BILL NUMBER: AB 1233 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY JANUARY 20, 2000
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY JUNE 1, 1999
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Aroner
FEBRUARY 26, 1999
An act to amend Sections 11155, 11450.019, 11451.5, and
18242 11322.6 and 11325.23 of the Welfare and
Institutions Code, relating to human services, and making an
appropriation therefor.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 1233, as amended, Aroner. CalWORKs program.
Existing law requires recipients of aid under the CalWORKs
program, with certain exceptions, to participate in welfare-to-work
activities, which may include educational activities.
This bill would include hours of preparation, as prescribed,
within the defined scope of required hours of participation in the
educational activities in which a CalWORKs recipient may participate.
By expanding the scope of responsibility for the administration of
the CalWORKs program by counties, this bill would result in a
state-mandated local program.
Existing law continuously appropriates funds from the General Fund
for the provision of benefits to eligible recipients through the
CalWORKs program. This bill would make certain individuals eligible
for the receipt of benefits under that program if they meet the
requirements established by this bill, and, by expanding the scope of
eligibility for benefits under the CalWORKs program, this bill would
result in an appropriation.
Existing law authorizes a recipient or applicant for aid under the
CalWORKs program to retain certain income and resources without a
reduction in eligibility for aid, and exempts from that calculation
of income and resources for purposes of determining eligibility for
aid under the CalWORKs program those countable resources in an amount
equal to the amount permitted under federal law for qualification
for food stamps, and requires a county to determine the value of
personal property and automobiles in conformance with methods
established under the Food Stamp Program.
This bill would exempt up to $7,500 of the equity value of one
automobile from consideration as a resource for each household in
determining eligibility for aid under the CalWORKs program.
Under existing law, counties are responsible for the determination
of eligibility of applicants and recipients of aid under the
CalWORKs program and the food stamp programs. By revising the
eligibility standards applicable to the exemption of the full value
of an automobile from that determination, the bill would result in an
increase in the number of persons eligible for aid, thereby
resulting in an increase in county responsibilities in the
administration of aid. The CalWORKs program is funded through a
continuing appropriation, and, by increasing the level of funding due
to the increase in the number of persons eligible for those
benefits, this bill would result in an appropriation.
Existing law provides that, effective the first day of the month
following 90 days after a change in federal law that allows states to
reduce aid payments under the CalWORKs program without any risk to
federal funding under the federal medicaid program, certain
reductions in maximum aid payments shall not be applied when all of
the parents or caretaker relatives of the aided child living in the
home of the aided child meet specified conditions, including the
condition that the individual is disabled and receiving benefits
under the Supplemental Security Program or the In-Home Supportive
Services Program.
This bill would include within the scope of that exemption persons
who are disabled and receiving benefits through state disability
insurance benefits, private disability insurance benefits, temporary
workers' compensation benefits, and social security disability
benefits. By limiting the reduction of aid payments under the
CalWORKs program, this bill would result in an increase in the
payments under the program that are funded through continuously
appropriated funds, thereby resulting in an appropriation. By
increasing the scope of eligible participation in the program, this
bill would increase the responsibilities of the counties in
implementing this program, thereby resulting in a state-mandated
local program.
Existing law exempts certain disability-based income from the
calculation of income that shall be used to determine the amount of
aid grant that shall be paid to a family under the CalWORKs program.
This bill would revise the definition of disability-based unearned
income. By extending the limitation on the amount applied in
calculating payments under the CalWORKs program, this bill would
result in an increase in the payments under the program that are
funded through continuously appropriated funds, thereby resulting in
an appropriation. By increasing the scope of participation in the
program, this bill would increase the responsibilities of the
counties in implementing this program, thereby resulting in a
state-mandated local program.
Existing law authorizes the State Department of Social Services to
approve demonstration projects in up to 3 counties to test models of
child support assurance, and specifies that one of the projects
shall conform to a specified design, and provides for the funding of
the projects from funds continuously appropriated for the CalWORKs
program.
This bill would authorize the approval of child support assurance
demonstration projects in up to 5 counties, and would eliminate the
requirement that one of the projects conform to a specified design.
To the extent this elimination of the limitation on the number of
demonstration projects, this bill would result in an increase in
funding through the use of funds continuously appropriated for the
CalWORKs program, this bill would result in an increase in a
continuing appropriation, thereby resulting in an appropriation.
The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local
agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the
state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that
reimbursement, including the creation of a State Mandates Claims Fund
to pay the costs of mandates that do not exceed $1,000,000 statewide
and other procedures for claims whose statewide costs exceed
$1,000,000.
This bill would provide that, if the Commission on State Mandates
determines that the bill contains costs mandated by the state,
reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to these
statutory provisions.
Vote: 2/3. Appropriation: yes. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: yes.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Section 11155 of the Welfare and
SECTION 1. Section 11322.6 of the Welfare and Institutions Code is
amended to read:
11322.6. The welfare-to-work plan developed by the county welfare
department and the participant pursuant to this article shall
provide for welfare-to-work activities. Welfare-to-work activities
may include, but are not limited to, any of the following:
(a) Unsubsidized employment.
(b) Subsidized private sector employment.
(c) Subsidized public sector employment.
(d) Work experience, which means public or private sector work
that shall help provide basic job skills, enhance existing job skills
in a position related to the participant's experience, or provide a
needed community service that will lead to employment. Unpaid work
experience shall be limited to 12 months, unless the county welfare
department and the recipient agree to extend this period by an
amendment to the welfare-to-work plan. The county welfare department
shall review the work experience assignment as appropriate and make
revisions as necessary to ensure that it continues to be consistent
with the participant's plan and effective in preparing the
participant to attain employment.
(e) On-the-job training.
(f) Grant-based on-the-job training, which means public or private
sector employment or on-the-job training in which the recipient's
cash grant, or a portion thereof, or the aid grant savings resulting
from employment, is diverted to the employer as a wage subsidy to
partially or wholly offset the payment of wages to the participant.
Grant-based on-the-job training shall include community service
positions pursuant to Section 11322.9.
(g) Supported work or transitional employment, which means forms
of grant-based on-the-job training in which the recipient's cash
grant, or a portion thereof, or the aid grant savings from
employment, is diverted to an intermediary service provider, to
partially or wholly offset the payment of wages to the participant.
(h) Work-study.
(i) Self-employment.
(j) Community service.
(k) Adult basic education, which shall include reading, writing,
arithmetic, high school proficiency, or general educational
development certificate of instruction, and
English-as-a-second-language. Participants under this subdivision
shall be referred to appropriate service providers that include, but
are not limited to, educational programs operated by school districts
or county offices of education that have contracted with the
Superintendent of Public Instruction to provide services to
participants pursuant to Section 33117.5 of the Education Code.
(l) Job skills training directly related to employment.
(m) Vocational education and training, including, but not limited
to, college and community college education, adult education,
regional occupational centers, and regional occupational programs.
(n) Job search and job readiness assistance, which means providing
the recipient with training to learn job seeking and interviewing
skills, to understand employer expectations, and learn skills
designed to enhance an individual's capacity to move toward
self-sufficiency.
(o) Education directly related to employment.
(p) Satisfactory progress in secondary school or in a course of
study leading to a certificate of general educational development, in
the case of a recipient who has not completed secondary school or
received such a certificate.
(q) Mental health, substance abuse, and domestic violence
services, described in Sections 11325.7 and 11325.8 and Article 7.5
(commencing with Section 11495), that are necessary to obtain and
retain employment.
(r) Other activities necessary to assist an individual in
obtaining unsubsidized employment.
Assignment to an educational activity identified in subdivisions
(k), (m), (o), and (p) is limited to those situations in which the
education is needed to become employed. Hours of participation
for purposes of Section 11322.8 shall include preparation time as
described in subparagraph (C) of paragraph (3) of subdivision (a) of
Section 11325.23.
SEC. 2. Section 11325.23 of the Welfare and Institutions Code is
amended to read:
11325.23. (a) (1) Except as provided in paragraph (2), any
student who, at the time he or she is required to participate under
this article pursuant to Section 11320.3, is enrolled in any
undergraduate degree or certificate program that leads to employment
may continue in that program within the time period specified in
subdivisions (a) and (d) of Section 11454 if he or she is making
satisfactory progress in that program, the county determines that
continuing in the program is likely to lead to self-supporting
employment for that recipient, and the welfare-to-work plan reflects
that determination.
(2) Any individual who possesses a baccalaureate degree shall not
be eligible to participate under this section unless the individual
is pursuing a California regular classroom teaching credential in a
college or university with an approved teacher credential preparation
program.
(3) (A) Subject to the limitation provided in subdivision (f), a
program shall be determined to lead to employment if it is on a list
of programs that the county welfare department and local education
agencies or providers agree lead to employment. The list shall be
agreed to annually, with the first list completed no later than
January 31, 1998. By January 1, 2000, all educational providers
shall report data regarding programs on the list for the purposes of
the report card established under Section 15037.1 of the Unemployment
Insurance Code for the programs to remain on the list.
(B) For students not in a program on the list prepared under
subparagraph (A), the county shall determine if the program leads to
employment. The recipient shall be allowed to continue in the
program within the time period specified in subdivisions (a) and (d)
of Section 11454 if the recipient demonstrates to the county that the
program will lead to self-supporting employment for that recipient
and the documentation is included in the welfare-to-work plan.
(C) If participation in educational or vocational training, as
determined by the number of hours required for attendance at or
preparation for classroom, laboratory, or internship
activities, is not at least 32 hours, the county shall require
concurrent participation in work activities pursuant to subdivisions
(a) to (j), inclusive, of Section 11322.6 and Section 11325.22.
Preparation time shall be presumed to be one hour of study for each
hour of instruction.
(b) Participation in the self-initiated education or vocational
training program shall be reflected in the welfare-to-work plan
required by Section 11325.21. The welfare-to-work plan shall provide
that whenever an individual ceases to participate in, refuses to
attend regularly, or does not maintain satisfactory progress in the
self-initiated program, the individual shall participate under this
article in accordance with Section 11325.22.
(c) Any person whose previously approved self-initiated education
or training program is interrupted for reasons that meet the good
cause criteria specified in subdivision (f) of Section 11320.3 may
resume participation in the same program if the participant
maintained good standing in the program while participating and the
self-initiated program continues to meet the approval criteria. The
county shall adjust the completion date of the program, accounting
for the time of absence to allow the participant a cumulative
timeframe outlined in subdivision (a).
(d) Supportive services reimbursement shall be provided for any
participant in a self-initiated training or education program
approved under this subdivision. This reimbursement shall be
provided if no other source of funding for those costs is available.
Any offset to supportive services payments shall be made in
accordance with subdivision (e) of Section 11323.4.
(e) Any student who, at the time he or she is required to
participate under this article pursuant to Section 11320.3, has been
enrolled and is making satisfactory progress in a degree or
certificate program, but does not meet the criteria set forth in
subdivision (a), shall have until the beginning of the next
educational semester or quarter break to continue his or her
educational program if he or she continues to make satisfactory
progress. At the time the educational break occurs, the individual
is required to participate pursuant to Section 11320.1. The time
spent in the educational program shall count towards the time limits
and community service requirements established for recipients in
Sections 11320.1 and 11454. A recipient not expected to complete the
program by the next break may continue his or her education under
the timelines in subdivision (a), provided he or she transfers at the
end of the current quarter or semester to a program that qualifies
under that subdivision, the county determines that participation is
likely to lead to self-supporting employment of the recipient, and
the welfare-to-work plan reflects that determination.
(f) Any degree, certificate, or vocational program offered by a
private postsecondary training provider shall not be approved under
this section unless the program is either approved or exempted by the
appropriate state regulatory agency and the program is in compliance
with all other provisions of law.
SEC. 3. Notwithstanding Section 17610 of the Government Code, if
the Commission on State Mandates determines that this act contains
costs mandated by the state, reimbursement to local agencies and
school districts for those costs shall be made pursuant to Part 7
(commencing with Section 17500) of Division 4 of Title 2 of the
Government Code. If the statewide cost of the claim for
reimbursement does not exceed one million dollars ($1,000,000),
reimbursement shall be made from the State Mandates Claims Fund.
_____________________________________ All matter omitted
in this version of the bill appears in the bill as amended in
the Assembly, June 1, 1999 (JR 11)
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