BILL ANALYSIS �
AB 2115
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Date of Hearing: March 25, 2014
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON HUMAN SERVICES
Mark Stone, Chair
AB 2115 (Bradford) - As Introduced: February 20, 2014
SUBJECT : CalFresh: school meals
SUMMARY : Adds specific information about school-based nutrition
programs and other programs intended to serve children to the
information counties are required to provide to households
applying for CalFresh benefits.
Specifically, this bill :
1)Requires a county human services agency to compile a list of
emergency food providers, including local child feeding and
summer feeding programs, and requires that list to be updated
with information from food providers, cities and school
districts.
2)Requires the list of emergency food providers to be made
available to households applying for CalFresh and deletes the
requirement for households to receive the information upon
request.
3)Requires the county welfare department to provide an applicant
household with children information about how to enroll them
in the National School Lunch and School Breakfast Programs
while the household's CalFresh application is pending, and
requires the county welfare department to inform the household
that all children in the household are directly certified for
the National School Lunch and School Breakfast Programs
without additional application requirements if the household
is certified for CalFresh.
EXISTING LAW
1)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.)
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2)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)
3)Provides that any child who is eligible for federal SNAP
benefits is automatically certified to receive free school
meals without an additional application. (7 U.S.C.
�2020(u)(2)(A)).
4)Requires a CalFresh application to be processed within 30 days
from the date of application, and requires county welfare
departments to make information related to expedited CalFresh
benefits, as specified, available to each applicant upon his
or her initial application for CalFresh. (WIC 18911)
5)Requires each county welfare department to compile a list of
emergency food providers in the area served by the CalFresh
office, which shall be made available upon request and may be
used to refer individuals to emergency food assistance sites.
(WIC 18911)
FISCAL EFFECT : Unknown.
COMMENTS : This bill seeks to ensure individuals do not go
hungry while their CalFresh applications are pending. While
current law requires each county to compile a list of local food
providers (e.g., food pantries, soup kitchens) for CalFresh
applicants, there is no requirement for the list to include
child nutrition programs. This bill requires counties to
provide applicant households with updated information about
local emergency and school-based food programs, and ensures
households with children are aware of the children's ability to
receive food at school through the national school meals
programs. While this bill does not increase eligibility for
statewide or national nutrition programs, it seeks to make
existing nutrition programs more accessible to individuals who
are hungry by guaranteeing they receive information about
existing programs, as well as application and eligibility
requirements, upon seeking benefits at the county office.
Background : CalFresh benefits are funded entirely by the
federal government through the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance
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Program (SNAP), and the United States Department of Agriculture
(USDA) sets specific eligibility requirements for SNAP programs
across the United States, including a gross and net income test,
work requirements, and other documentation requirements. The
maximum allowable gross income is 130% of the Federal Poverty
Level (FPL). Households with elderly or disabled members are
not subject to gross income criteria but must have a net monthly
income at or below 100% of the FPL. Other households must meet
both gross and net monthly income tests. CalFresh is
administered locally by county human services agencies, and the
federal, state, and county governments share in the cost of
administration of the program.
Benefits are made available on a monthly basis for food purchase
through an ATM-like electronic benefits transfer (EBT) card.
However, unlike other types of benefits that may be accessed
through an EBT card, CalFresh benefits cannot be withdrawn in
cash at point-of-sale terminals or at ATM machines. CalFresh
benefits can only be used to purchase food items to be prepared
and consumed at home, as well as seeds and plants that can be
grown at home and produce food. The average monthly CalFresh
benefit for a CalFresh recipient is $153.13 per month, or $5.10
per person per day, whereas the maximum monthly CalFresh benefit
for a household of four is $632, or $5.27 per person per day.
CalFresh recipients are required to regularly provide personal
information to the county office, including a home address, bank
account, phone number, and employer information. This reporting
requirement allows county offices to routinely check a
recipient's household composition and financial information to
verify validity and continued CalFresh eligibility. While most
safety net programs rely on related family composition in order
to determine eligibility for benefits, a CalFresh household is
defined a group of people who meet the financial eligibility
criteria and live together, buy food, and prepare meals
together. Fifty-eight percent of CalFresh recipients are
children and one quarter of adults receiving CalFresh live in
households with children.
National School Breakfast and School Lunch Programs : Public and
non-profit private schools can choose to participate in the
National School Breakfast and School Lunch Programs. Both
programs provide schools with cash subsidies from the USDA for
each meal served, provided the meals meet specified federal
nutritional guidelines and are offered for free or at a reduced
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price to eligible children. According to the USDA, in Fiscal
Year 2012, 12.9 million children participated in the National
School Breakfast Program every day. Of those children, over
10.1 million received their meals free or at a reduced price.
During that same period, more than 31.6 million children got
their lunch each day through the National School Lunch Program.
Children from families who meet federal SNAP guidelines (their
household incomes are at or below 130% of the federal poverty
level) are eligible for free meals through the national school
meals programs. If their household incomes are between 130% and
185% of the poverty level, they are eligible for reducedprice
meals, for which students can be charged no more than 40 cents.
Food hardship : Despite efforts to increase access to CalFresh
nutrition assistance by reaching out to households that are
eligible but not currently participating in the program, a
number of California's families still experience food
insecurity, meaning they are unable to afford balanced meals and
often cut the size of their meals or go hungry. Households
experiencing food insecurity don't have consistent access to
enough food for healthy living due to a lack of money and other
resources. Some families that constantly battle with food
insecurity go without food for entire days, and parents in
food-insecure households often report going without food
themselves while ensuring their children have something to eat,
though it may be very little. A national food security survey
conducted in 2012 by the United States Department of Agriculture
(USDA) Economic Research Service revealed that 14.5% of
households were food-insecure at least some time during the
year, including 5.7% with very low food security.
Numerous studies have documented the link between healthy eating
and health. Adults who go hungry have been shown to have higher
rates of chronic diseases, such as diabetes and heart
conditions, as well as depression and other mental illness.
Children who suffer from extreme poverty and hunger are found to
fall behind in developmental milestones, experience worse health
outcomes and increased hospitalizations, and have poorer
economic outcomes as adults.
Need for the bill : According to the author, one in five
children in the US live in a home that cannot afford enough food
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to get through the month without experiencing hunger, which is
more than in any other state. The author also notes that the
experience of hunger is isolating and emotionally difficult for
children, often resulting in poor health and education outcomes.
Ultimately, hunger impedes progress in our schools and
eventually limits the ability for California's economy to
succeed.
According to statewide CalFresh data from the Department of
Social Services, 97.5% of applications were processed within the
required 30-day timeframe in the fourth quarter of 2012. While
this means most applications were processed in a timely manner,
this could still allow for up to a 30-day period during which a
family that has reached out to the county for help does not have
money to buy food. Additionally, this average is built on data
from some counties meeting the 30-day requirement 100% of the
time while other counties are not, without any indication as to
the length of processing time for the additional applications
that were not processed within the required timeframe.
PROPOSED AMENDMENTS : Due to changes in common terminology
within public social services, Committee Staff recommends the
following technical amendments:
1)On page 2, line 11, strike "county welfare department" and
insert:
county human services agency
2)On page 2, line 14, strike "county welfare department" and
insert:
county human services agency
3)On page 2, line 18, strike "service" and insert:
Services
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
California Hunger Coalition
Los Angeles Regional Food Bank
Western Center on Law and Poverty
Opposition
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None on file
Analysis Prepared by : Myesha Jackson / HUM. S. / (916)
319-2089