CalFresh Employment and Training program.

Existing federal law provides for the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) , known in California as CalFresh (formerly the Food Stamp Program) , under which nutrition assistance benefits formerly referred to as food stamps, allocated to the state by the federal government, are distributed to eligible individuals by each county. Existing federal law requires all SNAP recipients, unless otherwise exempt, between 15 to 60 years of age, inclusive, who are physically and mentally fit, to register for employment and participate in the Food Stamp Employment and Training (FSET) program. This bill would require a county that elects to participate in the FSET program, which the bill would designate as the CalFresh Employment and Training program (CalFresh E&T) , to screen CalFresh work registrants to determine whether they will participate in, or be deferred from, the CalFresh E&T program, and would describe the criteria for deferral. The bill would authorize a CalFresh work registrant who is deferred from mandatory participation in the CalFresh E&T program to request to enroll in the program as a voluntary participant. This bill would require a county that elects to participate in the CalFresh E&T program to demonstrate in its CalFresh E&T plan how it is effectively using CalFresh E&T funds, as specified. The bill would further require that none of its provisions be construed to require a county to offer a particular component as part of its CalFresh E&T plan. The bill would provide that a CalFresh E&T participant is not an employee for the purposes of workers' compensation and would provide that it would not require a county to provide workers' compensation coverage for a CalFresh E&T participant. This bill would require the department to adopt implementing regulations by October 1, 2013.