Other Welfare Reform
Public Assistance Reform
Miscellaneous
Other Welfare Reform
SB 118 (Haynes-R) Aid to needy families
Requires immunizations to be up to date for children not required to be enrolled in the AFDC program. Denies eligibility for benefits, under a number of health and social service programs, to any assistance unit that includes a child not enrolled in school, truant, or for whom immunizations are not up to date at the time of application.
(Failed passage in Senate Health and Human Services Committee)
SB 159 (Rainey-R) Children: placement
Requires the Director of Social Services to designate up to 3 pilot counties for the implementation of a model for concurrently planning for (1) the reunification of children in foster care with their natural parents, and (2) placement in an adoptive home. Allocates to each pilot county up to $450,000 annually for 2 years from unexpended balances in the General Fund appropriation for state administration of the State Department of Social Services and any other unexpended funds appropriated for county expenditures for adoptions or child welfare services. Requires pilot counties to report by January 1, 2000 on the implementation and outcomes for use as a guideline for other counties.
(In Senate Appropriations Committee)
SB 163 (Solis-D) Children: wrap-around services
Modifies the Santa Clara County Wrap-Around Services pilot project, and allows any county which gains approval from the State Department of Social Services to participate in the pilot project.
Chapter 795, Statutes of 1997
SB 166 (Solis-D) Community colleges: work study
Appropriates $21,499,500 from the General Fund to the California Community Colleges in order to expand work-study programs for community college students who are recipients of TANF.
(In Senate Appropriations Committee)
SB 167 (Solis-D) Community colleges: child care
States legislative intent to expand access to child care services for recipients of TANF who are attending community college. Appropriates $10.2 million from the General Fund to the Office of the Chancellor of the California Community Colleges for allocation for the purpose of providing child care services to the children of students of community colleges who are recipients of TANF.
(In Senate Appropriations Committee)
SB 168 (Solis-D) Community colleges
Appropriates $53.2 million to the Office of the Chancellor of the California Community Colleges for purposes of expanding, coordinating and implementing education services for recipients of TANF who are attending community college, including the expansion of child care services, work-study programs and job development and placement.
(In Senate Health and Human Services Committee)
SB 169 (Solis-D) Temporary Assistance for Needy Families: work activities
Specifies conditions under which parents would meet work participation requirements under the state's TANF.
(In Senate Appropriations Committee)
SB 285 (Watson-D) Human services
Implements numerous changes to address the new federal welfare reform law including the following elements: Welfare-to-work services, hours of work activities required, time limits on aid, community service employment, safety net grant, exemptions from work requirements, temporary deferrals from participation, good cause and conciliation, anti-displacement of current workers, family violence option, child support, statewide child support registry, employment training panel, welfare fraud and child care.
(On Senate Inactive File)
SB 293 (Thompson-D) Human services
Implements numerous provisions to implement the new federal TANF law including the following elements: county plans, transportation, job creation, electronic benefit transfers, county allocations, performance outcome monitoring, general assistance, food stamps, American Indian tribes, eligibility issues, county demonstration projects, and evaluation of the California Work Opportunity and Responsibility to Kids (CalWORKS) implementation.
(On Senate Inactive File)
SB 341 (Watson-D) Domestic violence training
Establishes a statewide domestic violence and sexual abuse training curriculum for all state and county employees, contractors and subcontractors who work with applicants for, and recipients of, the AFDC program or any successor program.
(In Senate Appropriations Committee)
SB 374 (Leslie-R) Lien: public assistance
Authorizes any state or county entity to place a lien upon more than $600 of California State Lottery winnings of those who received state or county public assistance during the preceding 10-year period. Requires recipients of, or applicants for, public assistance from the state or counties to agree to the lien, commencing January 1, 1998. Specifies that the lien should not exceed one-half of the total amount won by the recipient in the lottery.
(Failed passage in Senate Health and Human Services Committee, reconsideration granted)
SB 397 (Peace-D) Public social services: fraud
Provides an enabling perjury statute for public assistance programs without an enabling perjury statute, so that persons applying for assistance under these programs who intentionally misrepresent information on applications, reapplications, renewals, or monthly declaration of facts required by county welfare departments relating to eligibility for public benefits, may be prosecuted for perjury.
(In Senate Health and Human Services Committee)
SB 403 (Thompson-D) California State General Assistance Program
Establishes a state supported general assistance program under which the state pays 30% of benefit payments and 85% of administrative costs. Requires counties pay the remainder. Takes the place of cash assistance under the existing general assistance program in those counties that choose to participate. Specifies a $256 monthly payment in higher-cost counties and $212 per month in lower-cost counties. Authorizes sanctions for failing to cooperate in seeking employment.
(In Senate Appropriations Committee)
SB 493* (Thompson-D) Public social services
Establishes the Electronic Benefits Transfer Committee to develop a request for proposals for implementation of a procurement mechanism for a statewide electronic benefits transfer system and to certify electronic benefits transfer processors.
(In Assembly Appropriations Committee)
SB 505 (Johnston-D) AFDC: employment and training services
Makes significant changes to the GAIN program including:
- Modifying the GAIN exemption and deferral criteria and process.
- Narrowing the allowable job training/education activities under GAIN to be similar to those listed in the new federal law, especially limiting options for education beyond a high school diploma.
- Revising provisions for an assessment and employability contract between the participant and the county that determines the participant's training options and support services.
- Revising child care provisions of GAIN to change reimbursement rates to an unspecified portion of cost of care for the region.
- Revising GAIN good cause and sanction provisions and eliminating provisions for appeal and conciliation of disputes between the county and the participant on program issues.
- Modifying the GAIN "anti-displacement" language.
- Establishing a new job retention service.
Also allows counties to operate "Alternative Welfare to Work Programs" in place of a GAIN program; establishes a new program, the "Job Site Assistance Program," to allow the State Department of Social Services (DSS) to enter into contracts with nonprofits for temporary job placements for AFDC recipients; and establishes a new up-front "diversion" program allowing recipients to avoid going on aid by receiving up to 3 months' aid as a lump sum in order to address a family financial crises.
(In Senate Appropriations Committee)
SB 528 (Watson-D) Los Angeles County: SSI/SSP pilot project
Requires the State Department of Social Services to establish a pilot project in Los Angeles County to conduct a face-to-face hearing with a department administrative law judge, upon reconsideration of a disability determination for purposes of SSI/SSP benefits, using the same criteria as is used in the federal administrative law judge hearing process. Requires Los Angeles County to seek funds, other than state, for implementation of the pilot project.
(In Senate Appropriations Committee)
SB 549 (Wright-R) AFDC: eligibility reporting systems
Permits Ventura County to conduct a pilot project for an alternative to the present monthly reporting system for recipients of aid under the AFDC program.
(On Assembly Inactive File)
SB 604* (Watson-D) Food Assistance Program
Takes various actions to preserve food stamps and other benefits for legal immigrants, including:
- Specifying that farm workers entering California from other states are not considered new applicants for aid and therefore ineligible.
- Presumptively qualifying special agricultural workers for food stamps.
- Providing food stamps to immigrants who have applied for citizenship or are unable to complete the naturalization process.
- Limiting benefits to adults to 50% of what federal food stamps would have been.
- Establishing a Food Purchasing Fund, continuously appropriated to make supplemental food available to soup kitchens and food banks.
(In Senate Appropriations Committee)
SB 685 (Monteith-R) Aid: fraud
Expresses legislative intent to implement fraud prevention and detection systems appropriate to a revised AFDC program or its successor.
(In Senate Appropriations Committee)
SB 809* (Johnston-D) Benefits: aged, blind, and disabled persons
Specifies that persons ineligible for IHSS benefits under federal law shall continue to be eligible for benefits under the IHSS program. Provides for cash benefits to an alien who receives federal SSI/SPP for the Aged, Blind, and Disabled benefits on or after August 22, 1996 and whose benefits are terminated due to federal law.
(In Senate Health and Human Services Committee)
SB 830 (Alpert-D) In-Home Supportive Services: provider payments
Requires that payments to providers of IHSS not be reduced to reflect the recipient's share of cost for the services.
(In Senate Appropriations Committee)
SB 831 (Karnette-D) Human services
Requires the State Department of Education to implement a pilot program in 5 participating counties (including Los Angeles) to provide appropriate child care for welfare families who are required to work. Requires, under the pilot, local resource and referral agencies or alternative payment programs to quickly provide child care services to any AFDC program parent required to work. Expresses intent that the Legislature appropriate from the General Fund the amount equal to the amount of money the state would have spent in AFDC for families who will not receive aid because they will be time limited under the new program. Requires a report to the Legislature by December 31, 1999 on the effectiveness of the pilots.
(In Senate Appropriations Committee)
SB 832 (Maddy-R) County social services: job training contracts
Authorizes contracts with public employee organizations, non-profit community based service organizations or private commercial companies for the administration of public social services in the county. Requires the county to solicit competitive bids in the event that the county fails to meet requirements set in statute regarding welfare reform. Authorizes contracts for job training services in the administration of social service requirements under the new federal welfare law.
(In Senate Appropriations Committee)
SB 904 (Lee-D) Food stamp benefits
Requires the State Department of Social Services to submit a request to the U.S. Department of Agriculture on behalf of a county, Indian reservation or rancheria for a waiver of the federal requirement limiting able-bodied adults without dependents between ages 18 and 50 to receive Food Stamps for only 3 months within a 3-year period unless they work, as defined.
(In Assembly Appropriations Committee)
SB 934 (Thompson-D) Public social services
Enacts changes in state welfare programs as recommended by the Legislative Analyst. Includes a 5-year limit on aid, a 6-month job search requirement, reduced income disregards, state financing for general assistance grants and a 24-month limit, and new state and county cost sharing.
(In Senate Appropriations Committee)
SB 963 (Hayden-D) AFDC: eligibility: job training
Exempts the value of an automobile in counting personal property for the purposes of AFDC eligibility, if the car has an equity value of less than $4,500. Exempts up to $400 per year of earned income that is spent on car repairs. Allows counties to include classes on car maintenance as part of the GAIN training program.
(In Senate Appropriations Committee)
SB 971* (Watson-D) Health care for indigents
Extends Los Angeles County's special maintenance of effort for indigent health for an additional year.
(In Assembly Health Committee)
SB 1001 (Hayden-D) Public social services
Requires each county to screen applicants for AFDC in order to identify those persons with a history of having been a victim of domestic violence for referral to counseling and supportive services. Provides an exemption from GAIN and various other AFDC requirements for those identified as having such a history. Exempts persons with histories of domestic violence from having to assign to the state rights to child support paid on behalf of the children while the person is receiving assistance or to cooperate in the establishment and collection of child support.
(In Senate Appropriations Committee)
SB 1085 (Watson-D) AFDC: eligibility: small businesses
Creates a pilot project in which AFDC recipients participating in the GAIN program can receive self-employment training, and also revises current law pertaining to allowable deductions from earned income for microbusiness expenses.
(In Senate Appropriations Committee)
SB 1149 (Brulte-R) Human services
Recasts the AFDC program as the federal TANF program, and revises program eligibility and benefit requirements. Includes provisions pertaining to job club or job search activities, education, transitional child care, non-cash benefits services, and emergency medical services.
(In Senate Health and Human Services Committee)
SB 1150 (Monteith-R) General assistance
Relieves counties of their current obligation to provide general assistance benefits to indigents. Allows the level, provision and eligibility of such aid to be optional at the discretion of each county. Recasts the standard of health care provided all indigents. Is part of the Governor's welfare reform plan.
(Failed passage in Senate Health and Human Services Committee)
SB 1154 (Solis-D) Individual development accounts
Requires the State Department of Social Services to implement the Individual Development Account Demonstration Project, a 5-year project allowing AFDC recipients to retain cash savings in excess of the usual limits, provided the funds are used for limited purposes, including (1) business capital, (2) educational expenses, (3) job training, and (4) purchase of a residence.
(In Senate Appropriations Committee)
SB 1226 (Watson-D) Community service employment
Requires counties to provide paid community service employment to assist welfare recipients attempting to meet their work participation requirements under the federal TANF program. Among, other things, applies Fair Labor Standard Act provisions to community service activities, requires wages to be paid in lieu of a welfare grant, and requires that wages be comparable to what other non-welfare recipient workers are paid. Requires supportive services, including child care, to be provided to community service activity participants.
(In Assembly Appropriations Committee)
SB 1232* (Watson-D) Aid to families with dependent children
Enacts the Family Antipoverty and Employment Program Act; and makes major changes to the AFDC program including providing for up-front diversion, child support assurance, time limits with a safety net, changes to the earned income and child support disregards, and direct payment of child care.
(In Senate Appropriations Committee)
SB 1239* (Watson-D) Public assistance: drug offenses
Implements the federal option to provide exemption to the bar against persons convicted on drug-related felonies from receiving assistance payments under TANF. Permits felons to receive benefits if:
- at least 24 months have elapsed since the person has fulfilled any conditions established by the court in the disposition of the criminal case;
- the person is not a head of household; and
- the person has successfully completed a drug treatment program or is enrolled in and currently participating in one.
(In Senate Appropriations Committee)
SB 1276 (Senate Health and Human Services Committee) Public social services
Contains the Legislative Analyst's approach to implementing the new federal welfare reform law. Includes provisions to expand and revise the GAIN program, to impose a 5-year time limit on aid, to establish new state/county sharing ratios for several social service programs, to allow contracting of county administration, to implement a lower earned income disregard, and to establish a new employment retention support service.
(In Senate Health and Human Services Committee)
AB 2 (Ashburn-R) Public assistance payments
Authorizes the State Department of Social Services to conduct a 3-year demonstration project in Kern County to direct rental payments to CalWORKS recipients. Requires the department to conduct an evaluation of the demonstration project.
Chapter 627, Statutes of 1997
AB 72 (Knox-D) Citizenship assistance: immigrants
Provides for citizenship assistance to elderly, blind and disabled and other legal immigrants receiving public social services.
(In Senate Appropriations Committee)
AB 98 (Olberg-R) Families with dependent children
Limits the maximum aid payment a needy family may receive under the AFDC program to an amount equal to the state minimum wage.
(Failed passage in Assembly Human Services Committee)
AB 113 (Oller-R) General assistance: eligibility
Makes a person who becomes ineligible for AFDC or TANF aid due to non-compliance or the expiration of the period of eligibility also ineligible for benefits under county general assistance programs.
(Failed passage in Assembly Human Services Committee)
AB 194 (Wright-D) AFDC benefits: employment exemptions
Provides that notwithstanding any other provision of federal or state law, no relative caretaker receiving AFDC benefits shall be required to meet any employment program requirement for AFDC recipients. Provides that if a requirement is adopted under which a family is precluded from receiving aid when the family includes an adult who has received aid for a period of at least 60 months, that requirement shall not apply when the adult is a relative caretaker.
(In Assembly Human Services Committee)
AB 232 (Honda-D) Citizenship assistance
Requires the State Department of Social Services to allocate an unspecified sum to counties to fund citizenship centers to help aged, blind, disabled, and other immigrants who are losing their federal SSI disability and Food Stamp benefits become citizens.
(On Assembly Inactive File)
AB 282 (Torlakson-D) Aid to families with dependent children
Provides that recipients of aid under TANF who fulfill all program requirements are eligible for monthly housing assistance equal to the difference between their monthly rent and 30% of their income.
(In Assembly Appropriations Committee)
AB 295 (Oller-R) Public social services benefits: eligibility
Provides that any individual who is convicted of a crime involving fraudulent conduct or controlled substances, including any determination made on the basis of a plea of guilty or nolo contendere, or any individual found, by a court or pursuant to a public social services administrative hearing, to have engaged in fraudulent conduct relating to the receipt or attempted receipt of any public social services benefits, shall be ineligible to receive any public social services benefits, except as provided by federal law.
(In Assembly Human Services Committee)
AB 302 (Runner-R) Public assistance: tax credit
Authorizes a personal income tax credit in the amount of $2,000 for each taxable year beginning on or after January 1, 1998 for caring for an individual receiving public assistance and thereby removing that person from public assistance. Requires that the time an individual is cared for by a taxpayer counts against that individual's maximum time period for eligibility for public assistance at a rate of 50%.
(In Assembly Revenue and Taxation Committee)
AB 382 (Ducheny-D) Needy families: job training
Makes technical "clean-up" changes to the Job Creation Investment Fund created under the new Welfare Reform legislation.
Specifies that the Health and Welfare Agency is responsible for administering the welfare to work grant program. Requires the Agency to certify to a joint planning process by the county welfare department and the private industry council prior to receipt of funds; and requires the Agency to develop policies for recapturing unspent funds.
(On Senate Third Reading File)
AB 419 (Baca-D) Community colleges: job training
Requires the California Community Colleges (CCC) to provide various items related to training students who are AFDC recipients in order to move them from welfare to the workforce.
Requires the CCC, among other things, to (1) create a consortium to attract business to relocate to closed military installations, as specified; (2) increase the staff on each campus to provide a liaison with county welfare offices, as specified; (3) augment current college job development and placement staffing, as specified; and (4) increase the staffing at the chancellor's office to provide technical assistance to campuses.
(In Assembly Appropriations Committee)
AB 502 (Ducheny-D) Child welfare services
Requires the state to continue the funding of child welfare services for children who are not lawfully present in the state.
(In Assembly Human Services Committee)
AB 509 (Floyd-D) Supplement food programs
Prohibits the State Department of Health Services from entering into any agreement to authorize a retail food vendor to accept nutrition coupons if any owner, partner, officer owning a controlling interest, or store manager of the vendor has, within the previous 3 years, been convicted of a felony involving public health and safety, theft, fraud, bribery, or corruption of a public official related to the operation of its business or related to the qualifications, functions, and duties of a vendor in the California Special Supplementary Food Program for Women, Infants and Children.
(In Senate Health and Human Services Committee)
AB 621 (Lempert-D) Community colleges: welfare reform
Appropriates a minimum of $5 million in Proposition 98 funds for community college curriculum redesign of vocational and technical programs to serve recipients of TANF.
(In Senate Appropriations Committee)
AB 654 (Martinez-D) State Supplemental Program: ineligibility: tax credits
Provides a refundable tax credit to individuals who are qualified aliens and have been disqualified from receiving SSI and, therefore, SSP under federal reform.
(In Assembly Revenue and Taxation Committee)
AB 718 (Lempert-D) Temporary assistance for needy families
Establishes the County Option Program to allow counties to design independent county welfare programs for the purpose of implementing federal welfare reform.
(In Assembly Appropriations Committee)
AB 822 (Aroner-D) Cal-Learn Program
Allows a 19-year old, who was participating in Cal-Learn prior to becoming 19, to continue to receive needed intensive case management from a Cal-Learn case manager. Allows a county to establish a standardized report card schedule to apply to Cal-Learn participants.
(On Assembly Inactive File)
AB 1006 (Assembly Human Services Committee) Human services
Implements numerous changes to address the new federal welfare reform law. Elements include intent of CalWORKS, lump sum aid diversion, child support assistance, overpayment recoveries, resources and automobiles, California Asset and Savings Act, unemployed parent (2-parent families), extension of COLA and 4.9% grant reduction, child support disregard, income disregard, Cal-Learn program, self-employment training, jobs plus, domestic violence victims, disability application assistance, citizenship assistance, state-only SSI program, state assistance for children, IHSS for legal immigrants, state-only food stamps, food stamps for unemployed, program simplification, and Drug Medi-Cal reimbursements.
(On Senate Inactive File)
AB 1194 (Villaraigosa-D) Human services
Requires participants in CalWORKS employment activities or pilot projects to have the same rights and workplace protection as other workers on the job site.
(On Assembly Inactive File)
AB 1197 (Villaraigosa-D) Health and social services
Provides continuation of benefits to legal immigrants who would stand to lose them due to provisions of federal welfare reform law, including long-term care in the case of documented and undocumented immigrants, state-only food stamp assistance program to meet an unspecified portion of the recipients' needs, SSI/SSP benefits for legal immigrants who qualify but were not receiving assistance as of August 22, 1996, and citizenship assistance.
(In Senate Appropriations Committee)
AB 1305 (Granlund-R) Public social services: administration
Creates a new felony welfare fraud crime, enhances penalties for other welfare fraud crimes, and permits county district attorneys to administer welfare fraud units.
(Failed passage in Assembly Human Services Committee)
AB 1326 (Prenter-R) Human services
Establishes the California Temporary Assistance Program, and makes other changes related to welfare reform.
(Failed passage in Assembly Human Services Committee)
AB 1345 (Alquist-D) Electronic benefits transfers
Makes several changes to the Electronic Benefits Transfer provisions contained in AB 1542, Chapter 270, Statutes of 1997, the welfare reform measure.
(On Senate Inactive File)
AB 1396 (Bustamante-D) Welfare reform: food commodity programs
Establishes an Emergency Food Assistance Program (EFAP) Advisory Board to review and approve the state plan for administration of the California EFAP. Provices that the 18-member board be appointed by the Governor, the Senate Rules Committee, and the Speaker of the Assembly. Requires the State Department of Social Services to report on the allocation of food and financial resources under the EFAP on a county-by-county program.
(On Senate Inactive File)
AB 1401 (Battin-R) Assistance for families and children
Restates and expands various provisions of current law regarding payments to welfare families. Provisions include providing for recipient retention of savings for specified purposes, for minor parents to live in adult supervised settings, for restricted aid payments for the protection of the child, as specified, and for transitional child care for 24 months when leaving aid for work and for 12 months when leaving aid as a result of marriage.
(In Assembly Appropriations Committee)
AB 1402 (Olberg-R) Assistance programs
Contains the Administration's welfare reform proposal which, among other things, establishes time limits on the receipt of aid and work requirements for a public assistance program under the federal TANF program.
(In Assembly Human Services Committee)
AB 1403 (House-R) Aid to needy families
Establishes conditions for eligibility for the California Temporary Assistance Program.
(Failed passage in Assembly Human Services Committee)
AB 1404 (Runner-R) Human services
Amends California's child support enforcement program to make custodial parents ineligible for welfare benefits until paternity is established for all of their children, and revises child support collection procedures.
(Failed passage in Assembly Human Services Committee)
AB 1405 (Bordonaro-R) Aid to dependent families
Requires a health and safety assessment of children in an assistance unit prior to being terminated due to the failure of a parent or caretaker to fulfill program requirements or the expiration of time-limited aid.
Requires a Teen Parent Program in each county. Permits a county to adopt the existing Cal-Learn Program, establish a caseworker home visiting program, or both.
Requires counties to develop and administer a program to provide non-cash benefits for children who no longer qualify for cash aid due to the expiration of time-limited aid.
(Failed passage in Assembly Human Services Committee)
AB 1406 (Miller-R) Temporary assistance for needy families
Permanently denies aid to any individual found to have made a false statement or have committed a misleading act for the purpose of receiving aid illegally.
Denies aid for 10 years to individuals convicted of making a fraudulent statement in order to receive benefits in more than one locale, individuals fleeing to avoid felony prosecution, and individuals in violation of a condition of probation or parole.
(Failed passage in Assembly Human Services Committee)
AB 1407 (Ashburn-R) General assistance
Eliminates the obligation that counties provide general assistance benefits to indigent residents, and limits the level of medical services counties must provide.
(Failed passage in Assembly Human Services Committee)
AB 1501 (Aroner-D) Welfare reform
Implements numerous changes to address the new federal welfare reform law, including provisions relating to child care, job creation, community college s funding for CalWORKS students, Job Training Partnership Act, truancy, treatment services, self-initiated education programs, employment retention services, and Comprehensive Youth Services Act.
Vetoed by the Governor
AB 1510 (Morrow-R) General assistance: AFDC eligibility
Requires local law enforcement agencies to furnish criminal history information to assist in determining eligibility for AFDC/TANF or general assistance (GA) benefits, and allows counties to deny GA benefits to fleeing felons.
(Failed passage in Assembly Appropriations Committee)
AB 1577* (Ducheny-D) Social services
Creates a 1-year, state-only SSI program for children losing their SSI eligibility due to the new disability standard in federal law; and creates a state-only SSI program for elderly no longer eligible for SSI/SSP due to recent federal restrictions.
(Assemblyr efused to concur in Senate amendments)
ACR 24 (Aroner-D) Food stamp benefits
Urges the Governor to submit a request to the U.S. Department of Agriculture for a 6-month waiver of the federal requirement that limits food stamp eligibility for unemployed persons between the ages of 18 and 50.
(In Senate Health and Human Services Committee)
Public Assistance Reform
One of the most important legislative policy issues to be resolved in 1997 was the implementation of the federal welfare reform law, PL 104-193, which made numerous changes to social and health services, including placing federal Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) (now Temporary Assistance for Needy Families - TANF) and federal child care funding into two separate block grants, and increasing the AFDC caseload that must be employed in a federally-approved work activity (the percentages are called "work participation rates"). In addition, the federal bill imposed a 60-month, cumulative, lifetime limit on the receipt of federal TANF benefits by adult recipients, but allowed states to exempt 20% of the caseload from this limit. The federal law also required certain recipients to be engaged in a work activity after 24 cumulative months on aid. TANF increased the flexibility of states to revise AFDC program requirements and other provisions.
California's revised AFDC and Greater Avenues for Independence (GAIN) programs were renamed "California Work Opportunity and Responsibility to Kids" or "CalWORKS."
The Legislature passed ACR 39 (Bustamante) which provided for a Conference Committee of 18 legislative members to present the Legislature with the final welfare reform package for the state. The following are the pieces of legislation which became the welfare reform plan: AB 1008 (Ashburn), AB 1260 (Ashburn), AB 1542 (Ducheny), AB 1576 (Bustamante).
In additon to the above bills, two others, which were omnibus Budget trailer bills concerning social services, made some technical changes to the welfare legislation: AB 67 and AB 1153 (both Escutia).
The following are the digests of those bills mentioned above.
AB 67* (Escutia-D) Social services
Contains the omnibus social services trailer bill (AB 1153) previously vetoed by the Governor. Does not contain the citizenship assistance provisions or the provision clarifying that state law regarding the issuance of benefits under the Unemployment Insurance Code was not affected by the federal reform legislation, both provisions objected to by the Governor.
Changes the following programs: community care licensing, foster care, In-Home Supportive Services (IHSS), child support, Supplemental Security Income/State Supplementary Payments (SSI/SSP), rehabilitation, employment development programs and employment training panel.
Chapter 606, Statutes of 1997
AB 1008 (Ashburn-R) Aid: substance abuse
Bars for life any individual who is convicted of a felony for possession, use, or distribution of a controlled substance after December 31, 1997, from receipt of AFDC. Requires counties to issue vouchers or make vendor payments on behalf of family members of individuals convicted of controlled substances felonies. Prohibits any person convicted of a felony involving a controlled substance from receiving general assistance benefits while their children receive CalWORKS benefits.
Chapter 283, Statutes of 1997
AB 1153* (Escutia-D) Social services
Contains the omnibus social services trailer bill, making changes to the following programs: community care licensing, foster care, IHSS, naturalization assistance, SSI/SSP, rehabilitation, Employment Development Department, Employment Training Panel, CalWORKs, Food Stamps, child welfare services, and women, infants and children.
Vetoed by the Governor
AB 1260 (Ashburn-R) Aid: substance abuse
Nearly identical to the provisions of AB 1008. Adds language that was inadvertently left out of AB 1008.
Chapter 284, Statutes of 1997
AB 1542* (Ducheny-D) Welfare reform
Includes a number of provisions to implement the new federal welfare reform law. Renames California's revised AFDC and GAIN programs as the "California Work Opportunity and Responsibility to Kids" or "CalWORKS." Includes provisions relating to child care, community colleges and CalWORKS, job creation, Electronic Benefits Transfer, California Asset and Savings Act, transportation, Employment Training Panel, Job Training Partnership Act, CalWORKS eligibility issues, time limits on aid, exemptions from time limits, community service employment, safety net grant, grant disregards, welfare-to-work services, mental health and substance abuse treatment, Cal-Learn extension, hours of work activities required, exemptions from work requirements, good cause for non-participation in work activities, conciliation and sanctions, prevention of displacement, family violence option, child support, welfare fraud, self-initiated education programs, employment retention services, county probation department services to at-risk youth, general assistance, Indian tribes, drug Medi-Cal reimbursements and evaluation of CalWORKS implementation.
Chapter 270, Statutes of 1997
AB 1576* (Bustamante-D) Food assistance
Requires the State Department of Social Services to establish a Food Assistance Program for legal immigrants who are adults 65 years of age or older and minors under the age of 18.
Chapter 287, Statutes of 1997
ACR 39 (Bustamante-D) Conference committee on welfare reform
Provides for a conference committee on welfare reform with 9 members to be appointed by the Speaker of the Assembly and 9 members to be appointed by the Senate Rules Committee. Requires the signatures of 6 of the members of the committee appointed from the Senate and 6 of the members appointed from the Assembly to approve a conference report on any bill referred to this committee. In addition, suspends the prohibitions in the Joint Rules and the Rules of the Senate and the Assembly against approving any provision defeated by or not heard in a fiscal or policy committee.
In addition to the above bills, two others, which were omnibus Budget trailer bills concerning social services, made some technical changes to the welfare legislation: AB 67 and AB 1153 (both by Escutia).
Resolution Chapter 20, Statutes of 1997
Miscellaneous
SB 279 (Burton-D) Orphan asylums
Authorizes the Governor to establish a system of state orphan asylums to provide services to eligible children deprived of adequate care and for whom state or local aid in an amount sufficient to provide adequate care is not available. Requires the State Department of Social Services to provide direct gruel services in the orphan asylums, and prohibits the department from contracting for the provision of gruel unless the contract is approved by the Governor, and requires a report of the contract to be submitted to the appropriate committees of the Legislature.
(In Senate Health and Human Services Committee)
SB 361 (Dills-D) Community care facilities
Requires the owner, or licensee of each facility, to provide notice to residents in the neighborhood, who reside within 500 feet of where the facility is located, of the procedure approved by the licensing agency for notification of, and immediate response to, incidents and complaints.
(In Assembly Human Services Committee)
SB 468 (Rainey-R) Community care facilities: placement with relatives
Authorizes a county child welfare agency to obtain a criminal background check to assess any prospective foster care parent who is a relative of the minor for placement purposes.
Chapter 453, Statutes of 1997
SB 607* (Wright-R) Child welfare services
Extends the operative date for the permanent Family Preservation Program from July 1, 1997 to July 1, 1999, and the sunset date from January 1, 1998 to January 1, 2000.
(In Senate Appropriations Committee)
SB 916 (Vasconcellos-D) Foster care: self-esteem
Requires the State Department of Social Services to annually distribute information declaring the importance of promoting self-esteem of foster children to specified foster homes and public and private child welfare organizations; and expands the foster parent training curriculum to include the importance of self-esteem.
Chapter 542, Statutes of 1997
SB 981 (Johannessen-R) Community care facilities
Requires the State Department of Social Services to notify the appropriate city, county, city and county, or other local jurisdiction, when an application to operate a community care facility in that local jurisdiction is received.
(In Senate Judiciary Committee)
SB 1016* (Solis-D) Social services: county administration
Extends, by 1 year, existing state law that prevents the reduction of state reimbursement when a county fails to fully fund the county share of non-federal administrative costs for public social service programs as a result of county-imposed funding reductions.
(In Senate Appropriations Committee )
SCR 17 (Watson-D) Foster care
States legislative findings and declarations regarding the challenges faced by foster youth, their rights and responsibilities in foster care, the need to encourage counties and the State Department of Social Services to identify methods of expanding transitional housing services, and that the department consult with foster youth in improving the foster care system.
Resolution Chapter 92, Statutes of 1997
AB 317 (Ortiz-D) Foster care
Expands, to Sacramento and other counties, a pilot program established in 1995 to permit continuation of foster care payments for relatives who assume custody or guardianship of children under their care.
Chapter 258, Statutes of 1997
AB 696 (Aroner-D) Children's receiving centers
Appropriates $l million from the General Fund to the State Department of Social Services to implement a 5-site demonstration program to establish children's receiving centers that provide short-term care and supervision of neglected or abused children while their return home or other placement is considered. Requires that 2 of the sites be located in Contra Costa and Alameda Counties upon submission of a request by the board of supervisors. Requires the department to measure the success of the program.
(In Senate Appropriations Committee)
AB 747 (Alby-R) Care facilities
Makes changes in the authority of the State Department of Social Services to license residential day-care facilities.
Chapter 617, Statutes of 1997
AB 784 (Caldera-D) Minor parents: child care
Requires the State Department of Social Services to establish a supplemental AFDC-FC foster care payment rate for the reimbursement of maternity homes to be paid at the option of the county. Specifies the funding allocations, upon appropriation, for that purpose.
(In Assembly Human Services Committee)
AB 845 (Martinez-D) In-home supportive services: provider payment
Requires the State Department of Social Services to conduct a comprehensive study of the funding alternatives for the IHSS program, the salaries and training of individual providers, the turnover rate among workers as it relates to the quality of services provided, and other program areas. Requires that this study be submitted to the Legislature no later than March 1, 1998.
Vetoed by the Governor
AB 866 (Thomson-D) Human services: Solano County: pilot program
Requires Solano County to establish a pilot program for the funding and delivery of health and social services through an integrated and comprehensive health and social services delivery system.
Chapter 265, Statutes of 1997
AB 929 (Machado-D) AFDC group home provider payment eligibility
Adds the requirement of a host county recommendation prior to the State Department of Social Services' establishing a foster care payment rate for new programs or program expansion in counties that have more wards of the court in group homes in the county than they place in their own county, other counties, or other states.
(In Senate Health and Human Services Committee)
AB 949 (Ducheny-D) Social workers
Restricts the use of the title "social worker" to those receiving a degree in social work from an accredited school.
(In Conference Committee)
AB 965 (Woods-R) Foster youth: payments
Requires the State Department of Social Services to establish a program for providing grants to former foster youth who are enrolled full-time in a college or a vocational program. Requires the implementation of this program through the use of state funds to the extent that federal funds are not available.
(Motion to withdraw from Assembly Appropriations Committee; failed passage)
AB 1045 (Knox-D) Individual development accounts
Creates the California Asset and Savings Demonstration Project for the purpose of encouraging individuals with incomes below 200% of poverty to save money and create individual development accounts.
(In Assembly Appropriations Committee)
AB 1193 (Shelley-D) Kinship support services
Requires the State Department of Social Services (DSS) to conduct a Kinship Support Services Program that is a grants-in-aid program providing start-up and expansion funds for local kinship support services programs that provide community-based family support services to kinship (relative) caregivers and the children placed in their homes by the juvenile court or who are at risk of dependency or delinquency. Appropriates specified sums from the General Fund to DSS to fund this program, specified technical assistance provisions of the bill, and the costs of state administration of the program.
Chapter 794, Statutes of 1997
AB 1355 (Firestone-R) Foster youth
Requires the State Department of Social Services to develop a 5-year pilot project in 3 counties to allow the counties to contract with private non-profit agencies for employment services for foster youth who are preparing to leave the foster care system.
(In Assembly Human Services Committee)
AB 1373* (Granlund-R) Health facility inspections: infant protection
Enacts the Infant Health and Protection Act as a comprehensive home visitation demonstration program. Prescribes child abuse reporting provisions and child welfare training and services programs. Requires the State Department of Social Services to adopt regulations and states the intention of the Legislature that funding for the cost of the act be provided in the annual Budget Act, beginning with the 1997-98 fiscal year.
(In Assembly Judiciary Committee)
AB 1380* (Ashburn-R) Human services
Extends the authority of the City and County of San Francisco to increase wages of IHSS providers to the 1997-98 fiscal year; and extends the expiration date of the long-term care partnership, from June 30, 1998 to June 30, 2000.
Chapter 37, Statutes of 1997
AB 1391 (Goldsmith-R) Foster care: provider reimbursement
Increases the reimbursement rate for foster parents by 6%, effective July 1, 1998, and specifies that the increase not apply to certified foster homes of licensed foster family agencies.
Chapter 944, Statutes of 1997
AB 1440 (Woods-R) In-home supportive service providers: criminal record check
Requires the State Department of Social Services to conduct fingerprint checks of in-home care providers, except for home health aides; and requires the in-home care provider to pay a fee to cover the full cost of the fingerprint check.
(In Assembly Human Services Committee)
AB 1467 (Alby-R) Community care facilities: insurance
Clarifies the scope of liability coverage by the Foster Family Home and Small Family Home Insurance Fund.
(In Senate Insurance Committee)
AB 1545* (Assembly Human Services Committee) Care facilities: incidental medical services
Allows incidental medical services to be provided in community care facilities, and makes clarifying changes to provisions relating to children with special health care needs.
Chapter 526, Statutes of 1997
AB 1575 (Assembly Human Services Committee) Community care facilities: foster care
Revises procedures under which the State Department of Social Services (DSS) is authorized to temporarily suspend any license, such as requiring DSS to provide affidavits and other information supporting the temporary suspension order to the licensee at the time the licensee is served, changing interim hearing requirements, and clarifying the rights of DSS and the licensee at the time of the interim hearing.
Chapter 728, Statutes of 1997
AJR 11 (Granlund-R) Meals for the elderly
Memorializes the President and Congress to maintain funding and index cost-of-living increases of funding for Congregate Nutrition Services and Home Delivered Nutrition Services.