SECTIONS 10540-10544.317 - California Statutes

WELFARE AND INSTITUTIONS CODE

SECTION 10540-10544.317

10540. (a) It is the intent of the Legislature to implement Public
Law 104-193 in such a manner as to do all of the following:
(1) Reduce child poverty in the state.
(2) Achieve the goals of Public Law 104-193, which include
reducing dependence of needy parents on government benefits by
promoting job preparation, work, and marriage; reducing
out-of-wedlock births; and encouraging the formation and maintenance
of two-parent families.
(3) Meet the requirements of federal law.
(b) It is further the intent of the Legislature to ensure that the
implementation of Public Law 104-193 does not result in
unanticipated outcomes that negatively affect child well-being, the
demand for county general assistance, or the number of families
affected by domestic violence.

10540.5. The department shall ensure that performance outcomes are
monitored at the state and county levels in order to do all of the
following:
(a) Identify the extent to which the state and counties achieve
the goals of Public Law 104-193.
(b) Identify the extent to which unanticipated negative outcomes
do or do not occur.
(c) Meet the requirements of federal law.
(d) Assist counties in tracking the effect of CalWORKs program
implementation on aided families and on local communities.
(e) Assist counties, the Legislature, and state agencies in
determining what adjustments are required in the program.

10540.6. Commencing no later than April 1, 2007, the department, on
a periodic, but no less frequently than a quarterly basis, shall
publish available data reported by counties regarding caseload
characteristics, welfare-to-work performance outcomes, engagement
rates, and other outcomes consistent with Sections 10534 and 10540.5.
The department shall consult with the County Welfare Directors
Association, legislative staff, and other stakeholders, when
developing the data sources, methodology, and format for the data to
be published.

10541. The department shall consult with experts in monitoring and
research, and representatives of counties, the Legislature, and
appropriate state agencies in the development and implementation of
the system of performance outcomes, which shall include, but are not
limited to, the following:
(a) Success of welfare-to-work, including the rate of movement to
employment, earnings for CalWORKs recipients and those who have left
the CalWORKs program, and job retention rates. This shall include the
extent to which recipients have obtained unsubsidized employment in
each of their years on aid.
(b) Rates of child support payment and collection.
(c) Child well-being, including entries into foster care, at-risk
births, school achievement, child poverty, and child abuse reports.
(d) Changes in the demand for general assistance.
(e) Supply, demand, and utilization of support services by
CalWORKs recipients, including child care, transportation, mental
health services, and substance abuse treatment.
(f) The number of identified families affected by domestic
violence.

10541.5. The department, in consultation with experts in research
and program evaluation and representatives of counties, the
Legislature, and appropriate state agencies, shall do both of the
following, by March 1, 1998:
(a) Identify methods by which to collect data on the outcomes set
forth in Section 10541, using, to the extent possible, data that is
available and does not require the establishment of new data
collection processes at the county level.
(b) Develop consistent data collection standards.

10541.7. Each county shall participate in monitoring performance
outcomes by collecting and reporting data in the manner established
by Section 10541.

10542. (a) Each county shall, as part of its CalWORKs plan,
identify outcomes to be tracked on the local level that are in
addition to any required to be tracked statewide. These outcomes
shall be identified through a collaborative process that includes all
local agencies and stakeholders concerned with the implementation of
the CalWORKs program and its effects on local communities. The
outcomes identified may reflect goals for CalWORKs implementation
established by the local community, possible negative outcomes the
local community wishes to monitor, or both.
(b) The process of local identification of outcomes shall be
designed to contribute to greater collaboration among county public
and private agencies that serve current and former CalWORKs
recipients. The outcomes identified shall be those that can be
tracked in a cost-effective manner. To the extent counties identify
the same outcomes, the department shall provide technical assistance
to ensure consistency among the counties.
(c) The outcomes that each county plans to monitor shall be
included in its county CalWORKs plan. The plan shall identify the
outcomes, the data the county intends to collect to monitor the
outcomes, and the method of data collection the county intends to
use.

10543. (a) Within six months of CalWORKs implementation, each
county, in conjunction with the department, shall determine a
baseline for the data to be collected to meet both state and local
need. The baseline shall be used in subsequent years to determine
whether or not the county's outcomes are improving.
(b) If a county fails to meet outcomes required by federal law,
the county, in consultation with the department, shall develop and
implement a corrective action plan.
(c) If outcomes have not improved over the baseline, the county
and the department shall evaluate the reasons. To the extent the
county and the department determine that county and state actions
could positively influence the outcomes, they shall mutually develop
and implement a corrective action plan.
(d) In both cases, the corrective action plan shall identify
actions that shall be taken by the county and by appropriate state
agencies.

10544. (a) If the department finds that a county is experiencing
significantly worsened outcomes, it shall report this finding to the
Chairs of the Senate Committee on Budget and Fiscal Review, the
Assembly Committee on Budget, the Senate Committee on Health and
Human Services, and the Assembly Committee on Human Services.
(b) If the state does not achieve the outcomes required by federal
law and, as a result, is subject to a fiscal penalty, the penalty
shall be shared equally by the state and the counties after
exhaustion of all reasonable and available federal administrative
remedies. If a county's single allocation pursuant to Section 15204.2
is reduced by the state to offset the county's share of any federal
penalty imposed pursuant to this section, the county shall be
required to utilize county general funds to replace the offset
amount, so that total funding remains equal to the county's single
allocation. These funds shall be in addition to the funds required to
meet the maintenance-of-effort requirement pursuant to Section
15204.4. Only those counties that have failed to meet the federal
requirements shall be required to share in the fiscal penalty imposed
on the state. Those counties' share of the penalty imposed on the
state shall equal 50 percent of that penalty. Each county's share of
the penalty shall be based, in consultation with the County Welfare
Directors Association, on the county's degree of performance that
contributes to the failure to meet the federal requirement.
(c) A county may be provided relief, in whole or in part, from a
penalty imposed pursuant to subdivision (b) if the department
determines that there were circumstances beyond the control of the
county. A county may also be provided relief based on the degree of
success or progress in meeting federal requirements, and, to the
extent that there are differences between state and federal program
requirements, the degree of success in meeting state participation
requirements. Any adjustment made pursuant to this subdivision shall
be reported to the Chair of the Joint Legislative Budget Committee.
If a county is granted relief, that portion of the total penalty
shall not be imposed on the other counties that failed to meet the
federal requirements.
(d) A county that fails, without good cause, to submit accurate
and timely data used to measure work participation, as required by
the department, shall be deemed to have failed to meet applicable
federal requirements. For purposes of this subdivision, good cause
shall include, but shall not be limited to, the lack of accurate,
timely, and complete instructions from the department.
(e) The amendments made to subdivision (b) by the amendment of
this section in 2006 by Chapter 75 of the Statutes of 2006, clarify
existing law, as enacted by Assembly Bill 1542 (Ch. 270, Stats.
1997).

10544.1. (a) It is the intent of the Legislature to provide
counties with grant savings as defined in subdivisions (d) and (e)
subject to the amounts appropriated in the annual Budget Act.
(b) It is the intent of the Legislature that the counties use the
funds, when appropriated, to do all of the following:
(1) Improve the quality of jobs provided to recipients.
(2) Help individuals attain long-term self-sufficiency.
(3) Prevent the need for CalWORKs benefits for those families
making the transition from the CalWORKs program.
(c) It is further the intent of the Legislature to evaluate the
efforts of counties in using the funds to improve the state's
understanding of how best to assist families in attaining long-term
and sustained self-sufficiency.
(d) In order to provide counties with additional incentive to move
CalWORKs recipients to employment, each county shall receive the
state share of savings, including federal funds under the Temporary
Assistance for Needy Families block grant subject to the amounts
appropriated in the annual Budget Act, resulting from the following
outcomes:
(1) Recipients exiting the program due to employment that has
lasted a minimum of six months.
(2) Increased earnings by recipients due to employment.
(3) Diversion of applicants from the program pursuant to Section
11266.5 for six months in addition to the number of months equivalent
to the diversion payment.
(e) (1) For purposes of subdivision (d), the department, shall
apply the method for valuing the outcomes to determine county share
of savings that was utilized in fiscal years 1998-99 and 1999-2000,
except that increased earning by recipients due to employment shall
be valued at 50 percent of actual grant savings instead of 100
percent.
(2) The method shall be adjusted as appropriate, and determined in
consultation with program stakeholders, to account for any changes
made to the Temporary Assistance to Needy Families program
requirements for block grant funding levels as a result of
Congressional reauthorization of the program in 2002.
(f) The funds allocated to counties pursuant to subdivisions (d)
and (e) that are federal Temporary Assistance for Needy Families
block grant funds shall be used only for purposes for which these
federal funds may be used. The funds that are state General Fund
dollars shall be expended for purposes directly connected to the
CalWORKs program and countable towards the state maintenance of
effort level required by federal law, unless the Director of Finance
determines that all or part of the funds are not needed in that
fiscal year to meet the required maintenance of effort. Any
unexpended funds may be retained by each county for expenditure in
subsequent fiscal years for purposes consistent with this
subdivision.
(g) (1) Notwithstanding Section 11250 or any other provision of
law, commencing October 1, 2000, exclusively for purposes of county
performance incentives provided under this section and exclusively
for purposes of providing nonassistance services pursuant to Section
42 U.S.C. Sec. 601(a)(1) and (2) to families not receiving aid under
this chapter, "needy families" also includes any family in which the
minor child is living with a parent or adult relative caregiver and
the family's income is less than 200 percent of the official federal
poverty guidelines applicable to a family of the size involved.
(2) A county shall not expend more than 25 percent of its
performance incentive funds for purposes of this subdivision.
(3) For purposes of this subdivision, "nonassistance services"
means services that do not constitute assistance as defined in
applicable federal law and regulations governing the Temporary
Assistance for Needy Families program.
(h) Each county shall submit a plan to the department describing
how it intends to expend its fiscal incentive funds and how the
benefits and services relate to the issue of sustaining
self-sufficiency. The plan shall also describe how these services
will be coordinated with other services within the community that are
funded from sources such as the county's single allocation,
Welfare-to-Work grants, and community college funds.
(i) Each county shall report quarterly on the actual expenditure
of funds under this section and shall complete a self-evaluation
report annually on the results of the benefits and services provided
and any lessons the county has learned from the approach it has
taken.
(j) The department shall evaluate the programs that have been
supported by county incentive funds to determine the extent to which
the goals of the TANF program and the goals specified in this section
are achieved.
(k) Acceptance of incentive funds beginning with the 2000-01
fiscal year shall constitute a waiver of any claim, cause of action,
or action whenever filed, with respect to fiscal incentives earned
through the 1999-2000 fiscal year under subdivision (c) of this
section as enacted by Chapter 270 of the Statutes of 1997, but not
allocated to counties by the department.
(l) This section shall not be interpreted to entitle any
individual or family to assistance or services under any program
created and funded under this section.

10544.2. CalWORKs performance incentive funds allocated to counties
under Items 5180-101-0001 and 5180-101-0890 of the Budget Act of
2002 shall be available for encumbrance and expenditure by the county
until all of the funds are expended, without regard to fiscal years.

10544.317. (a) There is hereby created a welfare reform steering
committee comprised of a representative of the Health and Welfare
Agency, who shall chair the committee, the Department of Finance, the
State Department of Social Services, the California State
Association of Counties, the County Welfare Directors Association of
California, representatives of the Legislature appointed by the
Speaker of the Assembly, the President pro Tempore of the Senate, the
minority leader of the Assembly, and the minority leader of the
Senate, and two public members appointed by the Secretary of the
Health and Welfare Agency.
(b) The steering committee shall:
(1) Provide advice and consultation on implementation issues
related to welfare reform.
(2) Review alternative ways to budget for, and allocate funds for,
the administration of the program and report its findings to the
appropriate committees of the Legislature in a timely manner that
will enable the Legislature to incorporate the recommended changes in
the Budget Act of 1998 and related statutes.
(3) Perform other duties as described elsewhere in this division.