(1) Existing law, the California Community Care Facilities Act, provides for the licensing and regulation of community care facilities, including group home facilities, short-term residential therapeutic programs (STRTPs), and adult residential facilities (ARFs), by the State Department of Social Services. Under existing law, the department similarly regulates residential care facilities for the elderly. A violation of provisions relating to these facilities is a misdemeanor. Existing law requires administrators of these facilities, with specified exemptions, to complete a department-approved certification program, uniformly referred to as administrator certification training programs. Under existing law, these programs require a specified minimum number of hours, depending on the facility type, of classroom instruction that provides training on a uniform core of knowledge in specified areas. Existing law also requires administrator certificates to be renewed every 2 years, conditional upon the certificate holder submitting documentation of a specified number of hours of continuing education, based on the facility type. Existing law permits up to one-half of the required continuing education hours to be satisfied through online courses, and the remainder to be completed in a classroom instructional setting, as prescribed.

This bill would revise those provisions by deleting the classroom instruction requirement for initial certification and continuing education purposes, and instead would require instruction that is conducive to learning and allows participants to simultaneously interact with each other as well as with the instructor. The bill would authorize up to one-half of continuing education hours to be satisfied through self-paced courses, rather than online courses. The bill would make various conforming changes.

Existing law authorizes the department to license as ARFs, subject to specified conditions, adult residential facilities for persons with special health care needs (ARFPSHNs), which provide 24-hour services to up to 5 adults with developmental disabilities who have special health care and intensive support needs, as defined. Existing law requires the department to ensure that an ARFPSHN meets specified administrative requirements, including requirements related to fingerprinting and criminal records.

This bill additionally would require an ARFPSHN to meet the administrator certification requirements of an ARF, including, but not limited to, completing a department-approved administrator certification training program requiring a designated minimum number of hours of instruction conducive to learning, in which participants are able to simultaneously interact with each other as well as with the instructor, that provides training on the uniform core of knowledge applicable to ARFs, as specified. The bill would require an applicant for an administrator’s certificate to submit an application for certification to the department and pass an examination, as prescribed.

Because a violation of the above-described requirements would be a crime, this bill would create a state-mandated local program.

Existing law includes within the definition of a community care facility, full-service adoption agencies and noncustodial adoption agencies, both of which are licensed entities authorized to provide specified adoption services. Under existing law, a facility is deemed to be an unlicensed community care facility and maintained and operated to provide nonmedical care if it is unlicensed, not exempt from licensure, and if it satisfies one of several specified conditions, including, among others, performing any of the functions of an adoption agency or holding itself out as performing any of the functions of an adoption agency, as specified. Existing law prohibits the operation of an unlicensed community care facility in the state and makes a violation of these provisions punishable as a misdemeanor.

Existing law generally sets forth the procedures and requirements for an adoption. Existing law authorizes an adoption facilitator to provide specific adoption services, including advertising for the purpose of soliciting parties to an adoption, locating children for an adoption, or acting as an intermediary between the parties to an adoption, and charging a fee or other valuable consideration for services rendered. Existing law makes it a crime for an unlicensed person or organization to advertise that they or it will place, accept, supply, provide, or obtain children for adoption, or to cause any advertisement to be published in or by any public medium soliciting, requesting, or asking for any child or children for adoption.

This bill would repeal the provisions relating to adoption facilitators and would expressly state that an adoption facilitator that continues to operate on or after January 1, 2024, shall be deemed an unlicensed adoption agency. The bill would prohibit a person or organization from engaging in specified activities relating to adoption unless the person or organization has a valid and unrevoked license to operate as a licensed adoption agency, as defined, that is authorized to place children for adoption, or the person or organization is exempt from licensure, as specified. The bill would make various conforming changes. By changing the scope of existing crimes, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program.

The bill would authorize the department to make referrals to law enforcement agencies based on these violations and would authorize a person aggrieved by these violations to bring a civil action for relief, as specified. The bill would authorize any other interested person who, based upon information or belief, claims a person or entity is continuing to operate as an unlicensed adoption agency on or after January 1, 2024, to bring a civil action for injunctive relief on behalf of the general public.

The bill would require the department to create a section on its internet website dedicated to educating the public on unlicensed adoption agencies, as specified, including, among other things, a statement notifying the public of the prohibition against adoption facilitators in the state after January 1, 2024, and a listing of all persons or organizations on the department’s statewide adoption facilitator registry as of December 31, 2023. The bill would require the department to individually notify each adoption facilitator on the registry as of July 1, 2023, that operations must cease and require the adoption facilitators to provide specified notices to the public and to individuals under contract that they will be ceasing operation. The bill would appropriate $317,000 from the Federal Trust Fund to the department for the implementation of these provisions.

(2) Existing law, the Home Care Services Consumer Protection Act (act), provides for the licensure and regulation of home care organizations by the State Department of Social Services and the registration of home care aides. A violation of the act is a misdemeanor. Existing law authorizes the department to issue a license to a home care organization, and requires the license to be renewed every 2 years. Existing law requires an applicant for licensure to satisfy certain requirements, including, but not limited to, submitting proof of general and professional liability insurance, workers’ compensation insurance, and an employee dishonesty bond, as specified. Existing law requires proof of that coverage to be provided at the time of each license renewal. Existing law requires the department to notify a licensed home care organization in writing of its registration expiration date and the process of renewal, as specified.

This bill would revise the provisions relating to the licensure of home care organizations, including, but not limited to, deleting the requirement for a home care organization licensee to provide proof of the insurance and bond coverage at the time of renewal. The bill would require the department to adopt regulations, on or before January 1, 2026, to require biennial inspections to ensure that licensed home care organizations possess those policies. The bill would specify that a home care organization license that is not renewed expires 2 years after the date of issuance.

Existing law requires the administration of the act to be fully supported by fees and not civil penalties, as specified. Existing law creates the Home Care Fund to fund the administration of the act, which consists of all licensure and registration fees authorized by the act.

This bill, notwithstanding those provisions, would authorize General Fund moneys, as appropriated in the Budget Act of 2023 and the Budget Act of 2024, to be used to administer the act. The bill would require the department to submit a report to the Legislature, by January 10, 2025, on the solvency of the Home Care Fund, including any new resources, and recommendations on a new fee structure that allows the home care program to be self-sustaining or request any additional resource needs. The bill would require the department, beginning January 1, 2024, to submit quarterly written progress updates, including specified information regarding the department’s progress within the home care program, to the relevant legislative budget subcommittees and the Legislative Analyst’s Office. The bill would make the quarterly update requirements inoperative on the later of January 10, 2025, or when the department delivers the report on the solvency of the Home Care Fund to the Legislature.

Existing law authorizes the department to deny an application for licensure or suspend or revoke any license issued pursuant to the act on specified grounds, including, but not limited to, engaging in conduct that is inimical to the health, morals, welfare, or safety of either an individual receiving home care services or the people of the State of California.

This bill additionally would authorize the department to prohibit an individual from becoming a registered home care aide or remaining registered on the home care aide registry, or being a licensee of, or serving in other specified capacities for a home care organization if the individual has engaged in the above conduct or other specified behavior. Among other actions, the bill would authorize the department to remove the individual from contact with clients, prospective clients, or confidential client information of a home care organization, pending a final decision of the matter, and to serve an immediate order of exclusion on the individual. The bill would authorize an excluded individual to appeal that decision, as prescribed.

(3) Existing law provides for the California Work Opportunity and Responsibility to Kids (CalWORKs) program, under which each county provides cash assistance and other benefits to qualified low-income families and individuals. Under existing law, the county is required to annually redetermine eligibility for CalWORKs benefits and, at the time of redetermination, require the family to complete a certificate of eligibility. Existing law additionally requires at the time of the redetermination, and at other intervals as deemed necessary, the county to require the family to complete a certificate of eligibility with a written declaration of the relevant information.

This bill would, beginning July 1, 2024, or on the date that the State Department of Social Services notifies the Legislature that the California Statewide Automated Welfare System (CalSAWS) can perform the necessary automation to implement this change, require, if contact is not made or the annual certificate of eligibility is not completed, the county to send a reminder notice to the recipient no later than 5 days prior to the end of the month. The bill would authorize the department to implement and administer these changes by all-county letter or similar directive until regulations are adopted, and would require the department to adopt regulations implementing the changes no later than July 1, 2025. By increasing the duties of counties administering the CalWORKs program, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program.

Under existing law, guaranteed income payments received by an individual from the California Guaranteed Income Pilot Program are not considered income or resources for purposes of determining eligibility for benefits or assistance under any state or local benefit or assistance program, as specified.

This bill would exempt all guaranteed income payments from consideration as income or resources for purposes of the CalWORKs program. The bill would authorize the department to implement, interpret, or make specific this provision through all-county letters or similar instructions from the department until regulations are adopted, as specified. By expanding the scope of CalWORKs eligibility, and thereby increasing the duties of counties administering the CalWORKs program, the 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 provide that the continuous appropriation would not be made for purposes of implementing the provisions relating to the redetermination notice and exempt income and resources.

Existing law establishes maximum aid grant amounts to be provided to each family receiving aid under CalWORKs. Existing law requires, effective October 1, 2022, and through September 30, 2024, that the maximum aid payments in effect on July 1, 2022, be increased by 10%, in addition to another specified percentage increase. Effective October 1, 2024, existing law conditions an increase in the maximum aid payments in effect on July 1, 2024, on an appropriation for this purpose in the Budget Act of 2024.

This bill would remove the expiration set for September 30, 2024, thereby extending indefinitely the 10% increase for the CalWORKs maximum aid payments. The bill would also remove the above-described appropriation condition for an increase in maximum aid payments. The bill would also, commencing on October 1, 2023, increase the maximum aid payments in effect on July 1, 2023, by 3.6%. 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. By increasing the duties of counties relating to these CalWORKs maximum aid payments, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program.

Existing law requires that if a family does not include a needy child qualified for aid under CalWORKs, aid will be paid to a pregnant person as of the date of the application for aid, as specified. Existing law establishes the CalWORKs Home Visiting Program (home visiting program), a voluntary program for the purpose of supporting positive health, development, and well-being outcomes for pregnant and parenting people, families, and infants born into poverty. Subject to an appropriation in the annual Budget Act, existing law requires the department to award funds to participating counties in order to provide voluntary evidence-based home visiting services to assistance units that meet specified requirements. Existing law requires a participating county to describe in its application for funding, among other things, the voluntary populations of CalWORKs applicants and recipients that the county intends to serve. Existing law requires those populations to include individuals who are pregnant or are parents or caretaker relatives of a child less than 24 months of age at the time the individual enrolls in the program. Existing law also requires pregnant individuals who have applied for CalWORKs aid within 60 calendar days before reaching the 2nd trimester of pregnancy, and are otherwise eligible for CalWORKs aid, to be eligible for the home visiting program.

This bill would delete the provision limiting eligibility for the home visiting program with respect to pregnant CalWORKs applicants who have not reached the 2nd trimester. The bill would authorize the department to implement and administer these provisions by means of all-county letters or similar instructions from the department until regulations are adopted.

(4) Existing law requires the State Department of Social Services, subject to an appropriation in the annual Budget Act, to administer the California Guaranteed Income Pilot Program to provide grants to eligible entities for the purpose of administering pilot programs and projects that provide a guaranteed income to participants. Existing law defines an eligible entity, for purposes of the program, as a nonprofit organization, as specified, or a city, county, or city and county. Existing law requires the department to review and evaluate the pilot programs and projects funded to determine the economic impact of the programs and projects and their impact on the outcomes of individuals who receive guaranteed income payments. Existing law authorizes the department to accept and expend funds from nongovernmental sources for any grants awarded pursuant to the program and for the review and evaluation of pilot programs.

This bill would require the department’s evaluation to include the applicability of the lessons learned from the pilot program for the state’s California Work Opportunity and Responsibility to Kids (CalWORKs) program, with the objective of reaching the goals of improved outcomes for families and children living in poverty. The bill would authorize the department to accept and expend funds from any source, public or private, to administer the program. The bill would revise the definition of an eligible entity to also include a tribe, consortium of tribes, or tribal organization, or any combination thereof.

(5) Existing federal law establishes the federal 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 sets maximum allotment amounts by household size. Existing law establishes a statewide electronic benefits transfer (EBT) system, administered by the State Department of Social Services, for the purpose of providing cash and food assistance benefits, including CalFresh benefits.

This bill would, subject to an appropriation by the Legislature, require the department to administer the CalFresh Minimum Nutrition Benefit Pilot Program to provide an eligible household receiving a monthly CalFresh allotment of less than a minimum monthly benefit, established by the bill to be $50, with an additional 12 months of state-funded nutrition benefits that when added together with the federal allotment, totals no less than $50 per month. The bill would confer the department with sole discretion to identify additional eligibility criteria and to define the scope of the pilot program, and would require the department to consult with counties and stakeholders to identify and prioritize populations or regions with persistently higher levels of hunger. The bill would require these benefits to be delivered through the EBT system, and would, to the extent permitted by federal law, exclude these benefits from being considered income for any means-tested program. By imposing additional duties on counties administering the program, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program.

Existing law, until July 1, 2024, 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 extend that program to July 1, 2025, and would repeal those provisions on January 1, 2026.

Existing law establishes the California Fruit and Vegetable EBT Pilot Project and requires the State Department of Social Services, in consultation with the Department of Food and Agriculture and specified stakeholders, to include within the EBT system a supplemental benefits mechanism that allows an authorized retailer to deliver and redeem supplemental benefits. Existing law defines supplemental benefits for these purposes to mean additional funds delivered to a CalFresh recipient’s EBT card upon purchase of California-grown fresh fruits and vegetables using CalFresh benefits. Existing law requires the department to submit a report to the Legislature, including the results of an evaluation of the pilot projects, as specified, 9 months after the department has received sufficient data to evaluate the pilot projects, but not later than January 1, 2022. Existing law specifies that the pilot project is to remain in effect until January 1, 2024, and is repealed as of that date.

This bill would remove the requirement that agricultural products be California-grown. The bill would extend the pilot program provisions to January 1, 2027, and repeal them as of that date. The bill would extend the deadline for the department to submit a report including the results of an evaluation of the pilot projects from January 1, 2022, to September 1, 2025. The bill would require the department to submit a report to the Legislature by March 1, 2026, regarding the transition of the California Fruit and Vegetable EBT Pilot Project to a supplemental benefits program that is fully state-managed, without grantee intermediaries, as specified.

Existing federal law provides for the Summer Electronic Benefit Transfer for Children (Summer EBT) program, under which states and covered Indian tribal organizations that elect to participate provide nutrition assistance through electronic benefit transfer or other methods, as specified, during the summer months for eligible children, as defined, to ensure continued access to food when school is not in session for the summer. The Summer EBT program requires, for calendar year 2024, a benefit to be provided in an amount equal to $40, for each eligible child in an eligible household per month during the summer operational period. Under existing federal law, eligible children may include, among others, those who are certified to receive free or reduced-price school breakfast or lunch, as specified.

Existing law requires each school district or county superintendent of schools maintaining any kindergarten or any of grades 1 to 12, inclusive, to provide each needy pupil with one nutritionally adequate free or reduced-price meal during each schoolday. Existing law requires that all applications and records concerning any individual made or kept by any public officer or agency in connection with the administration of any provision of law relating to free or reduced-price meal eligibility be kept confidential, subject to specified exceptions.

This bill would require the State Department of Social Services, as the lead agency in partnership with the State Department of Education, to maximize participation in the Summer EBT benefit program. The bill, notwithstanding specified provisions relating to the confidentiality of certain pupil records, would authorize the department and the State Department of Education to share data for the limited purpose of administering the Summer EBT benefit program, including, but not limited to, identifying eligible students and evaluating program outcomes.

(6) Existing law authorizes, in certain circumstances, a child who has been removed from their parent or guardian to be placed with a relative or nonrelative extended family member if the relative or nonrelative extended family member is either an approved resource family or has been assessed by a county social worker or a county probation agency and, among other things, the relative or nonrelative extended family member has not been convicted of a crime for which a criminal record exemption cannot be granted, has been granted a criminal record exemption, or, in certain circumstances, a criminal record exemption is pending. Existing law, notwithstanding those provisions, authorizes the court to order placement with a relative, regardless of the status of any criminal exemption or resource family approval, if the court finds that the placement does not pose a risk to the health and safety of the child, as specified.

Under existing law, Kinship Guardianship Assistance Payments (Kin-GAP) provide aid on behalf of children eligible for financial participation under certain federal provisions who are in kinship care, as specified. Existing law also establishes the state-funded Kinship Guardianship Assistance Payment Program (state Kin-GAP), which provides aid on behalf of eligible children who are placed in the home of a relative guardian. Existing law requires aid in the form of state-funded Kin-GAP to be provided on behalf of any child under 18 years of age and to any eligible youth under 19 years of age who has had a kinship guardianship established, as described above, and who meets other requirements, including that the child or youth has been adjudicated a dependent child or ward of the juvenile court, has been residing for at least 6 consecutive months in the approved home of the prospective relative guardian, and has had a kinship guardianship established and the dependency jurisdiction or wardship terminated, as specified.

This bill would revise provisions relating to eligibility for Kin-GAP and state Kin-GAP aid by defining “approved home of the prospective relative guardian,” for purposes of those programs, to include specific references to a relative approved as a resource family or a tribally approved home, as specified. With respect to state Kin-GAP, the bill also would include within that definition the home of a relative that has been assessed by the juvenile court and into which the court has authorized placement. The bill also would revise the definition of a “relative” under Kin-GAP to include an adult who meets the definition of an extended family member under the federal Indian Child Welfare Act of 1978 (ICWA), as specified. The bill also would make various technical changes. To the extent that this bill would impose new administrative duties on county welfare departments, the bill would create a state-mandated local program.

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. Existing law establishes a schedule of basic rates to be paid for the care and supervision of each foster child, administered by the State Department of Social Services. Existing law also establishes the Approved Relative Caregiver Funding Program (ARC), which provides payments to approved relative caregivers who are caring for children and nonminor dependents who are ineligible for AFDC-FC payments.

Existing law requires a monthly basic rate to be paid for a nonminor dependent placed in a licensed foster family home or with a resource family, or placed in an approved home of a relative or approved home of a nonrelative extended family member, or placed in a supervised independent living placement, as specified.

This bill would, commencing July 1, 2025, subject to an appropriation in the annual Budget Act, create a housing supplement to the basic rate paid for a nonminor dependent placed in a supervised independent living placement, as specified. The bill would require the department to work with the County Welfare Directors Association of California and CalSAWS to develop and implement the necessary system changes to implement the housing supplement. The bill would require the monthly housing supplement payment to be added to the rate paid to the nonminor dependent and prorated based on the number of days in a month the dependent is in a placement eligible for the supplement. The bill would prohibit an overpayment from being collected on this housing supplement. The bill would require the department to calculate this housing supplement by November 1 of each year and inform county welfare agencies, by means of all-county letters or similar written instructions, in the month of July of the following year of the amount of the supplement. Because counties would administer these extended benefits, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program.

ICWA governs the proceedings for determining the placement of an Indian child when that child is removed from the custody of the child’s parent or guardian. Existing law specifies that the state is committed to protecting the essential tribal relations and best interest of an Indian child by promoting practices in accordance with ICWA. Existing law authorizes a federally recognized tribe to approve a home for the purpose of foster or adoptive placement of an Indian child pursuant to ICWA and authorizes a tribe to designate a tribal organization to do the same.

Existing law, the Tribally Approved Homes Compensation Program, provides funding to federally recognized Indian tribes to assist in funding the costs associated with recruiting and approving homes for the purpose of foster or adoptive placement of an Indian child pursuant to ICWA, as described above. Existing law requires an Indian tribe, to be eligible for the funding allocation, to enter into an agreement, as specified, with the department on or before May 1 prior to the fiscal year for which funding is requested.

This bill would delete the May 1 deadline and instead require an Indian tribe that seeks funding to submit a letter of interest each year to the department by a deadline established by the department, as specified.

Existing law establishes the Tribal Dependency Representation Program to provide funding to assist any federally recognized Indian tribe located in California, or with lands that extend into California, in funding legal counsel to represent the Indian tribe in a California Indian child custody proceeding that is initiated or ongoing in the juvenile court. Existing law requires an Indian tribe that seeks funding for this purpose to submit an annual letter of interest to the State Department of Social Services. Existing law requires the department, subject to an appropriation in the annual Budget Act for this purpose, to provide each Indian tribe that enters into a specified agreement and submits a letter of interest an annual base allocation of $15,000 for legal counsel, except that if the annual Budget Act provides for an allocation of funds of more than $15,000 per eligible tribe, then each eligible tribe would receive an adjusted allocation, subject to a requirement that the adjusted allocation be based on a methodology considering the number of Indian children in foster care or prospective adoptive placements through the juvenile court. Existing law requires that the allocation and implementation plan be established by the department in government-to-government consultation with tribes on or before June 30, 2023.

This bill would remove the requirement that the adjusted allocation be based on a methodology considering the number of Indian children in foster care or prospective adoptive placements through the juvenile court. This bill would remove the requirement that the allocation plan be established on or before June 30, 2023.

Existing law establishes the Bringing Families Home Program, and, subject to an appropriation, requires the State Department of Social Services to award program funds to counties and tribal governments for the purpose of providing housing-related supports to eligible families experiencing homelessness, as defined, if that homelessness prevents reunification between an eligible family and a child receiving child welfare services, as defined, or when lack of housing prevents a parent or guardian from addressing issues that could lead to foster care placement.

This bill would, for purposes of the program, expand the definition of “child welfare services” to include those services provided by a tribe, or tribal entity or agency, in accordance with tribal law or custom, if it provides at least one of specified child welfare services. The bill would expand the definition of “homeless” to include an individual or family who is fleeing, or is attempting to flee, domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, stalking, or other dangerous or life-threatening conditions that relate to violence, as specified, has no other residence, and lacks the resources or support networks to obtain other permanent housing. The bill would also make certain changes to the existing definition of “permanent housing” for purposes of the program.

Existing law requires the department to award the above-described program funds to county child welfare agencies and tribes according to specified criteria, including a requirement for a county or tribe receiving state funds to provide matching funds, except between July 1, 2021, and June 30, 2024. Existing law requires the department, no later than July 1, 2024, to adopt regulations implementing specified changes to the program that were enacted in 2021, including changes to the definitions of “homeless” and “eligible family” and the exception period for the fund-matching requirement.

This bill would extend the exception period to June 30, 2025, for the fund-matching requirement. This bill would instead require the department to adopt regulations implementing all provisions of the program no later than July 1, 2024.

Existing law requires the State Department of Social Services, jointly with the State Department of Health Care Services, to establish the Children’s Crisis Continuum Pilot Program for the purpose of developing treatment options that are needed to support California’s commitment to eliminate the placement of foster youth with complex needs in out-of-state facilities. Existing law requires proposals for participation in the pilot program to be submitted no later than January 31, 2022, and that grant funds be disbursed no later than March 31, 2022. Existing law requires the State Department of Social Services, jointly with the State Department of Health Care Services, to submit an interim report to the Assembly Committee on Human Services and the Senate Committee on Human Services by April 1, 2025. Existing law authorizes the departments to issue guidance without taking further regulatory action until March 1, 2022. Existing law authorizes the pilot program to be implemented for 5 years from the date of a specified appropriation.

This bill would require that the pilot program be implemented for 5 years from the date grant recipients are selected. The bill would extend the deadline for proposal submissions from January 31, 2022, to December 1, 2022, and the deadline for disbursement of grant funds from March 31, 2022, to June 30, 2023. The bill would extend the date by which the interim report is due from April 1, 2025, to April 1, 2027. The bill would extend the date that any guidance issued without taking further regulatory action is to be provided from March 2022 to on an ongoing basis during the pilot program.

Existing law establishes a system of statewide child welfare services, administered by the State Department of Social Services and county child welfare agencies, with the intent that all children are entitled to be safe and free from abuse and neglect. Existing law requires the department to implement the Child Welfare Services/Case Management System (CWS/CMS) to administer and evaluate the state’s child welfare services and foster care programs. Existing law also requires the department and the Office of Systems Integration, in collaboration with the County Welfare Directors Association of California, to seek resources to enable the necessary level of engagement by the counties in the Child Welfare Services-New System (CWS-NS), a successor information system, as specified. Existing law requires the existing (CWS/CMS) operations and functionality to be maintained at a level at least commensurate with its December 2015 status, and not to be decommissioned prior to the full statewide implementation of the CWS-NS in all counties, as specified.

This bill would replace various references to CWS-NS with updated references to the Child Welfare Services – California Automated Response and Engagement System (CWS-CARES). The bill would make declarations of legislative intent for the CWS-CARES information technology (IT) project to meet specified objectives, intended to align with the scope approved in the most recent Special Project Report for the system. Those objectives would include, among others, replacing the CWS/CMS with a federally compliant Comprehensive Child Welfare Information System, incorporating relevant end-user feedback into product design, development, and implementation, and limiting any additional delays to the project design, development, and implementation that could lead to federal noncompliance penalties or the potential loss of federal funding, as specified. The bill would make additional findings and declarations with respect to the need for ongoing oversight of the CWS-CARES IT project by the Legislature and designated state departments, and would update and expand existing oversight criteria. The criteria would include, among others, requiring the department and the Office of Technology and Solutions Integration to convene monthly meetings with specified government entities, and to submit monthly project status reports to the Legislature and other relevant stakeholders, including updates on the progress made toward successful completion on the project and other prescribed information.

(7) Existing law establishes the State Supplementary Program for the Aged, Blind and Disabled (SSP), which requires the State Department of Social Services to contract with the United States Secretary of Health and Human Services to make payments to SSP recipients to supplement Supplemental Security Income (SSI) payments made available pursuant to the federal Social Security Act. Existing law requires the department to submit, by January 1, 2024, a report to the Legislature that includes recommendations on the administration of the program.

This bill would require the department, on or before February 1, 2024, to provide a written communication to the Joint Legislative Budget Committee and the appropriate fiscal and policy committees of the Legislature describing the process that would need to occur in order to switch the method the state uses to meet the federal maintenance of supplementary payment levels requirement for the State Supplementary Program for the Aged, Blind and Disabled from the current payment level method to the total expenditures method. The bill would require the written communication to include, among other things, a feasible timeline for notifying the federal Social Security Administration of the change. This bill would make these provisions inoperative on July 1, 2025, and repeal them as of January 1, 2026.

Under existing law, benefit payments under SSP are calculated by establishing the maximum level of nonexempt income and federal SSI and state SSP benefits for each category of eligible recipient, and the state SSP payment for a recipient is the amount required, when added to the nonexempt income and SSI benefits available to the recipient, to provide the maximum benefit payment. Existing law continuously appropriates funds for the implementation of SSP.

Existing law, subject to an appropriation in the Budget Act of 2022, and commencing January 1, 2023, increases the amount of aid paid under SSP by a percentage increase calculated by the department and the Department of Finance, and requires those departments to notify specified legislative committees and the Legislative Analyst’s Office of the final percentage increase effectuated by the appropriation in the Budget Act of 2022 for the purposes of implementing the increase.

This bill would, subject to an appropriation in the Budget Act of 2023, and commencing January 1, 2024, similarly increase the amount of aid paid under SSP by a percentage increase calculated by the same 2 departments, and would require those departments to notify the same legislative committees and the Legislative Analyst’s Office of the final percentage increase effectuated by the appropriation in the Budget Act of 2023 for the purposes of implementing the increase.

(8) Existing law establishes the In-Home Supportive Services (IHSS) program, administered by the State Department of Social Services and counties, under which qualified aged, blind, and disabled persons are provided with services in order to permit them to remain in their own homes. Existing law requires remuneration to a provider who has the legal duty to provide for the care of their child who is the recipient of supportive services only when the provider leaves full-time employment or is prevented from obtaining full-time employment because no other suitable provider is available and when the inability of the provider to provide supportive services may result in inappropriate placement or inadequate care.

This bill would delete those above-described conditions under which a provider who has the legal duty to provide for the care of their child who is the recipient of supportive services may be remunerated for the services provided. The bill would require that these policy changes to minor provider eligibility guidelines are to take effect 60 days after the department issues policy guidance and, if needed, fiscal guidance through all-county letter or similar written instructions.

Existing law establishes the Medi-Cal program, administered by the State Department of Health Care Services, under which qualified low-income individuals receive health care services. Existing law requires the State Department of Social Services to administer the Career Pathways Program for providers of in-home supportive services, related services, or waiver personal care services, to increase the quality of care, recruitment and retention of providers for recipients and to provide training opportunities for career advancement in the home care and health care industries. Existing law requires the program to be implemented as a pilot project no later than September 1, 2022, or as otherwise specified, until March 31, 2024, or until a later date, subject to an appropriation. Existing law requires the submission of an interim report, as specified, to the Legislature by no later than May 1, 2023, with a final report of the evaluation of the pilot project submitted to the Legislature by December 31, 2024.

This bill would extend the deadline of the final report from December 31, 2024, to September 30, 2025. The bill would also extend the operative end date of the pilot program from March 31, 2024, to March 31, 2025.

Existing law requires a specified mediation process, including a factfinding panel recommending settlement terms, to be held if a public authority or nonprofit consortium and the employee organization fail to reach agreement on a bargaining contract with in-home supportive service (IHSS) workers on or after October 1, 2021. Existing law subjects a county to a one-time withholding of 1991 Realignment funds if, among other things, the county does not reach an agreement with the employee organization within 90 days after the release of the factfinding panel’s recommended settlement terms. Existing law specifies that the amount of the 1991 Realignment funding withholding would be 7% of the county’s 2020–2021 fiscal year IHSS Maintenance of Effort (MOE) requirement. Existing law requires the State Controller to deposit any amounts withheld pursuant to these provisions into the continuously appropriated General Growth Subaccount of the Sales Tax Growth Account of the Local Revenue Fund, as specified.

This bill would, beginning October 1, 2023, increase the amount of the 1991 Realignment funding withholding to 10% of the county’s prior fiscal year IHSS MOE requirement and would require that the withholding continue once each fiscal year, until the county enters into a collective bargaining agreement. The bill would make other conforming changes. By increasing the amounts withheld from the counties and deposited into the continuously appropriated General Growth Subaccount of the Sales Tax Growth Account of the Local Revenue Fund, this bill would make an appropriation.

Under existing law, the county’s allocation is increased by the amount of the prior year’s reduction when the penalty above is imposed.

This bill would provide that the county’s allocation be increased by the prior year’s reduction only in the year after the county enters into a collective bargaining agreement with the employee organization.

Existing law requires the state and counties to share the annual cost of providing IHSS pursuant to a specified cost ratio, and requires all counties to have a rebased County IHSS MOE, and requires the rebased MOE to be adjusted for the annualized cost of increases in provider wages, health benefits, or other benefits, as prescribed. Existing law authorizes a county to negotiate a wage supplement, and requires the wage supplement to subsequently be applied to the minimum wage when the minimum wage increase is equal to or exceeds the county wage paid without the inclusion of the wage supplement and the increase to the county wage paid takes effect at the same time as the minimum wage increase.

Existing law provides that the above-described requirement does not apply for any changes to provider wages or health benefits locally negotiated, mediated, or imposed by a county, public authority, or nonprofit consortium, for which a rate change request was submitted to the State Department of Social Services for review prior to January 1, 2018, and instead requires that in these cases, the wage supplement subsequently be applied to the minimum wage when the minimum wage is equal to or exceeds the county individual provider wage including the wage supplement.

This bill would delete the above provision.

(9) Existing law requires public social services for deaf and hard-of-hearing persons to be available in at least 3 regions throughout the state. Under existing law, those services include, among other things, complete communication services through interpreter services by a professional interpreter, job development, and counseling. Existing law requires the State Department of Social Services to establish the criteria for funding those services and to contract with public agencies or private nonprofit corporations for purposes of these provisions. Existing law requires those contracts to be competitively bid pursuant to a request for proposals, as specified.

This bill would authorize grants to, as an alternative to contracts with, public agencies or private nonprofit corporations for purposes of the department’s requirements regarding those public social services. The bill would require those contracts or grants to be competitively bid pursuant to a request for proposals or applications. The bill would make conforming changes to related provisions.

(10) Existing law establishes the Home Safe Program, which requires the State Department of Social Services to award grants to counties, tribes, or groups of counties or tribes, that provide services to elder and dependent adults who experience abuse, neglect, self-neglect, or exploitation and otherwise meet the eligibility criteria for adult protective services, for the purpose of providing prescribed housing-related supports to eligible individuals. Existing law defines various terms for purposes of the program, including “adult protective services,” which is defined to mean activities performed on behalf of elders and dependent adults who have come to the attention of the adult protective services agency due to potential abuse or neglect. Existing law requires grantees that receive grants under the Home Safe Program to provide matching funds, but exempts that requirement for the period between July 1, 2021, and June 30, 2024.

This bill would expand the definition of “adult protective services” to include activities performed, in accordance with tribal law or custom, on behalf of older and dependent adults who have come to the attention of a tribe, or tribal entity or agency, due to potential abuse or neglect. The bill would define “older adult” for purposes of the program to mean any person residing in this state who is 60 years of age or older and, for individuals receiving services from a tribe, or tribal entity or agency, any person residing in this state within the age range established by tribal law or custom for tribal programs serving needy and vulnerable older adults. The bill would also extend the exemption period for required matching funds to June 30, 2025.

Existing law establishes the Housing and Disability Income Advocacy Program under the administration of the State Department of Social Services. Under the existing program, state funds are granted, subject to an appropriation in the annual Budget Act, to a participating county for the provision of outreach, case management, and advocacy services to assist clients who are homeless or at risk of becoming homeless to obtain disability benefits. Existing law requires a grantee, with the assistance of the department, to seek reimbursement of funds used for housing assistance, general assistance, or general relief from the federal Commissioner of Social Security pursuant to an interim assistance reimbursement agreement, as specified. Existing law also requires a grantee that receives state funds to provide matching funds. Existing law waives the requirement to seek reimbursement of funds through June 30, 2024, and exempts a grantee from the requirement to match certain funds between July 1, 2021, and June 30, 2024. Existing law allows any changes made to the procedure for matching funds put in place by prior legislation to be made by all-county letters or similar instructions from the department. Existing law requires the department to adopt regulations regarding those specific changes by July 1, 2024.

This bill would extend the reimbursement waiver and exemption for a grantee to match certain funds through June 30, 2025. The bill would require the department to adopt regulations for the Housing and Disability Income Advocacy Program as a whole by July 1, 2024.

Existing law authorizes the State Department of Social Services, utilizing no more than $10,500,000 of one-time funds appropriated in the Budget Act of 2021 for the purposes of the CalWORKs Housing Support Program, the Home Safe Program, the Bringing Families Home Program, and the Housing and Disability Income Advocacy Program, to contract with vendors for the purpose of establishing a system to collect data and track outcomes, and to contract with independent evaluation and research agencies to evaluate the impacts of each of those programs. Existing law authorizes the department, utilizing no more than an equivalent amount of those appropriated funds, to contract with entities to provide technical assistance for each of those programs.

This bill would authorize the department to utilize no more than $10,500,000 of the combined one-time funds appropriated in the Budget Act of 2021 and the Budget Act of 2022 for the above-described purposes. The bill would also authorize the department to utilize no more than $10,500,000 of the one-time funds appropriated in the Budget Act of 2022 in a manner consistent with those purposes to contract with entities to provide technical assistance for each of those programs.

Existing law requires the department to report annually to the Legislature on contracts and expenditures made, data collected, and evaluations performed pursuant to the above-described provisions by February 1 of each year.

This bill would instead require the department to report specified information under that timeline, including information on the dollar amounts and contracted entities, the number of requests for service, the number of families or individuals approved to receive program services as applicable to each program, certain information about the Community Care Expansion Program, and trend information on the capacity of the programs.

If any provisions of tribal law, tribal governance, tribal charter, or difference in tribal entity or agency legal structure would cause a violation of, would fail to satisfy, or would create inconsistencies with, program requirements for the above-described housing programs or the Community Care Expansion Program, the bill would authorize the modification or waiver of any regulatory or other program requirement set forth by the department, as necessary to ensure program compatibility or to avoid an unnecessary administrative burden on tribes. The bill would authorize the department to implement this provision without taking regulatory action.

(11) Existing law requires the State Department of Social Services to allocate federal funds for refugee social services programs to eligible counties and, in certain circumstances, to qualified nonprofit organizations.

This bill would authorize the department to also allocate funds, as described, to private for-profit organizations. The bill would require the department to prioritize funding qualified nonprofit organizations and counties over for-profit organizations, when practicable. The bill would require the department to track and document the funding provided to each type of service provider and the purposes for use of the funding, and to report this information to the appropriate fiscal and policy staff of the Legislature on a semiannual basis.

Existing federal regulations provide that certain persons who do not have legal status in the United States and who meet specified guidelines may apply for deferred action on removal from the United States, as specified.

Existing law requires the State Department of Social Services, subject to the availability of funding, to contract with qualified nonprofit legal services organizations to provide legal services to unaccompanied, undocumented minors, as defined, who are transferred to the care and custody of the federal Office of Refugee Resettlement and who are present in this state. Existing law specifies various requirements for those contracts, including, among other things, that they be executed only with nonprofit legal services organizations that meet specified requirements and that they provide for legal services to unaccompanied undocumented minors on a fee-per-case basis, as specified.

Existing law also requires the department, subject to the availability of funding, to provide grants to qualified organizations, as specified, to be used to provide persons living in California with specified services, including, but not limited to, services to assist with the application process for initial or renewal requests of deferred action under the federal Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals policy and services to obtain other immigration remedies. Existing law requires the grants to be awarded only to qualified nonprofit organizations that meet specified requirements, including a specified number of years of experience relating to immigration issues, as provided. Existing law requires a legal services organization that provides legal training and technical assistance, as defined, to, among other things, have at least 10 years of experience conducting immigration legal services and technical assistance.

This bill would remove the requirement that contracts provide for legal services to unaccompanied minors on a fee-per-case basis and instead require the department to determine the funding method. The bill would allow grants to be used to provide immigration benefits, as defined. This bill would also authorize the department to approve a nonprofit legal service organization to receive a grant if it has at least 3 years of experience, as specified, and has conducted trainings on immigration issues for persons beyond its staff.

(12) Existing law establishes the California Health and Human Services Agency and includes within the agency, among others, the Office of Systems Integration, under the control of the Director of the Office of Systems Integration. Existing law requires the Office of Systems Integration to implement a statewide automated welfare system for public assistance programs, including, among others, the CalWORKs program.

This bill would, among other things, rename that office the Office of Technology and Solutions Integration. The bill would authorize the Director of Finance to authorize a loan from the General Fund to the California Health and Human Services Automation Fund, if various requirements are met.

(13) 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 with regard to certain mandates no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.

With regard to any other mandates, this bill would provide that, if the Commission on State Mandates determines that the bill contains costs so mandated by the state, reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to the statutory provisions noted above.

(14) This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as a bill providing for appropriations related to the Budget Bill.