Human services.

(1) Under existing law, the parents of a minor child are responsible for supporting the child. Existing law establishes the Department of Child Support Services, which administers all federal and state laws and regulations relating to child support enforcement obligations. Existing law requires each county to maintain a local child support agency that has responsibility for promptly and effectively enforcing child support obligations. Existing law also establishes within the state's child support program a quality assurance and performance improvement program. Existing law provides that the 10 counties with the best performance standards shall receive an additional 5% of the state's share of those counties' collections that are used to reduce or repay aid that is paid under the California Work Opportunity and Responsibility to Kids (CalWORKs) program. Existing law requires these additional funds received by a county to be used for specified child support-related activities. Existing law suspends the payment of this additional 5% for the 2002–03 to 2014–15 fiscal years, inclusive. This bill would extend the suspension of the additional 5% payments through the 2016–17 fiscal year. (2) Under existing law, the State Department of Social Services regulates the licensure and operation of community care facilities, residential care facilities for the elderly, child day care centers, and family day care homes. Existing law provides that these facilities, except for foster family homes, are subject to unannounced visits by the department at least once every 5 years. Existing law requires the department to conduct an annual unannounced visit under specified circumstances, including when a license is on probation, and to conduct annual unannounced visits of no less than 20% of the facilities, other than foster family homes, that are not subject to an inspection under those specified circumstances. This bill would increase the frequency of inspections of those care facilities licensed by the State Department of Social Services, as specified. The bill would also require the department, as it implements the first stage of the multiyear proposal to increase the inspection frequency of facilities licensed, as specified, to update the Legislature frequently, and no later than April 1, 2016, for the first update, regarding the implementation of the multiyear proposal, as specified. (3) Existing law requires the State Department of Social Services, before issuing a license or special permit to any person to operate or manage a community care facility or a day care facility, to secure from an appropriate law enforcement agency a criminal record regarding the applicant and specified other persons, including those who will reside in the facility and employees and volunteers who have contact with the clients or children, as specified. Existing law generally prohibits the Department of Justice or the State Department of Social Services from charging a fee for fingerprinting or obtaining the criminal record of an applicant for a license or special permit to operate a community care facility providing nonmedical board, room, and care for 6 or fewer children, an applicant to operate or manage a day care facility that will serve 6 or fewer children, or an applicant for a family day care license, as specified. Existing law suspends the operation of that prohibition against charging a fee, however, through the 2014–15 fiscal year. This bill would extend through the 2016–17 fiscal year the suspension of the prohibition against charging a fee for fingerprinting or obtaining a criminal record pursuant to the provisions described above, thereby permitting those departments to charge a fee for those services. (4) Under existing law, taxpayers are allowed to contribute amounts in excess of their personal income tax liability in support of the California Senior Legislature Fund, which is used to fund the sessions of the California Senior Legislature. Existing law, until January 1, 2015, authorized taxpayers to contribute amounts in excess of their tax liability in support of the California Fund for Senior Citizens, which was used to support those sessions. Existing law requires that funds for the California Senior Legislature be allocated from the now obsolete California Fund for Senior Citizens. This bill would instead require that funds for the California Senior Legislature be allocated from the California Senior Legislature Fund, which the bill would designate as the successor fund of the California Fund for Senior Citizens. The bill would require that all assets, liabilities, revenues, and expenditures of the California Fund for Senior Citizens be transferred to the California Senior Legislature Fund, and that all references in state law to the California Fund for Senior Citizens be construed to refer to the California Senior Legislature Fund. (5) Under existing law, the information obtained in the administration of the Unemployment Insurance Code is for the exclusive use and information of the Director of Employment Development in the discharge of his or her duties and is not open to the public. However, existing law requires the director to permit the use of the information for specified purposes, including, among others, to enable federal, state, and local government agencies to verify or determine eligibility for an applicant or recipient of specified public social services, and allows the director to require reimbursement for direct costs incurred. This bill would require the director to permit the use of any information in his or her possession to enable federal, state, or local government departments or agencies, or their contracted agencies, subject to federal law, to evaluate, research, or forecast the effectiveness of public social services programs, as specified, when the evaluation, research, or forecast is directly connected with, and limited to, the administration of those public social services programs. The bill would also make technical, nonsubstantive changes. (6) Existing federal law provides for the allocation of federal funds through the federal Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) block grant program to eligible states. Existing law provides for the 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. Under existing law, an otherwise qualified individual convicted of any of certain felonies that have as an element the possession, use, or distribution of a controlled substance, as defined, is eligible to receive CalWORKs benefits, except as specified. This bill would make a conforming change by deleting certain reporting requirements regarding those types of convictions with respect to eligibility for the CalWORKs program. (7) Existing law authorizes a county to provide housing supports, including financial assistance and housing stabilization and relocation services, to CalWORKs recipients who are experiencing homelessness or housing instability that would be a barrier to self-sufficiency or child well-being. Under existing law, the State Department of Social Services is required to allocate funds to a county that meets certain criteria for the purpose of funding these housing supports. This bill would authorize a county to continue to provide housing supports to a person who has been discontinued from CalWORKs because he or she no longer meets specified income eligibility requirements. (8) Existing law groups families into assistance units for purposes of determining eligibility and computing the amount of aid payment under CalWORKs. Existing law requires, as a condition of eligibility for assistance under the CalWORKs program, the applicant or recipient to assign to the county any rights to support from any other person the applicant or recipient may have on his or her own behalf, or on behalf of any other family member for whom the applicant or recipient is applying for or receiving aid, only with respect to support that accrues during the period of time that the applicant is receiving assistance under the program, and to cooperate with efforts to establish paternity of a child of the applicant and to establish, modify, or enforce a support order, as specified. Existing law also requires sanctions to be imposed if an individual fails to comply with program requirements. This bill would exempt applicants for or recipients of CalWORKs benefits from the requirements that they assign to the county any rights to support, and that they cooperate with efforts to establish paternity of a child of the applicant and to establish, modify, or enforce a support order, if all eligible adults in the assistance unit have been subject to sanctions for at least 12 consecutive months for failing to comply with CalWORKs requirements. By imposing additional administrative duties on local officers, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. (9) Existing law establishes the Aid to Families with Dependent Children-Foster Care (AFDC-FC) program, under which counties provide payments to foster care providers on behalf of qualified children in foster care. Under existing law, a child is eligible for AFDC-FC if he or she is placed in the approved home of a relative and is otherwise eligible for federal financial participation in the AFDC-FC payment, as specified. Existing law establishes the Approved Relative Caregiver Funding Option Program, in counties that choose to participate, for the purpose of making the amount paid to relative caregivers for the in-home care of children placed with them who are ineligible for AFDC-FC payments equal to the amount paid on behalf of children who are eligible for AFDC-FC payments. Existing law requires counties to pay an approved relative caregiver a per child per month rate in this case if the county has opted in and the child placed in the home meets specified requirements. Existing law appropriates for these purposes $30,000,000 from the General Fund each calendar year, as cumulatively adjusted annually by the California Necessities Index (CNI) , as specified. This bill would provide that a child eligible for the Approved Relative Caregiver Funding Option Program shall not be subject to certain requirements of CalWORKs, except as specified. This bill would require, among other things, that any income or benefit received by an eligible child or an approved relative caregiver on behalf of the eligible child that would be offset against the basic rate paid to a foster care provider, as specified, be offset from any funds, other than CalWORKs funds, paid to the approved relative caregiver, and would require counties to recoup overpayment in the program using the standards and processes for overpayment recoupment that are applicable to overpayments to an approved home of a relative, as specified. The bill would revise the funding provisions for the Approved Relative Caregiver Funding Option Program, including appropriating from the General Fund the sum of $15,000,000 for the period of January 1, 2015, to June 30, 2015, inclusive, and the amount of $30,000,000, with specified adjustments, for the period of July 1, 2015 to June 30, 2016, inclusive. For every 12-month period thereafter, the bill would require an amount calculated pursuant to a specified formula to be appropriated to fund the Approved Relative Caregiver Funding Option Program, as prescribed. (10) Existing federal law, the Homeland Security Act of 2002, empowers the Director of the Office of Refugee Resettlement of the United States Department of Health and Human Services with functions under the immigration laws of the United States with respect to the care of unaccompanied alien children, as defined, including, but not limited to, coordinating and implementing the care and placement of unaccompanied alien children who are in federal custody by reason of their immigration status, including developing a plan to be submitted to Congress on how to ensure that qualified and independent legal counsel is timely appointed to represent the interests of each child, as provided. Existing law requires the State Department of Social Services, subject to the availability of funding, to contract with qualified nonprofit legal services organizations to provide legal services to unaccompanied undocumented minors, as defined, who are transferred to the care and custody of the federal Office of Refugee Resettlement and who are present in this state. Existing law requires that the contracts awarded meet certain conditions. Existing policy of the United States Department of Homeland Security, Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) , and Deferred Action for Parents of Americans and Lawful Permanent Residents (DAPA) , provides that certain persons who do not have legal status in the United States and who meet specified guidelines may apply for deferred action on removal from the United States, as specified. Commencing January 1, 2016, this bill would require the State Department of Social Services, subject to the availability of funding, to provide grants to qualified organizations, as specified, to be used to provide persons living in California with specified services, including services to assist with the application process for initial or renewal requests of deferred action under the DACA and DAPA policies, and to provide legal training and technical assistance to other qualified organizations. The bill would also require the department, subject to the availability of funding, to provide grants to qualified organizations to provide free education and outreach information, services, and materials about DACA, DAPA, naturalization, or other immigration remedies. The bill would require the department to update the Legislature in the course of budget hearings on specified information, including the timelines for implementation of these provisions and the participating organizations awarded contracts or grants. (11) Existing law provides for the Medi-Cal program, which is administered by the State Department of Health Care Services, and under which qualified low-income persons receive health care services. Existing law requires the Department of Child Support Services to provide payments to the local child support agency of $50 per case for obtaining 3rd-party health coverage or insurance of Medi-Cal beneficiaries, to the extent that funds are appropriated in the Budget Act. Under existing law, these payments are suspended for the 2003–04 to 2014–15 fiscal years, inclusive. This bill would extend the suspension of the above-described payments to local child support agencies through the 2016–17 fiscal year. (12) Existing law requires each county welfare department to establish and support a system of protective services to elderly and dependent adults who may be subjected to neglect, abuse, or exploitation, or who are unable to protect their own interests. This bill would require the State Department of Social Services to establish one full-time position that reports to the director to assist counties with specified functions in the operation of their adult protective services system, including developing recommended program goals, performance measures, and outcomes for the system. (13) Existing law provides for the allocation of funds appropriated from the continuously appropriated Local Revenue Fund for the distribution of sales tax and motor vehicle license fee moneys to local agencies for the administration of various social service programs. The Local Revenue Fund is divided into various accounts and subaccounts, including the Vehicle License Fee Growth Account, the Sales Tax Growth Account, and the Sales Tax Account, which includes the Mental Health Subaccount, the Social Services Subaccount, and the Family Support Subaccount, among other subaccounts. This bill would, on and after August 1, 2015, add the County Medical Services Program Subaccount to the Sales Tax Account. The bill would create various new subaccounts in the Vehicle License Fee Account. The bill would also create the County Medical Services Program Growth Subaccount and the General Growth Subaccount in the Vehicle License Fee Growth Account. (14) Existing law provides for the deposit of sales tax proceeds from revenues deposited to the credit of the Local Revenue Fund into specified subaccounts of the Sales Tax Account. Existing law requires the Controller to deposit into the Sales Tax Growth Account certain remaining unallocated excess sales tax revenues. Existing law requires the Controller to transfer funds from the Social Services Subaccount to the Health Subaccount in an amount not to exceed one billion dollars in any fiscal year, as specified. This bill would, for the 2015–16 fiscal year, and each fiscal year thereafter, include the County Medical Services Program Subaccount among those subaccounts for deposit of sales tax proceeds, as specified, and would provide for the remaining unallocated excess sales tax revenues to be deposited after that allocation. The bill would restrict the one-billion-dollar limit for fund transfers between the Social Services Subaccount and the Health Subaccount to the 2014–15 fiscal year. The bill would also require the Controller to make monthly deposits of vehicle license fee proceeds, from revenues deposited to the credit of the Local Revenue Fund, to various subaccounts of the Vehicle License Fee Account. The bill would provide that any excess vehicle license fee revenues would be deposited in the Vehicle License Fee Growth Account of the Local Revenue Fund. (15) Existing law requires the Controller to deposit specified amounts to the County Medical Services Subaccount in lieu of depositing those amounts into the County Medical Services Program Account of the County Health Services Fund, upon request of the County Medical Services Program Governing Board. Existing law also provides for the allocation of funds to eligible jurisdictions with a poverty-population shortfall if deposits into certain subaccounts in the Sales Tax Growth Account are not sufficient to eliminate poverty-population shortfalls, as calculated by the Department of Finance. This bill would delete those provisions. (16) Existing law requires the Controller to allocate funds from the General Growth Subaccount in the Sales Tax Growth Account to the Mental Health Account of each county, city, or city and county based on a schedule provided by the Department of Finance, to allocate a specified percentage of the total General Growth Subaccount to the Health Account, and to allocate the remaining funds to the Child Poverty and Family Supplemental Support Subaccount in the Sales Tax Account. This bill would continue the allocation to the local Mental Health Accounts, but would instead require the Controller to allocate that specified percentage of the General Growth Subaccount to the health account of each county, city, or city and county based on a schedule provided by the Department of Finance, and to allocate the remaining funds to the family support account of each county or city and county, as specified. (17) Existing law requires a county or city, as a condition of the deposit of funds from the Sales Tax Account of the Local Revenue Fund into the local health and welfare trust fund account of that county or city, to deposit general purpose revenues into that account pursuant to a specified schedule, and to take additional financial actions, as specified. Similarly, a county, city, or city and county is required, as a condition of the deposit of Sales Tax Growth Account funds into the local health and welfare trust fund account, to deposit local matching funds into that account, as specified. This bill would delete those additional financial action and matching fund requirements. This bill would make related, conforming, and other technical changes. By revising the allocation of moneys that are continuously appropriated from the Local Revenue Fund, this bill would make an appropriation. (18) Existing federal law provides for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) , known in California as CalFresh, under which supplemental nutrition assistance benefits allocated to the state by the federal government are distributed to eligible individuals by each county. Existing law requires the State Department of Social Services to redetermine recipient eligibility and grant amounts under CalFresh on a semiannual basis, using prospective budgeting, and to prospectively determine the benefit amount that a recipient is entitled to receive for each month of the semiannual reporting period. Existing law requires counties, for individuals who are also Medi-Cal beneficiaries, to seek to align the timing of the semiannual reports with the reports required by the Medi-Cal program. This bill would make that requirement inapplicable to CalFresh households in which all adult members are elderly or disabled members, as defined, and in which the household has no earned income. This bill would also state the intent of the Legislature to eliminate change reporting, as defined, and to assign certification periods for CalFresh households that are the maximum allowed under federal law. (19) Existing law requires the State Department of Social Services to implement an intensive treatment foster care program in each county that applies for and receives the department's approval for an intensive treatment foster care program rate. Existing law establishes a standard rate schedule of service and rate levels and, until June 30, 2015, an interim schedule of modified service and rate levels. Existing law requires counties and cities and counties to pay 100% of the nonfederal costs of these intensive foster care programs. This bill would extend the operation of the interim schedule of modified service and rate levels until December 31, 2016. The bill would also require that the amount paid to a certified foster parent under an intensive treatment foster care program be adjusted on July 1, 2015, and on July 1, 2016, by an amount equal to the California Necessities Index. To the extent that this bill would increase the cost to counties and cities and counties of these intensive treatment foster care programs, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. (20) The bill would authorize the State Department of Social Services to implement specified provisions of the bill through all-county letters or similar instructions and would require the department to adopt emergency regulations implementing these provisions no later than January 1, 2017. (21) 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 with regard to certain mandates no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason. With regard to any other mandates, this bill would provide that, if the Commission on State Mandates determines that the bill contains costs so mandated by the state, reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to the statutory provisions noted above. (22) This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as a bill providing for appropriations related to the Budget Bill.