ARTICLE 8. Department of Community Services and Development [12085 - 12091]
( Heading of Article 8 amended by Stats. 1995, Ch. 187, Sec. 1. )
(a) (1) Although the economic well-being of the state has progressed to a level surpassing that of any other achieved in world history, and although these benefits are widely shared throughout the state, poverty continues to be the lot of a substantial number of citizens of the state. California can achieve its full economic and social potential as a state only if every individual has the opportunity to contribute the full extent of that individual’s capabilities and to participate in the workings of society. The Legislature hereby declares that it is the policy of the state to provide a range of services and activities having a measurable and potentially major impact on causes of poverty in our communities, particularly those areas of communities where poverty is an
acute problem. Specifically, it is the policy of the state to assist low-income participants, including homeless individuals and families, migrants, and the elderly poor, to do all of the following:
(A) Secure and retain meaningful employment.
(B) Attain an adequate education.
(C) Make better use of available income.
(D) Obtain and maintain adequate housing and a suitable living environment.
(2) It is further the policy of the state to do all of the following in assisting participants:
(A) Provide emergency assistance to meet immediate and urgent individual and family needs, including the need for health services, nutritious
food, housing, and employment-related assistance.
(B) Coordinate and establish linkages between governmental and other social services programs to ensure the effective delivery of those services to low-income individuals.
(C) Encourage the use of entities in the private sector of the community in efforts to ameliorate poverty.
(3) The Legislature finds that it is the purpose of this article to strengthen, supplement, and coordinate efforts to further these policies.
(b) In order to employ the resources of both the public and private sectors of the state, and to effectuate the purposes of this article, there is, within the California Health and Human Services Agency, a Department of Community Services and
Development.
(Amended by Stats. 2021, Ch. 50, Sec. 27. (AB 378) Effective January 1, 2022.)
Any reference in any provision of law or regulation to the State Office of Economic Opportunity or the Department of Economic Opportunity shall be deemed to refer to the Department of Community Services and Development.
(Amended by Stats. 2007, Ch. 46, Sec. 2. Effective January 1, 2008.)
(a) The department is under the direction of an executive officer known as the Director of Community Services and Development. The director shall be appointed by the Governor subject to the confirmation of the Senate, and shall hold office at the pleasure of the Governor. The director shall receive the salary provided for by Chapter 6 (commencing with Section 11550) of Part 1. The chief deputy director shall be appointed by the Governor and shall hold office at the pleasure of the Governor. The Governor also may appoint, to serve at the Governor’s pleasure, one deputy director for the department.
(b) Subject to the State Civil Service Act (Part 2 (commencing with Section 18500), of Division 5), the director shall appoint any
other employees necessary for the administration and the affairs of the department, and shall prescribe their duties.
(Amended by Stats. 2021, Ch. 50, Sec. 28. (AB 378) Effective January 1, 2022.)
The department shall have the responsibility, and is hereby vested with all necessary powers and authority to do the following:
(a) Recognize existing community action agencies, as originally defined by Section 2790 of Title 42 of the United States Code in the federal Economic Opportunity Act of 1964, and as superseded by Section 9902 of that title in the federal Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1981 (P.L. 97-35), and as further defined in Article 6 (commencing with Section 12750) of Chapter 9 of Division 3 of Title 2, and Indian tribes or tribal organizations, as the operators of programs to serve the poor in local communities, and, where the programs are of a statewide or multicounty nature, other limited purpose agencies may be considered
as program operators.
(b) Apply for, administer, and oversee federal block grant funds, including, but not limited to, the Community Services Block Grant and the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program, and other public and private funds designed to support antipoverty programs in the state that are not currently administered by other departments, and define and enforce programmatic performance and fiscal accountability standards for those funds.
(c) Provide funding and technical assistance, directly or through grants or contracts, to community action agencies, Indian tribes, and other agencies that operate programs of an antipoverty nature.
(d) Coordinate antipoverty efforts throughout the state, to the extent permissible under federal law, to avoid duplication, improve delivery of services, and relate programs to
one another.
(e) Maintain liaison with the Office of Community Services in the federal Department of Health and Human Services, county and city commissions on economic opportunity, citizens’ groups, and all other governmental agencies engaged in economic opportunity or community service programs, or both.
(f) Collect and assemble pertinent information and data available from other agencies of the state and federal governments and disseminate information in the interests of community services programs in the state by publication, advertisement, conference, workshops, programs, lectures, and other means.
(g) Plan and evaluate long-range and short-range strategies for overcoming poverty in the state.
(h) Mobilize public and private resources in support of
antipoverty and community services programs.
(i) Encourage participation by residents of poor communities in the development and operation of community action programs for their betterment.
(j) Advise the Governor of the Governor’s responsibilities under the Economic Opportunity Program (Chapter 34 (commencing with Section 2701) of Title 42 of the United States Code) and the Community Services Block Grant Program (Chapter 106 (commencing with Section 9901) of Title 42 of the United States Code), as well as any other federal law enacted with respect to meeting the needs of the poor.
(k) Measure and evaluate, directly or through grants or contracts, the impact of this article and other poverty-related programs authorized by law, in order to determine the effectiveness of the programs in achieving stated goals, impact
on related programs, and the structure and mechanisms for the delivery of services. All the offices under the executive branch shall cooperate and provide the necessary information to the director, upon the director’s request, to achieve the purposes of this subdivision.
(l) Promulgate regulations and negotiate and execute contracts necessary or convenient for the exercise of its responsibilities, powers, and functions, and to ensure that federal and state standards of programmatic performance and fiscal accountability are met.
(Amended by Stats. 2021, Ch. 50, Sec. 29. (AB 378) Effective January 1, 2022.)
(a) It is the intent of the Legislature that one-time funding appropriated for the Low Income Household Water Assistance Program shall be used to prioritize and expedite services that reduce arrearages for low-income households.
(b) The Department of Community Services and Development shall administer the Low Income Household Water Assistance Program in this state, and shall receive and expend moneys appropriated and allocated to the state for purposes of that program, pursuant to Section 533 of Title V of Division H of the federal Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021 (Public Law 116-260).
(c) The Department of Community Services and Development may develop and implement a
state plan, requirements, guidelines, and subgrantee contract provisions for the program described in subdivision (a) in accordance with federal law, regulations, reporting requirements, and any other federal requirements. Notwithstanding Chapter 3.5 (commencing with Section 11340) of Part 1, the department may develop the state plan, requirements, guidelines, and subgrantee contract provisions described in this subdivision without taking any further regulatory action.
(d) Pursuant to the requirements of federal law and subject to federal approval of a state plan, the Low Income Household Water Assistance Program State Plan shall include all of the following details regarding program implementation:
(1) Household eligibility.
(2) Prioritization.
(3) Program design and implementation.
(4) Funding allocation.
(5) Financial water assistance payments.
(6) State oversight and program integrity.
(7) Public participation.
(8) Data collection and reporting.
(e) All expenditures of Low Income Household Water Assistance Program funding shall be prioritized for services that reduce the arrearages of eligible households that have past due balances.
(f) Upon the execution of contracts for Low Income Household Water Assistance Program funding with local service providers, the department shall report to
the Legislature and shall post to the department’s website the following information by local service provider area:
(1) Total allocation.
(2) Allocation by service category.
(g) Beginning six months after the execution of contracts for Low Income Household Water Assistance Program funding with local service providers, and every six months thereafter until funding is exhausted, the department shall provide a report to the Legislature that includes the following information by local service provider area:
(1) Total allocation.
(2) Allocation by service category.
(3) Total expenditures.
(4) Expenditures by service category.
(5) Households served.
(6) Households served by service category.
(h) Pursuant to the requirements of federal law, the Department of Community Services and Development shall post a draft state plan to the department’s internet website and hold a public meeting prior to submission of the state plan to allow for public comment. The final plan shall be posted to the department’s internet website.
(i) All actions to implement the funding in this item, including entering into contracts for services or equipment, shall be exempt from Chapter 2 (commencing with Section 10290) of Part 2 of Division 2 of the Public Contract Code. The department may award contracts
under this section on a noncompetitive bid basis as necessary to implement the purposes of the Low Income Household Water Assistance Program grant funds.
(Added by Stats. 2021, Ch. 85, Sec. 6. (AB 135) Effective July 16, 2021.)
(a) The department shall develop and administer the Energy Efficiency Low-Income Weatherization Program and expend moneys appropriated by the Legislature for the purposes of the program.
(b) The department may develop requirements, guidelines, and subgrantee contract provisions for the program, including those necessary or desirable to ensure the effective implementation of Sections 12087.9
and 12087.10.
(c) Before a subgrantee contract is executed for the provision of local service, the department shall do both of the following:
(1) No less than 30 days before finalization of the program guidelines, post the draft program guidelines on the department’s internet website.
(2) Hold a public hearing to obtain public input on the draft program guidelines with notice of the hearing published prominently on the department’s
internet website no less than 15 days before the hearing.
(d) Chapter 3.5 (commencing with Section 11340) of Part 1 does not apply to the development and adoption of program requirements, guidelines, and subgrantee contract provisions pursuant to this section.
(Amended by Stats. 2019, Ch. 754, Sec. 1. (AB 1232) Effective January 1, 2020.)
(a) The department, for any appropriation to the department for the Energy Efficiency Low-Income Weatherization Program in the 2017–18 fiscal year, or any fiscal year thereafter, in its contract procurement processes for single-family energy efficiency and renewable energy services, shall develop new program processes and solicitations that do all of the following:
(1) Give weight and priority to applicants that can demonstrate that they have existing ties to the local communities they would be servicing, among the other factors considered. This shall apply to both regional administrators and direct service providers.
(2) Give preference to organizations with demonstrated
performance and outcomes related to low-income energy efficiency and renewable energy services.
(3) Take appropriate measures to ensure that all potential applicants are aware of changes in procurement process pursuant to this act.
(b) The department shall consult with community stakeholders, including, but not limited to, legislative staff, in the development, design, and goals of procurements on and after July 1, 2017. This consultation shall occur at least three months prior to the release of a request for applications that would commence the procurement cycle.
(Added by Stats. 2017, Ch. 24, Sec. 5. (SB 89) Effective June 27, 2017.)
By January 1, 2021, the Department of Community Services and Development shall coordinate with the California Energy Commission and the State Department of Public Health’s Office of Health Equity to identify best practices from model
programs and funding mechanisms, and provide a recommended action plan to do all of the following:
(a) Ensure greater cross-referral between public health agencies, the State Department of Public Health’s Office of Health Equity, and the Low-Income Weatherization Program for comprehensive energy and healthy home improvements for low-income multifamily residents in disadvantaged communities.
(b) Promote projects that include energy improvements that do all of the following:
(1) Provide net financial benefits, inclusive of rent and utility costs.
(2) Provide health benefits to tenants in low-income multifamily properties.
(3) Provide increased indoor air quality and address asthma or respiratory issues triggered by mold and moisture.
(c) Create mechanisms for enforcing state energy upgrade program requirements to maintain the affordability of benefiting units to low-income tenants.
(Added by Stats. 2019, Ch. 754, Sec. 2. (AB 1232) Effective January 1, 2020.)
The department, in coordination with relevant agencies, shall provide an assessment of the effectiveness of the program on or before January 1, 2023. The assessment shall contain all of the following:
(a) A compilation of actual rates of rent increases and of tenant long-term relocation or eviction, for any reason, after energy upgrades received with the goal of better enforcing or adjusting affordability contracts and measures.
(b) A summary of the total number of properties that are not regulated by deed restrictions or other legally binding provisions that are below market rate multifamily affordable housing participating
in the program, the marketing and outreach efforts of the department or the appropriate administrator pursued for this market segment, and the reasons given for nonparticipation, if any.
(c) In coordination with participating public health programs, a database of conditions found in homes that impact or could impact health negatively encountered when doing energy or health audits to track neighborhood hotspots and provide data for environmental screening and social determinants of health tools.
(Added by Stats. 2019, Ch. 754, Sec. 3. (AB 1232) Effective January 1, 2020.)
The Department of Economic Opportunity, a separate, independent entity in state government, is hereby transferred to the Health and Welfare Agency, and renamed the Department of Community Services and Development. The functions, authorities, and responsibilities of the Department of Economic Opportunity with respect to the functions of the department are transferred to the Director of Community Services and Development. All functions, authorities, and responsibilities of the Director of the Department of Economic Opportunity with regard to the functions of
the Department of Economic Opportunity are transferred to the Department of Community Services and Development.
(Amended by Stats. 1995, Ch. 187, Sec. 6. Effective January 1, 1996.)
(a) The Naturalization Services Program is hereby established, to be administered within the Department of Community Services and Development. The department shall administer the Naturalization Services Program to provide funding to community-based organizations to assist legal permanent residents in obtaining citizenship. The department shall seek input from stakeholders in designing the methodology for the distribution of funds appropriated for purposes of this section. The Naturalization Services Program shall be implemented to the
extent that funds are appropriated for this purpose in the annual Budget Act.
(b) In order to ensure accountability, effectiveness, and accessibility, the Naturalization Services Program shall emphasize both of the following:
(1) Collaboration among grantees and other providers in their region, including the State Department of Education English as a Second Language and civic grantees.
(2) Development of a referral system in each service area to ensure immigrants are informed about adult education, English literacy, and citizenship services in their region.
(Added by Stats. 2006, Ch. 515, Sec. 2. Effective January 1, 2007.)
The Department of Community Services and Development shall have possession and control of all records, papers, offices, equipment, supplies, land, and other property real or personal held for the benefit or use of the Department of Economic Opportunity.
(Amended by Stats. 1995, Ch. 187, Sec. 8. Effective January 1, 1996.)
All unexpended balances of appropriations and other funds available to the Department of Economic Opportunity shall be transferred to the Department of Community Services and Development. All funds so transferred shall be for the use and for the purpose for which the appropriation or other funds were originally made available.
(Amended by Stats. 1995, Ch. 187, Sec. 9. Effective January 1, 1996.)