(1) Existing law establishes the Department of Child Support Services within the California Health and Human Services Agency, which administers all services and performs all functions necessary to establish, collect, and distribute child support. Prior state law required the department to procure, develop, implement, and maintain a single statewide automated child support system referred to as the California Child Support Automation System.
Existing law requires the Office of the Chief Information Officer and the Department of Child Support Services to jointly produce an annual report, to be submitted on March 1, to the appropriate policy and fiscal committees of the Legislature on the ongoing implementation of the California Child Support Automation System, as specified.
This bill would delete this reporting requirement.
(2) Under existing law, the parents of a minor child are responsible for supporting the child. Existing law requires each county to maintain a local child support agency that is responsible for establishing, modifying, and enforcing child support obligations, including medical support, enforcing spousal support orders, and determining paternity, as specified.
Existing law establishes within the state's child support program a quality assurance and performance improvement program. Existing law provides that the 10 counties with the best performance standards shall receive an additional 5% of the state's share of those counties' collections that are used to reduce or repay aid that is paid under the California Work Opportunity and Responsibility to Kids (CalWORKs) program. Existing law requires these additional funds received by a county to be used for specified child support-related activities. Existing law suspends the payment of this additional 5% for the 2002–03 to 2022–23 fiscal years, inclusive.
This bill would repeal the provision that provides additional funds to the 10 counties with the best performance standards and the suspension for the 2002–03 to 2022–23 fiscal years, inclusive.
(3) Existing federal law provides for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) , known in California as CalFresh, under which supplemental nutrition assistance benefits allocated to the state by the federal government are distributed to eligible individuals by each county.
Existing law requires the department to also establish the California Food Assistance Program (CFAP) to provide nutrition benefits to households that are ineligible for CalFresh benefits solely due to their immigration status, as specified. Existing law requires that CFAP benefits be equivalent to SNAP benefits.
Existing law requires that current and future CalFresh benefits be reduced in order to recover an overissuance caused by intentional program violation, fraud, or inadvertent household error. Existing law sets forth certain procedures and criteria for a county when establishing a claim for recovery of that overissuance of CalFresh benefits.
This bill would require the state to retain a portion of any collected overissuance claims on CFAP benefits, with that portion being the same percentage as the state and the United States Department of Agriculture would have retained, combined, if the overissuance claims had been collected under the CalFresh program. Under the bill, any remaining portion of the recovered overissuance claims would be distributed by the department to the counties based on the amount of the overissuance claims recovered by the counties. The bill would make these provisions operative when related provisions become operative on the date that the department notifies the Legislature that the Statewide Automated Welfare System can perform the necessary automation to implement the expansion of CFAP eligibility to individuals 55 years of age or older. To the extent that the bill would create new duties for counties relating to the procedures for CFAP overissuance claims, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program.
Existing law requires a recipient of CFAP benefits who is also receiving CalWORKs aid to satisfactorily participate in welfare-to-work activities, as specified, or if the recipient is not receiving CalWORKs aid, to meet specified work requirements under SNAP. Existing law, to become operative on the date that the department notifies the Legislature that the Statewide Automated Welfare System has been updated to perform the necessary automation, instead prohibits a recipient of CFAP benefits from being required to meet the SNAP work requirement.
This bill would repeal work requirements for a CFAP recipient. To the extent this bill would expand eligibility for CFAP, which is administered by the counties, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. This bill would, commencing the date that the department notifies the Legislature that the Statewide Automated Welfare System (SAWS) has been updated to perform the necessary automation, also prohibit a recipient of CFAP benefits from being required meet SNAP disqualification requirements.
Existing federal law establishes the Food Distribution Program on Indian Reservations (FDPIR) , under which United States Department of Agriculture foods are provided to income-eligible households living on Indian reservations, and to American Indian households residing in approved areas near reservations, as an alternative to SNAP benefits.
Existing law establishes the Tribal Nutrition Assistance Program, administered by the State Department of Social Services, with the intent to provide supplemental nutrition benefits to households that are ineligible for CalFresh benefits solely because they receive food through the FDPIR when their FDPIR benefits are less than those provided by CalFresh. Subject to an appropriation in the annual Budget Act, existing law requires the department to award grants to eligible tribes and tribal organizations to address food insecurity and inequities between CalFresh benefits and FDPIR.
This bill would delete the above-described program intent and would instead require the department, subject to an appropriation in the annual Budget Act, to award grants to eligible tribes and tribal organizations to address food insecurity and inequities within California.
Existing law, until July 1, 2025, requires the State Department of Social Services to create the Safe Drinking Water Supplemental Benefit Pilot Program to provide time-limited additional CalFresh nutrition benefits to residents of prioritized disadvantaged communities that are served by public water systems that consistently fail to meet primary drinking water standards.
The bill would instead make the above provisions inoperative upon the expiration of allocated funding for the pilot program or September 30, 2025, whichever is later.
(4) Existing law establishes the CalWORKs program, under which each county provides cash assistance and other benefits to qualified low-income families using federal, state, and county funds.
Existing law generally requires a recipient of CalWORKs benefits to participate in welfare-to-work activities, including subsidized employment, as a condition of eligibility for aid. Existing law requires the State Department of Social Services, in consultation with the County Welfare Directors Association of California, to develop an allocation methodology to distribute additional funding for expanded subsidized employment programs for CalWORKs recipients, as specified, and requires a county that accepts funding from this allocation to, among other things, submit to the department a plan regarding how it intends to utilize the allocated funding.
This bill would instead require a participating county, beginning January 1, 2025, or 4 months after the department issues guidance, as specified, whichever is later, to submit to the department, at least once every 2 years, a plan or an amendment to a plan that specifies how the county intends to utilize the allocated funding and to prioritize subsidized employment placements that offer opportunities for participants to obtain skills and experiences in their fields of interest. The bill would also require counties to submit a confirmation of no change if the county has no changes to an existing plan or amendment. The bill would also require the department, beginning April 1, 2025, to include specified information related to the subsidized employment programs described above in the CalWORKs Annual Summary.
Existing law establishes maximum aid grant amounts to be provided to each family receiving aid under CalWORKs. Existing law, commencing on October 1, 2023, increases the maximum aid payments in effect on July 1, 2023, by 3.6%.
This bill would, commencing on October 1, 2024, increase the maximum aid payments in effect on July 1, 2024, by 0.3%. Because moneys from the General Fund are continuously appropriated to defray a portion of county costs under the CalWORKs program, this bill would make an appropriation for the maximum aid payment increases.
Existing law states legislative intent to increase CalWORKs maximum aid payments until the maximum aid payment levels reach 50% of the federal poverty level for the family size that is one greater than the assistance unit, as specified. Existing law requires the State Department of Social Services to annually provide a display in writing to the appropriate policy and fiscal committees of the Legislature, and on the department's internet website, showing the CalWORKs maximum aid payment amounts compared to 50% of the federal poverty level for the family size that is one greater than the assistance unit.
This bill would instead require the written display described above to show the CalWORKs maximum aid payment amounts compared to the federal poverty level for the family size that is one greater than the assistance unit.
Existing law requires the State Department of Social Services to work with representatives of county human services agencies and the County Welfare Directors Association of California to develop recommendations for revising the methodology used for development of the CalWORKs single allocation annual budget, as well as to update the budgeting methodology used to determine the annual funding for county administration of the CalFresh program. Under existing law, the number of hours per case per month of case work time budgeted for intensive cases under the employment services component of the CalWORKs single allocation is incrementally increased, as specified, and is 10 hours for the 2024–25 fiscal year, subject to a specified appropriation.
Effective July 1, 2024, this bill would maintain the number of hours per case per month of case work time budgeted for intensive cases at a minimum of 8.75 hours and, subject to an appropriation by the Legislature, would increase those hours to no more than 10 hours per case per month. The bill would require the department to consult with legislative staff, representatives of county human services agencies and the County Welfare Directors Association of California, advocate representatives, and labor organizations to implement provisions relating to budgeting for the CalWORKs single allocation and county administration of the CalFresh program.
(5) Existing law generally provides for the placement of foster youth in various placement settings. Existing law requires the State Department of Social Services, in consultation with county child welfare agencies, foster parent associations, and other interested community parties, to implement a unified, family friendly, and child-centered resource family approval process. Existing law requires the resource family approval process to include, among other things, a home environment assessment, a permanency assessment, and a written report, as specified. For specified emergency placements, existing law requires the home environment assessment and written report to be completed within 90 days of a child's placement, unless good cause exists. For placements made for compelling reasons prior to the completion of a permanency assessment, existing law requires the home assessment and written report to be completed within 90 days of placement, unless good cause exists. For specified placements with a relative or nonrelative extended family member, existing law requires the home environment assessment, permanency assessment, and written report to be completed within 90 days of placement, unless good cause exists. Existing law also requires counties to provide the department with quarterly reports on the number of families for whom certain requirements have not been completed by the 90-day deadline and to summarize the reasons for these delays.
This bill would instead extend the deadline by which these requirements must be completed to 120 days.
(6) Existing law provides for the temporary or emergency placement of dependent children of the juvenile court and nonminor dependents with relative caregivers or nonrelative extended family members under specified circumstances. Existing law requires counties to provide a specified payment to an emergency caregiver if, among other things, the emergency caregiver has completed an application for resource family approval and an application for the Emergency Assistance Program. Existing law requires that these payments be made through Emergency Assistance Program funds included in the state's Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) block grant, with the county solely responsible for the nonfederal share of cost, except as specified.
Under existing law, during the 2022–23 fiscal year, and each fiscal year thereafter, these payments are ineligible for the federal or state share of payment upon approval or denial of the resource family application or beyond 120 days, whichever occurs first. Existing law makes the federal and state share available beyond 120 days of payments, and up to 365 days of payments, if certain conditions are met by the county, including, among others, providing the department with a monthly list of the resource family applications that have been pending for more than 90 days, as specified.
This bill would instead require the county to provide a monthly list of resource family applications that have been pending for more than 120 days.
(7) Existing law establishes the Aid to Families with Dependent Children-Foster Care (AFDC-FC) program, under which counties provide payments to foster care providers on behalf of qualified children in foster care, administered by the State Department of Social Services. Existing law establishes a schedule of basic rates to be paid for the care and supervision of each foster child. Existing law authorizes a county to have a ratesetting system for specialized care to pay for the additional care and supervision needed to address the behavioral, emotional, and physical requirements of foster children.
Existing law requires, upon a tribe's request, the department to enter into an agreement with a tribe regarding the care and custody of Indian children, as specified. Under existing law, a tribe that is party to an agreement under these provisions is eligible to receive allocations of child welfare service funds, as specified. Existing law requires the agreement to ensure that a tribe claims and uses all eligible federal funding available under Title IV-E of the federal Social Security Act.
This bill would authorize a tribe that has entered into an agreement, as described above, to have a ratesetting system for specialized care. The bill would update a cross-reference to the methodology used to adjust the specialized care increment.
This bill would also establish a new, Tiered Rate Structure, as specified, upon which the per child per month rate for every child in foster care would be based. The Tiered Rate Structure would be based on the use of the Integrated Practice-Child and Adolescent Needs and Strengths (IP-CANS) assessment tool, as defined. The Tiered Rate Structure would include 3 components, including an amount paid to the foster care provider for care and supervision of the child, as defined, a strengths building allocation to provide for a child's strengths building objectives, as identified by the IP-CANS, and an immediate needs allocation to provide for the child's immediate needs, and would establish 3 payment tiers, as specified. The bill would require the 3 components of the Tiered Rate Structure to become operative on July 1, 2027, or the date that the department notifies the Legislature that the California Statewide Automated Welfare System can perform the necessary automation to implement the Tiered Rate Structure, whichever is later. The bill would prescribe various duties of county placing agencies relating to the implementation of the Tiered Rate Structure, including, but not limited to, ensuring completion of IP-CANS assessments for every child and nonminor dependent placed in foster care under the care, custody, and control of the placing agency.
The bill would establish the Immediate Needs Program, to provide an array of integrated services and supports based on the immediate needs, as defined, of children who fall into Tier 2 or Tier 3 of the Tiered Rate Structure, pursuant to the IP-CANS assessment. The bill would require the immediate needs allocation for a child to be based on their tier, as determined by the IP-CANS. The bill would specify the department's duties with respect to the Immediate Needs Program, including, but not limited to, overseeing placement agencies in administering the program and developing a certification process for immediate needs providers, as specified. The bill also would require the department to, in consultation with specified entities, to establish statewide minimum standards for the program and providers, and to issue guidance to implement those standards. The bill would establish the Strengths Building and Child and Family Determination Program that, beginning on the implementation date of the Tiered Rate Structure, would be available to every child in foster care whose tier has been determined as part of the Tiered Rate Structure. The bill would require a child and family team, as defined, to perform specified child and family determination functions. The bill would specify the authority and duties of the department and placement agencies under the Strengths Building and Child and Family Determination Program.
Existing law lists the settings eligible to receive the specialized care increment, including a licensed foster family home or resource family, approved home of a relative, or approved home of a nonrelative extended family member, as specified.
This bill would clarify that a tribally approved home is included in that list of eligible settings.
Existing law requires a county social worker to create a case plan for foster youth within a specified timeframe after the child is introduced into the foster care system. Existing law requires the case plan to be based on an assessment of the circumstances that required child welfare services intervention, as specified, and to include prescribed components.
This bill, on and after the implementation date of the new Tiered Rate Structure, would require the case plan to include the child's or nonminor's most recent IP-CANS assessment and tier, and information relating to the child's or nonminor's immediate needs allocation plan and strengths building spending plan and spending plan report, as specified.
Existing law requires the department to develop an intensive services foster care program to serve children with specific needs, including intensive treatment and behavioral needs and specialized health care needs, whose needs for safety,