SECTIONS 10550-10560 - California Statutes

WELFARE AND INSTITUTIONS CODE

SECTION 10550-10560

10550. There is in the Health and Welfare Agency a State Department
of Social Services.

10551. The department consists of the director, the State Social
and Services Advisory Board, and such divisions or other
administrative units as the director may find necessary.

10552. With the consent of the Senate, the Governor shall appoint,
to serve at his pleasure, an executive officer who shall be director
of the department. The director shall be appointed wholly on the
basis of training, demonstrated ability, experience, and leadership
in organized social welfare administration. He shall receive the
salary provided for by Chapter 6 (commencing with Section 11550),
Part 1, Division 3, Title 2 of the Government Code.
The Governor also may appoint, to serve at his pleasure, not to
exceed two chief deputy directors of the department, and one deputy
director of the department who shall be the deputy director for the
social services division. The salaries of the chief deputy directors
and the deputy director shall be fixed in accordance with law.

10553. The director shall:
(a) Be responsible for the management of the department.
(b) Administer the laws pertaining to the administration of public
social services, except health care services and medical assistance.
(c) Observe and report to the Governor on the conditions of public
social services, except health care services and medical assistance,
throughout the state.
(d) Perform the disability determination function pursuant to
Titles II and XVI of the federal Social Security Act.
(e) Formulate, adopt, amend or repeal regulations and general
policies affecting the purposes, responsibilities, and jurisdiction
of the department and which are consistent with law and necessary for
the administration of public social services, except health care
services and medical assistance, and the disability determination
function pursuant to Titles II and XVI of the federal Social Security
Act.
All regulations relating to public social services, except health
care services and medical assistance, or relating to the disability
determination function pursuant to Titles II and XVI of the federal
Social Security Act, the licensing of community care facilities, or
any other function vested in the department, heretofore adopted by
the State Department of Health, the State Department of Benefit
Payments, or any predecessor department, and in effect immediately
preceding the operative date of amendments to this section enacted by
the Legislature during the 1977-78 Regular Session, shall remain in
effect and shall be fully enforceable unless and until readopted,
amended or repealed by the director.
(f) Perform such other duties as may be prescribed by law, and
such other administrative and executive duties as have by other
provisions of law been previously imposed.

10553.1. (a) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the
director may enter into an agreement, in accordance with Section 1919
of Title 25 of the United States Code, and consistent with Section
16000.6, with any California Indian tribe or any out-of-state Indian
tribe that has reservation lands that extend into this state,
consortium of tribes, or tribal organization, regarding the care and
custody of Indian children and jurisdiction over Indian child custody
proceedings, including, but not limited to, agreements that provide
for orderly transfer of jurisdiction on a case-by-case basis, for
exclusive tribal or state jurisdiction, or for concurrent
jurisdiction between the state and tribes.
(b) (1) An agreement under subdivision (a) regarding the care and
custody of Indian children shall provide for the delegation to the
tribe, consortium of tribes, or tribal organization, of the
responsibility that would otherwise be the responsibility of the
county for the provision of child welfare services or assistance
payments under the AFDC-FC program, or both.
(2) An agreement under subdivision (a) concerning the provision of
child welfare services shall ensure that a tribe, consortium of
tribes, or tribal organization, meets current service delivery
standards provided for under Chapter 5 (commencing with Section
16500) of Part 4, and provides the local matching share of costs
required by Section 10101.
(3) An agreement under subdivision (a) concerning assistance
payments under the AFDC-FC program shall ensure that a tribe,
consortium of tribes, or tribal organization, meets current foster
care standards provided for under Article 5 (commencing with Section
11400) of Chapter 2 of Part 3, and provides the local matching share
of costs required by Section 15200.
(4) An agreement under subdivision (a) concerning adoption
assistance shall ensure that a tribe, consortium of tribes, or tribal
organization, meets the current service delivery standards provided
for under Chapter 2.1 (commencing with Section 16115), and provides
the local matching share of costs, as required by Section 15200.
(c) Upon the implementation date of an agreement authorized by
subdivision (b), the county that would otherwise be responsible for
providing the child welfare services or AFDC-FC payments specified in
the agreement as being provided by the tribe, consortium of tribes,
or tribal organization, shall no longer be subject to that
responsibility to children served under the agreement.
(d) Upon the effective date of an agreement authorized by
subdivision (b), the tribe, consortium of tribes, or tribal
organization, shall comply with fiscal reporting requirements
specified by the department for federal and state reimbursement child
welfare or AFDC-FC services for programs operated under the
agreement.
(e) An Indian tribe, consortium of tribes, or tribal organization,
that is a party to an agreement under subdivision (a), shall, in
accordance with the agreement, be eligible to receive allocations of
child welfare services funds pursuant to Section 10102.
(f) Implementation of an agreement under subdivision (a) may not
be construed to impose liability upon, or to require indemnification
by, the participating county or the State of California for any act
or omission performed by an officer, agent, or employee of the
participating tribe, consortium of tribes, or tribal organization,
pursuant to this section.

10553.15. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the director
may provide funding to Indian health clinics to provide substance
abuse and mental health treatment services, and other related
services authorized under the CalWORKs program to CalWORKs applicants
and recipients and Tribal Temporary Assistance for Needy Families
(TANF) applicants and recipients living in California.

10553.2. Child welfare services allocation methodologies for
agreements entered into pursuant to Section 10553.1 shall be
developed in consultation with the State Department of Social
Services, the affected counties, and the affected Indian tribe,
consortium of tribes, or tribal organization.

10553.25. (a) The department shall make an annual allocation of
funds appropriated for the purpose of this subdivision to all
eligible federally recognized American Indian tribes with reservation
lands or rancherias located in this state that administer a program
pursuant to the federal Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity
Reconciliation Act of 1996 (P.L. 104-193).
(b) The department shall collect and maintain specific available
data for each tribe in this state for federal fiscal year 1994 for
the purpose of the implementation and administration of the federal
program.
(c) The department shall submit requests on behalf of tribes, for
all applicable federal waivers and exemptions for all eligible
federally recognized American Indian tribes located on reservations
and rancherias, or for consortia of tribes, for the administration of
the CalWORKs program, whether or not tribes administer an approved
Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) plan, independent of
any county participation, demographics, or circumstances.
(d) Each county, in the administration of the CalWORKs program,
shall consult with all eligible federally recognized tribes within
any portion of the county, for the purpose of providing American
Indian recipients with equitable access to assistance under the state
program or an approved tribal TANF program if implemented in the
county, and for the consideration of transfers of administration
responsibilities to those entities.
(e) Beginning July 1, 2006, state funding for tribal TANF programs
provided pursuant to this section shall be based on the caseload
used to develop the Tribal Family Assistance Grant negotiated with
the Administration for Children and Families and the state. Tribal
TANF programs shall do both of the following:
(1) Report to the department, on a quarterly basis, the aggregated
data, as reported by tribal TANF programs to the federal Department
of Health and Human Services pursuant to paragraph (2) of subdivision
(b) of Part 286.255 of Title 45 of the Code of Federal Regulations,
and any additional federal data required to meet the state
maintenance of effort (MOE) reporting requirements.
(2) Provide the department, on an annual basis, corresponding with
the program's fiscal year, a certified audit in accordance with the
requirements of the federal Office of Management and Budget (OMB)
Circular A-133.
(f) In no case shall the state match under subdivision (e) exceed
the original state share designated for the tribal TANF program in
the original negotiation of 1994 caseload counts.
(g) The department shall amend the state TANF plan to reflect that
the state adopts by reference the federally approved financial
eligibility criteria established by each tribal TANF program as the
state's financial eligibility criteria when determining eligibility
for state funded services provided by tribal TANF programs.
(h) Beginning July 1, 2005, the department shall not reduce county
single allocations to offset funding provided for tribal TANF
programs. The department may adjust county single allocations to
reflect the actual caseload declines associated with the number of
Native American cases transferring from the counties to the tribal
TANF programs.

10554. The department shall adopt regulations, orders, or standards
of general application to implement, interpret, or make specific the
law enforced by the department, and those regulations, orders, and
standards shall be adopted, amended, or repealed by the department
only in accordance with the provisions of Chapter 3.5 (commencing
with Section 11340), Part 1, Division 3, Title 2 of the Government
Code, provided that the regulations need not be printed in the
California Code of Regulations or California Administrative Register
if they are included in the publications of the department.
In adopting regulations the department shall strive for clarity of
language that may be readily understood by those administering
public social services or subject to the regulations.
The rules of the department need not specify or include the detail
of forms, reports or records, but shall include the essential
authority by which any person, agency, organization, association or
institution subject to the supervision or investigation of the
department is required to use, submit or maintain the forms, reports
or records.

10555. Subject to the State Civil Service Act, the director shall
appoint such assistants and other employees as are necessary for the
administration of the affairs of the department and shall prescribe
their duties and, subject to the approval of the Department of
Finance, fix their salaries.

10556. The chief administrative law judge of the department shall
be an attorney, and shall otherwise meet such qualifications as may
be prescribed by the State Personnel Board. The director shall
appoint the chief administrative law judge. The office of the chief
administrative law judge shall not be made a part of any other
division, office, or subdivision of the department. The chief
administrative law judge shall be directly responsible to the
director.

10557. No person while holding the office of director shall be a
trustee, manager, director, or other officer or employee of any
agency performing any function supervised by the department or any
institution which is subject to examination, inspection, or
supervision by the department. No member of the State Social Services
Advisory Board shall hold any office or employment in the
department.

10558. Except as otherwise expressly provided, the provisions of
Part 1 (commencing with Section 11000) of Division 3 of Title 2 of
the Government Code, as the same may be added to or amended from time
to time, shall apply to the conduct of the department.

10559. There are in the department a division or office devoted to
carrying out the provisions of this division pertaining to the
services to the blind and another division or office devoted to
carrying out the public social services to deaf and hearing impaired
persons. The divisions or offices shall each be headed by a chief,
one who is a trained social worker experienced in work for the blind,
the other a trained social worker or counselor experienced in work
for the deaf and hearing impaired or a person experienced in
administering a deaf or hearing impaired services program. The duties
of the division for the blind and its chief shall be confined to
carrying out the provisions of this division pertaining to services
to the blind. The duties of the division or office for the deaf and
hearing impaired shall be confined to carrying out the provision of
public social services to the deaf and hearing impaired. Blindness,
deafness, or hearing impairment shall not be grounds to disqualify a
person from holding the position of chief of the office or division.
The divisions or offices shall not be made a part of any other
division, office, or subdivision of the department. The chiefs of the
divisions or offices shall be directly responsible to the director.
The director through the divisions or offices may provide
consultative services to county personnel administering services to
the blind, deaf, or hearing impaired which shall include, but not be
limited to, information concerning the various aspects of blindness,
deafness, and hearing impairment and its problems and implications,
the rehabilitative potential of the blind, deaf and hearing impaired,
public and private services available, employment opportunities for
blind, deaf, and hearing impaired persons, and concepts in counseling
blind, deaf, and hearing impaired persons.

10560. The department and each county department shall, to the
extent feasible, train recipients of public assistance and potential
recipients for private employment or for government service.
Employment by the state or counties shall be subject to applicable
civil service and merit system requirements.
The provisions of this section may be accomplished in conjunction
with the provisions of a contract between the department and the
State Department of Education, or Employment Development Department,
or Department of Rehabilitation.