18911.
(a) An application and an authorization for participation in CalFresh shall be processed within a period of not more than 30 days from the date of application.(b) The department shall develop written information that describes the eligibility and verification requirements for expedited service, the process for applying for those benefits, and the availability of assistance in filling out the forms and gathering needed documentation.
(c) Each A county human services agency shall make the material developed pursuant to subdivision (b) available to each an applicant at the time the applicant initially seeks CalFresh benefits.
(d) Each A county human services agency shall, upon request, make available the information developed pursuant to subdivision (b) to community action agencies, legal services offices, emergency food programs, and other community programs.
(e) (1) A Each county human services agency shall, except as specified in paragraph (2), shall compile a list of emergency food providers and supplemental food assistance providers, including local nutrition assistance programs authorized by Chapter II (commencing with Section 210.1) of Subtitle B of Title 7 of the Code of Federal Regulations, in the area served by the local CalFresh office. The list shall be updated, based on information from the emergency food providers. the county receives from emergency and supplemental food assistance providers, cities, school districts, summer lunch providers, the California Department of Education, and California Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC Program). The list shall be made available upon request, and, where needed, may be used to refer individuals to emergency food sites that may be able to provide assistance. to households applying for CalFresh. A county human services agency shall provide an applicant household that has children with information about how to enroll the children in the WIC Program and the National School Lunch and School Breakfast Programs while the CalFresh application is pending and shall inform the household that if the household is certified for CalFresh, children under five years of age in the household are income-eligible for the WIC Program, pursuant to Section 246.7 of Title 7 of the Code of Federal Regulations, and all children in the household are directly certified for the National School Lunch and School Breakfast Programs without further application, pursuant to Section 245.6 of Title 7 of the Code of Federal Regulations.
(2) A county human services agency may elect to refer a CalFresh applicant or recipient to the 2-1-1 dial code to access information on emergency food providers and supplemental food assistance providers, including child nutrition programs, in lieu of providing a list pursuant to paragraph (1) if the county deems that method to be the most appropriate to serve an applicant or recipient.
(f) Each A county human services agency shall make available to CalFresh applicants, upon request, nonpromotional information that contains addresses and phone numbers of local legal services and welfare rights organizations.
(g) Notwithstanding the rulemaking provisions of the Administrative Procedure Act (Chapter 3.5 (commencing with Section 11340) of Part 1 of Division 3 of Title 2 of the Government Code), the department shall implement this section by all-county letters or similar instructions beginning no later than May 1, 2015, until regulations are adopted. The department shall adopt regulations implementing this section on or before October 1, 2017.