SECTIONS 11520-11522 - California Statutes

WELFARE AND INSTITUTIONS CODE

SECTION 11520-11522

11520. The State Department of Social Services shall ensure that a
comprehensive, independent statewide evaluation of the CalWORKs
program is undertaken and that accurate evaluative information is
made available to the Legislature in a timely fashion.

11520.3. The department shall develop a research design to ensure a
thorough evaluation of the direct and indirect effects of the
CalWORKs program. Effects shall include, but not be limited to,
employment, earnings, self-sufficiency, child care, child support,
child well-being, family structure, and impacts on local government.
Child well-being shall include entries into foster care, at-risk
births, school achievement, child abuse reports, and rates of child
poverty.

11520.5. The statewide evaluation shall be conducted by an
independent evaluator or evaluators. It shall represent a clear
delineation of the research questions and shall, through discrete
reports issued at regular intervals, provide information regarding
process, impacts, and analyses of the costs and benefits of the
CalWORKs program.

11520.7. The department shall ensure that county demonstration
projects and other innovative county approaches to CalWORKs program
implementation are independently and rigorously evaluated and that
findings are reported to the Legislature in a timely fashion. The
evaluation of a county-specific program shall be developed in
conjunction with the county and other appropriate agencies
responsible for the local program.

11521. By July 1, 1998, the department shall revise data collection
procedures used for quality control and caseload characteristic
studies in order to respond to the data collection requirements of
Public Law 104-193 and state law. The department shall develop common
data definitions to be used by the counties, design common
identifiers, and, to the extent possible, standardize state and
county data collection infrastructure. The department shall
accomplish the requirements of this section in consultation with
experts in monitoring and research, representatives of counties, the
Legislature, and appropriate state agencies.

11521.3. Evaluation of CalWORKs program implementation conducted or
commissioned by the department shall, to the extent practical, use
or build upon existing welfare data archives, including, but not
limited to, the data bases and research completed to date as part of
the Work Pays Demonstration Project authorized pursuant to Chapter 97
of the Statutes of 1992.

11521.5. The department shall have access and authority to obtain
for tracking, monitoring, research and evaluation purposes to data
collected by counties on recipients receiving cash aid, in-kind
payments, or supportive services.

11521.7. The department shall continue the evaluation of Cal-Learn
and issue a final report to the Legislature by July 1, 2000.

11522. The department, in conjunction with participating
representatives of counties and the Legislature, shall develop
approaches to improving data collection and management information
reporting in the CalWORKs program.