CalWORKs: fraud prevention and reduction.

Existing law establishes various social service programs that provide cash assistance and other benefits to qualified low-income families and individuals. Existing law establishes criminal penalties, including the imposition of specified fines, for violation of certain provisions relating to, among other offenses, willfully and knowingly making a false statement or failing to disclose a material fact in order to obtain designated public social services. Existing federal law provides for allocation of federal funds through the federal Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) block grant program to eligible states. Existing law provides for the California Work Opportunity and Responsibility to Kids (CalWORKs) program under which, through a combination of state and county funds and federal funds received through the TANF program, each county provides cash assistance and other benefits to qualified low-income families. Existing law authorizes counties to implement state-funded early fraud detection and prevention programs as a component of administering the CalWORKs program, under specified circumstances. This bill would establish a pilot program until January 1, 2018, that would reimburse a county for the operation of a county program that prevents or reduces welfare fraud, provided that the county demonstrates the program produces a savings to the state that exceeds the cost of the operation of the program by an unspecified percentage. The bill would require these programs to satisfy the criteria for early fraud prevention and detection programs authorized under the above existing law. The bill would require the State Department of Social Services to administer the program, and to conduct a statewide evaluation of the effectiveness of the program, as specified. Implementation of the bill would be contingent on an appropriation in the annual Budget Act.