Public social services: domestic violence.

(1) Existing federal law provides for the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) , 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. Under existing law, the State Department of Social Services has renamed the Food Stamp Program in California as CalFresh. Existing law requires each county to provide cash assistance and other social services to needy families through the California Work Opportunity and Responsibility to Kids (CalWORKs) program using federal Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF) block grant program, state, and county funds. Existing law provides that if the state does not achieve specified outcomes required by federal law, including welfare-to-work outcomes, and as a result is subject to a fiscal penalty, the penalty will be shared equally by the state and the counties after exhaustion of all reasonable and available federal administrative remedies. Existing law provides that only those counties that have failed to meet the federal requirements are required to share in the fiscal penalty, as prescribed. This bill would provide that in determining whether a county has failed to meet the federal work requirements, the number of cases subject to the federal work participation requirements is not to include specified cases granted a federally recognized good cause domestic violence waiver. (2) Existing law requires a county to redetermine CalWORKs and CalFresh recipient eligibility and grant amounts on a quarterly basis, using prospective budgeting, and to prospectively determine the benefits that a recipient is entitled to receive for each month of the quarterly reporting period. Under existing law, a CalWORKs recipient is required to report to the county, orally or in writing, specified changes that could affect the amount of aid to which the recipient is entitled. Under existing law, the CalWORKs quarterly reporting system is also implemented by the State Department of Social Services in administering SNAP. This bill would prohibit the consideration of the income and resources used to flee the abuser or that are controlled in whole or in part by the abuser if an applicant or recipient family is a victim of abuse, as defined, to the extent permitted by federal law. This bill would provide that sworn statements by a victim of past or present abuse are sufficient to establish this abuse. (3) Existing law authorizes a county to waive a program requirement for a recipient who has been identified as a past or present victim of abuse when it has been determined that good cause exists. This bill would instead require a county to waive, with certain exceptions, conditions of eligibility, program requirements, or the time limit for good cause for an applicant or recipient who has been identified as a past or present victim of abuse upon a specified determination by the county. This bill would also require a county to proactively seek information to determine at the time of application or redetermination for aid whether or not an applicant or recipient is or has been a victim of domestic violence. (4) By imposing new duties on counties, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement. This bill would provide that, if the Commission on State Mandates determines that the bill contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to these statutory provisions.