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| Senate Bill No. 380 |
| CHAPTER 729 |
An act to amend, repeal, and add Section 11008.14 of, and to add Section 11450.17 to, the Welfare and Institutions Code, relating to CalWORKs.
[
Approved by
Governor
October 12, 2017.
Filed with
Secretary of State
October 12, 2017.
]
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
SB 380, Bradford.
CalWORKs: child support.
(1) Existing federal law provides for allocation of federal funds through the federal Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) block grant program to eligible states. Existing law provides for 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.
For purposes of determining eligibility under the CalWORKs program, and for computing the amount of aid payment, existing law requires that families be grouped into assistance units, as specified. Existing law requires an assistance unit to include the eligible parents of the eligible child and the eligible siblings of the eligible child when those
persons reside in the same home as the eligible child, except as specified.
This bill would, commencing November 1, 2018, prohibit the inclusion of a stepsibling or half-sibling for whom child support payments are received, as specified, in the number of needy persons in the same family for purposes of determining the maximum aid payment under the CalWORKs program and for no other purpose, if certain conditions are met, including, among others, that the parent or caretaker relative for the assistance unit has requested that exclusion in writing. The bill would require each
county welfare department to notify CalWORKs applicants and recipients of these provisions, in writing, as specified. The bill would require both the State Department of Social Services
and the Department of Child Support Services to each seek all appropriate federal waivers for the implementation of these provisions as necessary. By increasing the duties of counties administering the CalWORKs program, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program.
(2) Under existing law, the income of the natural or adoptive parent, the spouse of the natural or adoptive parent, and the sibling of an eligible child, living in the same home with an eligible child is considered available, in addition to the income of an applicant for or recipient of aid under the CalWORKs program, for purposes of eligibility determination and grant computation under certain social services programs, including the
CalWORKs program.
This bill, with respect to the income of the sibling of an eligible child, would, commencing November 1, 2018, instead provide that the income is considered available unless the sibling is not included in the number of needy persons used to calculate the maximum aid payment pursuant to the provisions described in paragraph (1) above. The bill would prohibit income through child support for a child not included in the number of needy persons used to calculate the maximum aid payment from being considered available to any member of the assistance unit. By increasing the duties of counties administering the CalWORKs program, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program.
(3) This bill would authorize the State Department of Social Services to implement and administer the above-described provisions through all-county letters or similar instructions until regulations are adopted, and would require the department to adopt emergency regulations and final regulations, as specified.
(4) 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 bill.
(5) 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.
Digest Key
Vote: MAJORITY Appropriation: NO Fiscal Committee: YES Local Program: YESBill Text
The people of the State of California do enact as follows:
SECTION 1.
Section 11008.14 of the Welfare and Institutions Code is amended to read:11008.14.
(a) The income of the natural or adoptive parent, and the spouse of the natural or adoptive parent, and the sibling of an eligible child, living in the same home with an eligible child shall be considered available, in addition to the income of an applicant for or recipient of aid under Chapter 2 (commencing with Section 11200), for purposes of eligibility determination and grant computation. Except as otherwise provided in this section, in the case of a parent or legal guardian of a minor who is also the parent of an eligible child, the income of the parent or guardian shall be considered available to the minor parent and eligible child to the same extent that income to a stepparent is considered available to an assistance unit.(b) This section shall be applied to all applicants for, and recipients of, Aid to Families with Dependent Children provided under Chapter 2 (commencing with Section 11200), except that income of a guardian of an applicant for, or recipient of, foster care benefits provided under Article 5 (commencing with Section 11400) of Chapter 2 shall not be considered available to the ward or to a child of the ward for the purpose of eligibility determination and grant computation under Article 5 (commencing with Section 11400) of Chapter 2. This
section shall be applied regardless of whether federal financial participation is available for the family.
(c) This section shall become inoperative on November 1, 2018, and, as of January 1, 2019, is repealed.
SEC. 2.
Section 11008.14 is added to the Welfare and Institutions Code, to read:11008.14.
(a) The income of the natural or adoptive parent, the spouse of the natural or adoptive parent, and the sibling of an eligible child unless the sibling is not included in the number of needy persons used to calculate the maximum aid payment pursuant to Section 11450.17, living in the same home with an eligible child shall be considered available, in addition to the income of an applicant for or recipient of aid under Chapter 2 (commencing with Section 11200), for purposes of eligibility determination and grant computation. Except as otherwise provided in this section, in the case of a parent or legal guardian of a minor who is also the parent of an eligible child, the income of the parent or guardian shall be considered available to the minor parent and eligible child to the same extent that income to a stepparent is considered available to an assistance unit. Income through child support for a child not included in the number of needy persons used to calculate the maximum aid payment pursuant to Section 11450.17 shall not be considered available to any member of the assistance unit.(b) This section shall be applied to all applicants for, and recipients of, aid provided through the CalWORKs program under Chapter 2 (commencing with Section 11200), except that income of a guardian of an applicant for, or recipient of, foster care benefits provided under Article 5 (commencing with Section 11400) of Chapter 2 shall not be considered available to the ward or to a child of the ward for the purpose of eligibility determination and grant computation under Article 5 (commencing with Section 11400) of Chapter 2. This section shall be applied regardless of whether federal financial participation is available for the family.
(c) This section shall become operative on November 1, 2018.
SEC. 3.
Section 11450.17 is added to the Welfare and Institutions Code, to read:11450.17.
(a) (1) For purposes of determining the maximum aid payment specified in subdivision (a) of Section 11450 and for no other purpose, the number of needy persons in the same family shall not include a stepsibling or a half-sibling, as defined in subdivision (d).(2) One hundred percent of any child support payment received for a child described in subdivision (d) shall be paid to
the assistance unit. Any child support payment received for that child shall not be considered as income to the family for the purpose of calculating the amount of aid for which the family is eligible under this article.
(b) Each county welfare department shall notify applicants for assistance under this chapter, in writing, of the provisions of this section. The county welfare department shall also provide the notification to recipients of aid under this chapter, in writing, at the time of redetermination, or sooner.
(c) Both the department and the Department of Child Support Services shall each seek all appropriate federal waivers for the implementation of this section as necessary. If federal waivers are deemed necessary, this section shall be implemented only if federal waivers are granted.
(d) For purposes of this section, “stepsibling” or “half-sibling” means a
child who meets all of the following conditions:
(1) He or she lives with at least one eligible child.
(2) He or she is a child for whom child support payments are received.
(3) The monthly child support payments received for the child are greater than the monthly amount of aid that the child would receive under Section 11450.
(4) The parent or caretaker relative for the assistance unit has requested in writing
that the child not be included in the
number of needy persons used to calculate the maximum aid payment.
(e) The designation of whether or not a child is a stepsibling or half-sibling, as defined in subdivision (d), shall only be made or reevaluated at the same time as the annual redetermination of eligibility and the processing of the semiannual report, except when it has been determined by the county that good cause exists for the designation to be made at a different time when the parent or caretaker relative voluntarily reports mid-period pursuant to Section 11265.3 or 11265.47 that the child support payment or payments have decreased or ended.
(f) This section shall become operative on November 1, 2018.
SEC. 4.
(a) 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 State Department of Social Services may implement and administer this act through all-county letters or similar instructions until regulations are adopted. The department shall adopt emergency regulations implementing these provisions no later than November 1, 2020. The department may readopt any emergency regulation authorized by this section that is the same as, or substantially equivalent to, emergency regulations previously adopted under this section.(b) The initial adoption of regulations pursuant to this section and one readoption of emergency regulations shall be deemed to be an emergency and necessary for the immediate preservation of the public peace, health, safety, or general welfare. Initial emergency regulations and the one readoption of emergency regulations authorized by this section shall be exempt from review by the Office of Administrative Law. The initial emergency regulations and the one readoption of emergency regulations authorized by this section shall be submitted to the Office of Administrative Law for filing with the Secretary of State, and each shall remain in effect for no more than 180 days, by which time final regulations shall be adopted.