BILL ANALYSIS �
Senate Appropriations Committee Fiscal Summary
Senator Kevin de Le�n, Chair
SB 1147 (DeSaulnier) - CalFresh: customer service standards and
performance goals.
Amended: March 27, 2014 Policy Vote: Human Services 5-0
Urgency: No Mandate: No (see Staff Comments)
Hearing Date: April 28, 2014
Consultant: Jolie Onodera
This bill meets the criteria for referral to the Suspense File.
Bill Summary: SB 1147 would require the Department of Social
Services (DSS), in collaboration with key stakeholders, to
establish and periodically revise statewide CalFresh customer
service standards and performance goals. Additionally, this bill
would require the DSS to develop a data management tool, as
specified, to be made publicly available, updated quarterly, and
utilized to measure the progress made toward achieving the
established standards and goals.
Fiscal Impact:
Unknown, potentially significant one-time and ongoing
state-reimbursable costs (General Fund) in the hundreds of
thousands to millions of dollars to the extent the
established standards and goals, which are unspecified and
to be determined, impose additional and extensive workload
and processes on county welfare departments.
Potentially significant ongoing costs (General Fund) to DSS
to monitor and likely report on the progress toward the
standards and goals, once established.
Potentially significant automation costs to update the
existing CalFresh data dashboard or potentially develop a
new data management tool to accommodate additional data
points to measure the established and periodically revised
standards and goals.
To the extent the statewide standards and goals are
successfully pursued and met, potential future increase in
CalFresh/CFAP benefit (Federal/State) and administrative
costs (General Fund), to be offset in part by increased
economic activity and state and local sales tax revenues.
Background: Approximately 2.1 million households in the state
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receive CalFresh, California's name for the national
Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program
(SNAP), which provides benefits to low-income households to
alleviate hunger and to improve nutrition and health by helping
individuals meet their nutritional needs. The state also
provides benefits through the California Food Assistance Program
(CFAP) to about 47,000 eligible legal immigrants who are not
eligible for federal nutrition assistance.
Existing law requires each county welfare department to carry
out the local administrative responsibilities for the CalFresh
Program, subject to the supervision of the DSS and to rules and
regulations adopted by the DSS (WIC � 18902).
The DSS recently released a CalFresh data dashboard in February
2014, containing information on enrollment growth, percentage of
participants concurrently receiving Medi-Cal benefits,
timeliness of approval, and churn rates for 30-day and 90-day
reapplications. The data dashboard also provides information on
active error rates, timeliness for expedited cases and regular
processing and demographic data for each county including the
number of elderly participants, children under age 18, and
unemployment rate. The data dashboard additionally provides
statewide information as well as county-level data that are
updated quarterly.
Existing federal law requires various standards to be met under
the SNAP program and to be reported by states. These federal
standards include an annual overall performance measure
calculated for each state by the federal government, a 30-day
application processing timeline, a seven-day expedited service
timeline and an overall participation rate. The DSS data
dashboard includes these federal performance standards.
This bill seeks to improve CalFresh participation and access, to
establish statewide CalFresh customer service standards and
performance goals, and to periodically monitor progress toward
meeting those goals.
Proposed Law: This bill requires the DSS, in collaboration with
key stakeholders, to establish statewide customer service
standards and performance goals with regard to CalFresh.
Additionally, this bill:
Requires DSS to revise the standards and goals to
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reflect changes in CalFresh performance over time.
Requires DSS to measure the progress made toward the
execution of the standards and goals on an annual basis.
Provides that when developing the standards and goals,
to take into consideration what is achievable under current
funding and the cost impact of improved program efficiency
and the need for additional resource investment.
Requires DSS in collaboration with key stakeholders to
develop a data management tool that is dynamic, as
specified, and if feasible and appropriate, authorizes DSS
to expand upon the existing CalFresh data dashboard.
The data management tool is to include, but not be
limited to, the following:
o Data regarding multi-program enrollment, which
may include, but is not limited to dual eligibility
and dual participation among CalFresh and Medi-Cal
recipients.
o Data regarding CalFresh applications received
through multiple channels, which may include
in-person, online, and by telephone.
o Data regarding CalFresh application and
recertification outcomes, which may include but is not
limited to disposition and processing times.
o Data regarding CalFresh reapplication, which
may include, but is not limited to, rate of return
within 30, 60, and 90 days.
Requires data from the management tool to be made
publicly available on an ongoing basis and updated at least
quarterly within 60 days following the end of each quarter
for the purpose of informing the Legislature and the public
about CalFresh enrollment, benefit retention, customer
service, and performance.
Requires DSS, in collaboration with key stakeholders, to
identify necessary revisions to the data management tool as
necessary to fulfill the standard and goals established, as
specified.
Related Legislation: SB 1002 (de Le�n) 2014 seeks to reduce
churn in the CalFresh program by aligning the Medi-Cal
redetermination process with the CalFresh recertification
process. This bill is scheduled to be heard today by this
Committee.
Staff Comments: As currently drafted, the fiscal impact of the
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provisions of this bill is indeterminable, and will be dependent
not only the meaning of "customer service standards and
performance goals" which remain undefined in the bill, but also
on the level of standards and goals established by the DSS and
key stakeholders, and to what degree those established standards
and goals exceed the existing workload and resources available
to county welfare departments that administer the CalFresh
program to meet those requirements.
As the bill's intent is to improve CalFresh participation and
access, to the extent the standards and goals that are developed
assist in moving toward that end will result in increased
CalFresh and CFAP benefits and administrative costs. These
program costs will be offset to a degree by increased economic
activity through additional state and local sales tax revenues.
Recommended Amendments: Consistent with the recommendation made
previously by the Senate Committee on Human Services, staff
recommends a definition of "customer service standards" and
"performance goals" be added to the bill for clarity.