, as specified, and requires
each electronic communication or Internet Web site where
electronic communications are accessed to inform recipients of
their right to opt out of receiving electronic communications
in writing, in person, by telephone, or by electronic means at
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any time.
6)Requires DSS to submit a waiver request to the United States
Department of Agriculture (USDA), as specified, to allow for
the use of electronic notification of scheduled fair hearings
and fair hearing decisions.
7)Requires a county representative to offer a recipient of
public social services a conditional withdrawal of a state
hearing when the hearing concerns a recipient's eligibility
for a benefit or service and the representative finds that
certain acts or evidence would establish the recipient's
eligibility for that service or benefit or concludes that the
county erred.
8)Requires the conditional withdrawal to list the agreed-upon
conditions that the recipient is required to meet and include
the requirements of the county to reevaluate the case
following the recipient meeting the specified conditions and
issuing the benefits or providing the services for which the
recipient is determined to be eligible.
9)Requires a county representative to offer a recipient a
conditional withdrawal, as a means of preventing multiple
costly filings of state hearings, if the recipient has
requested a state hearing concerning the validity of a
CalWORKs overpayment, a CalFresh benefit overissuance, or
both, and the county representative does not find evidence
adequate to support the validity of either or both.
10)Requires the county representative to agree to the permanent
cancellation of the allegation of the CalWORKs overpayment,
CalFresh overissuance, or both, and to refund to the recipient
any money already collected toward the repayment of the
alleged overpayment, overissuance, or both, to the extent
permitted by federal law.
11)Prohibits the county from further pursuing an allegation of a
CalWORKs overpayment or CalFresh overissuance, or both, if the
recipient conditionally withdraws his or her hearing request
and both the recipient and the county sign an agreement.
12)Authorizes a county to issue a notice of action to a
recipient describing its compliance with the terms of the
conditional withdrawal in order to avoid reopening a
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conditionally withdrawn hearing, and requires any aid paid
pending the outcome of the hearing to continue until the
notice of action complying with the terms of the conditional
withdrawal is issued.
EXISTING LAW
1)Defines public social services as those activities and
functions of state and local government, administered or
supervised by the State Department of Social Services or the
State Department of Health Services, that provide aid,
services, or both aid and services, including health care
services and medical assistance, to those people of the state
who are in need of such aid or services due to their economic
circumstances or social condition. (WIC 10051)
2)Establishes, under federal law, the Supplemental Nutrition
Assistance Program (SNAP), pursuant to the Food Stamp Act of
1964 and subsequent revisions, and establishes, in California
law, the CalFresh program to administer the provision of
federal SNAP benefits to low-income families and individuals
meeting specified criteria. (WIC 18900 et seq.)
3)Establishes, under federal law, eligibility requirements for
receipt of SNAP benefits, including income that is at or below
130% of the federal poverty level and is determined to be a
substantial limiting factor in permitting a recipient to
obtain a more nutritious diet, as specified. (7 CFR 273.9)
4)Establishes under federal law the Temporary Assistance for
Needy Families (TANF) program to provide 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 CalWORKs program. (42
U.S.C. 601 et seq., WIC 11200 et seq.)
5)Establishes income, asset and real property limits used to
determine eligibility for the program, including net income
below the Maximum Aid Payment (MAP), based on family size and
county of residence, which is approximately 40% of the Federal
Poverty Level. (WIC 11450, 11150 et seq.)
6)Requires all applications and records pertaining to public
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social services provided to individuals to be confidential and
prohibits dissemination of such information unless it is for
purposes of administering services to the individual or for
purposes of investigation, prosecution, or criminal or civil
proceeding related to the administration of the services the
individual receives, as specified. (WIC 10850(a))
7)Authorizes counties to provide information pertaining to
applicants for, and recipients of, public social services to
other public entities for the purpose of determining program
eligibility and to school officials, as specified, as
necessary for the administration of federally assisted,
needs-based programs. (WIC 10850(b))
8)Provides that any applicant for or recipient of public social
services can request a state hearing, as specified, if he or
she is dissatisfied with any action of the county relating to
his or her application for or receipt of public social
services, and authorizes DHCS to contract with DSS for the
provision of state hearings for the purpose of administering
health care services and medical assistance, as specified.
(WIC 10950)
9)Requires a state hearing request to be filed within 90 days of
an order or action, except as specified when good cause
exists, and upholds the possibility of the application of the
principles of equity jurisdiction in a state hearing. (WIC
10951)
10)Requires DSS to set a hearing to commence within 30 working
days after the request is filed and to provide written notice
of the time and place of the hearing, to all parties
concerned, at least 10 days prior to the hearing. (WIC 10952)
11)Limits the issues at a state hearing to those that are
reasonably related to the request for hearing or other issues
that have been identified by either party and mutually agreed
upon for discussion prior to the hearing. (WIC 10958.1)
12)Allows an applicant or recipient to request a rehearing
within 30 days after receiving the decision of the original
hearing, as specified, including in cases where newly
discovered evidence that was not in custody or available to
the party requesting rehearing at the time of the hearing is
now available, and the new evidence, had it been introduced,
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could have changed the hearing decision. (WIC 10960)
13)Provides that a hearing award, if the decision is in favor of
the applicant or recipient, shall be determined within 30 days
of the date of the hearing decision, and requires the county
and the claimant to be notified of the determination regarding
the county's compliance with the decision. (WIC 10961)
14)Allows the applicant or recipient, or the affected county, to
file a petition with the superior court, as specified,
requesting review of the entire proceedings of the case within
one year of receipt of notice of the final decision. Provides
that such review, if granted, shall be the exclusive remedy
available to the claimant for review of the decision. (WIC
10962)
15)Authorizes a recipient of public social services to raise the
adequacy of the county's notice of action as an issue at the
time of the hearing, and requires retroactive action to be
taken to reinstate aid pending if the administrative law judge
determines that adequate notice was not provided and the
notice involved termination or reduction of aid. (WIC 10967)
16)Requires each county to establish and maintain a case record
for each public social services case for a period of three
years from the date on which public social services were last
provided, as specified. (WIC 10851)
FISCAL EFFECT : Unknown
COMMENTS : This bill seeks to reduce the cost of state hearings
related to public social services benefits and services through
authorizing electronic communications of hearing information and
documents, when requested by a claimant, and requiring that
conditional withdrawals of state hearings for certain benefits
and services constitute a final action once the terms of a
conditional withdrawal are fulfilled.
CalFresh : Nutrition benefits provided through the CalFresh
program are funded entirely by the federal government through
the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). The
United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) sets specific
eligibility requirements for SNAP programs across the United
States, including gross and net income tests, work requirements,
and other documentation requirements. CalFresh is administered
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locally by county human services agencies, and the federal,
state, and county governments share in the cost of
administration of the program.
CalWORKs : The California Work Opportunity and Responsibility to
Kids (CalWORKs) program provides monthly income assistance and
employment-related services to help families with children meet
basic needs and achieve stability. Federal funding for CalWORKs
comes from the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF)
block grant. CalWORKs cash aid and services are provided to
low-income families with children and needy caretaker relatives
of children in, or at risk of placement in, the foster care
system, with the goal of lifting children out of deep poverty.
Overpayments and overissuance : Under current law, overpayments
of CalWORKs aid due to administrative errors made by a county
agency are required to be collected through a 5% reduction in
the family's maximum aid payment every month until the full
amount of the overpayment is recouped. In cases of a CalFresh
overissuance, a household's benefit is reduced by either 5% of
the benefit amount or $10, whichever is greater, until the full
amount is recouped by the county.
State hearings : State regulations spell out the basic benefits
and services provided to low-income individuals and families
that fit within the public social services programs for which a
state hearing can be requested. These include, but are not
limited to, CalWORKs, the State administered programs for
recipients of SSI/SSP, the Refugee Resettlement Program (RRP),
CalFresh, Medi-Cal, Stage One Child Care, California Assistance
Program for Immigrants (CAPI), Kinship Guardian Assistance
Program (Kin-GAP), AFDC-Foster Care, California Food Assistance
Program (CFAP), Multipurpose Senior Services Program (MSSP), and
others.
Under current law, an applicant or recipient of public social
services can request a state hearing to contest an action taken
by the county that the applicant or recipient believes is unjust
or inappropriate, such as a recipient's denial of benefits, aid,
or services, or an applicant's denial of program eligibility.
Current law and regulations set forth timeframes for requesting
a state hearing and adjudication of the complaint, in addition
to county requirements to send notices pertaining to the
hearing, all of which are currently sent through the mail.
According to recent information from DSS, each state hearing
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costs around $1,025.
Conditional withdrawals : Before a state hearing takes place, or
before a final decision is made, the hearing request can be
unconditionally or conditionally withdrawn by the claimant. An
unconditional withdrawal requires the hearing to be dismissed
without prejudice, which allows the claimant to file an
identical hearing request for the same issue, provided that the
request is within the allotted timeframe for filing a complaint.
Conversely, a conditional withdrawal requires the claimant and
the county to sign an agreement that includes the actions to be
taken by both parties within 30 days of the conditional
withdrawal form being signed and submitted to the county. This
might include, for example, an agreement that the recipient will
provide the county with information about the case that, had the
county had it previously, would have ensured that the
recipient's benefits or services would not have been reduced or
terminated. After a conditional withdrawal form is signed, if a
claimant does not reinstate the hearing request within the
allotted timeframe, the original hearing request is dismissed.
A conditional withdrawal can also be initiated by the county,
and is considered in state regulations to be appropriate when,
upon reviewing the action taken by the county, a county
representative concludes that the action was incorrect.
Need for this bill : Currently, all state hearing notices and
related information are transmitted by mail. In order to
achieve greater administrative efficiency and cost savings, this
bill authorizes electronic communication of such documents,
provided that the county has electronic communication capacity
and the recipient of public social services requests such means
of communication.
Simultaneously, as a means of reducing the number of state
hearings, which can be beneficial to counties and recipients of
public social services, this bill requires a county to offer a
claimant a conditional withdrawal if the county finds that
certain acts or evidence would establish the recipient's
eligibility for the benefit or service in question or concludes
that the county has erred in its action pertaining to the
recipient's benefits or services. While regulations stipulate
the dismissal of a hearing request if a claimant doesn't
reinstate the hearing once the claimant and the county sign a
conditional withdrawal, there is no similar requirement for the
county to cancel or discontinue pursuit of a CalFresh
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overissuance or a CalWORKs overpayment in cases where a claimant
has met the terms of a conditional withdrawal. Counties have
the option to submit a new notice of action for the same issue
addressed in the conditional withdrawal agreement at a much
later date, even though a claimant's new hearing request to
address the new notice will likely result in another conditional
withdrawal. In order to achieve greater efficiency in the
process and prevent an undue burden on a recipient, this bill
requires the agreement and actions taken pursuant to a
conditional withdrawal for an alleged CalFresh overissuance or
CalWORKs overpayment to constitute the final action pertaining
to either matter. Finally, this bill allows aid to be paid
while the terms of a conditional withdrawal are being met. This
is not currently required unless a claimant reinstates a fair
hearing request.
According to the author, "[This bill] will help improve and
streamline the state hearing process. Electronic communication
will allow state hearings to be more efficient, by providing an
additional means of communication. Technological advancements
have made it easier to electronically correspond and deliver
documents and information relating to a state hearing.
Additionally, this bill would prevent money and time spent on
multiple adjudications of hearings that deal with CalWORKs
overpayments and CalFresh overissuances by barring the county
from taking additional actions on the overpayments and
overissuance of the same period. As a result, the county will
not be able to take back the benefits issued during the
conditional withdrawal process and the claimant will not need to
worry about re-paying the county the benefits that were issued
to them during the conditional withdrawal process."
PRIOR LEGISLATION
AB 320 (Wright), 2012 contained provisions related to
conditional withdrawals, and would have clarified and
streamlined the scheduling and location of state hearings. Died
in the Assembly Appropriations Committee.
AB 921, Chapter 502, Statutes of 2007, extended the deadlines
for public social services recipients seeking reconsideration of
a county determination based on good cause and required DSS to
grant or deny a decision within a specified timeframe.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
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Support
Asian Law Alliance
California Food Policy Advocates (CFPA)
Coalition of California Welfare Rights Organizations, Inc. -
sponsor
Opposition
None on file.
Analysis Prepared by : Myesha Jackson / HUM. S. / (916)
319-2089