Existing federal law, the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996, replaced the federal Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) program with the federal Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF) block grant program. Existing federal law provides for allocation of federal funds through the federal TANF block grant program to eligible states. Existing law establishes the California Work Opportunity and Responsibility to Kids (CalWORKs) program, under which, through a combination of state and county funds and federal funds received through the TANF program, each county provides cash assistance and other benefits to qualified low-income families. Under existing law, certain types of payments received by recipients of aid under the CalWORKs program, including income from a college work-study program, as specified, are exempt from consideration as income for purposes of determining eligibility and aid amount.
This bill would additionally exempt as income an in-kind gift or income that has been paid to a noncustodial parent. By expanding the scope of eligibility for CalWORKs, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program.
Existing law requires aid to be granted to a family with a related child under 18 years of age who has been deprived of parental support or care due to the unemployment, continued absence, death, incapacity, or incarceration of a parent. Existing law considers a child to be deprived of parental support or care due to unemployment of the child's parent or parents when the parent has worked less than 100 hours in the preceding 4 weeks and meets specified requirements related to the federal AFDC program.
This bill would, for purposes of determining a child's deprivation of parental support or care due to the unemployment of their parent, delete the requirements that a parent work less than 100 hours in the preceding 4 weeks and meet the federal AFDC program requirements. The bill would instead disregard the number of hours that the child's parent works, provided the family does not exceed the applicable gross or net income limits and is otherwise eligible for assistance. To the extent that the bill would expand eligibility for the CalWORKs program, thereby imposing a higher level of service on counties, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program.
Existing law prohibits the payment of CalWORKs aid to an assistance unit if a caretaker relative is, on the last day of the month, participating in a strike, unless the strike is necessitated by an imminent health and safety hazard or abnormally dangerous working conditions at the place of employment, or a lockout. Under existing law, if an individual other than a caretaker relative is participating in a strike, subject to the exceptions and their limitations, that individual's needs are not included in determining the amount of aid payable to the assistance unit for the month.
This bill would instead require the payment of CalWORKs aid to an assistance unit if a caretaker relative is participating in a strike or lockout, to the extent permitted by federal law. In the case of participation in a strike by an individual other than a caretaker relative, the bill would instead require that the individual's needs be included in determining the amount, to the extent permitted by federal law. To the extent that the bill would expand eligibility for the CalWORKs program, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program.
The bill would require the State Department of Social Services to conduct a CalWORKs expansion feasibility study, to include recommendations within the report, and to submit the report to legislative human services committees on or before January 1, 2027.
Under the CalWORKs program, certain recipients are required to participate in welfare-to-work activities, which may include, among others, unsubsidized employment, subsidized private or public sector employment, and self-employment.
This bill would specify that the hours of self-employment are to be computed based on the number of hours that the participant engaged in self-employment activity, regardless of the income earned by the participant. By increasing the duties of counties in the administration of the CalWORKs program, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program.
Existing law requires the department to develop an allocation methodology to distribute additional funding for expanded subsidized employment programs for CalWORKs recipients. Existing law requires the department, in consultation with the County Welfare Directors Association of California, to determine the amount or proportion of funding allocated that may be utilized for operational costs, as specified.
This bill would also include representatives from labor unions and public benefit advocates within the above-described consultation.
Existing law 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 and to prioritize subsidized employment placements that offer opportunities for participants to obtain skills and experiences in their fields of interest.
This bill would require a participating county to include in its plan, with regard to prioritized subsidized employment, placements with employers that have a joint labor-management letter of support, a signed community benefits agreement, a project labor agreement, or a labor peace agreement. The bill would require the plan to include how the county intends to prevent subsidized employment placements that supplant work that a public employee would have otherwise been hired to do, and to prevent placement with employers that have a history of a bad safety record, or resolved or pending litigation, violations, citations, fines, or penalties relating to any state or federal environmental or labor laws within the last 10 years.
Existing law also requires the department to include specified information for the prior fiscal year regarding the implementation in the CalWORKs Annual Summary to the extent that the data are available and reportable, including the number of CalWORKs participants who participated in subsidized employment for at least 3 months, by county, and a complete list of participating employers, by county.
This bill would require the department to include in the CalWORKs Annual Summary, to the extent that the data are available and reportable, the names of employers where jobs were subsidized and the total amount of the subsidized portion of wages provided to CalWORKs participants working for that employer.
By increasing the duties on counties in administering the CalWORKs program, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program.
Existing law continuously appropriates moneys from the General Fund to defray a portion of county costs under the CalWORKs program.
This bill would instead provide that the continuous appropriation would not be made for purposes of implementing the above provisions.
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.
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 the statutory provisions noted above.

Statutes affected:
AB 1324: 11201 WIC, 11250.4 WIC, 11322.6 WIC, 11322.64 WIC
02/21/25 - Introduced: 11201 WIC, 11250.4 WIC, 11322.6 WIC, 11322.64 WIC
04/24/25 - Amended Assembly: 11201 WIC, 11250.4 WIC, 11322.6 WIC, 11322.64 WIC