CalWORKs: relative caregivers.

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 specifies the amounts of cash aid to be paid each month to CalWORKs recipients. 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 who is placed in the approved home of a relative is eligible for AFDC-FC if he or she is eligible for federal financial participation in the AFDC-FC payment, as specified. Existing law establishes the Approved Relative Caregiver Funding Option Program in counties choosing 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. This bill would revise provisions of the Approved Relative Caregiver Funding Option Program to, among other things, authorize a relative caregiver to receive payments on behalf of a child pursuant to the program, regardless of whether the child resides, or will be residing, outside of the participating county pursuant to his or her placement. The bill would establish procedures for the distribution of payments to relative caregivers, as specified. The bill would also require that an infant supplement, as specified, be paid under the CalWORKs program and the Approved Relative Caregiver Funding Option Program to a teen parent who is placed with his or her child in the home of a relative caregiver and is the subject of a voluntary placement agreement or subject to the jurisdiction of the juvenile court, as provided. Under existing law, if the county welfare department places a child who is in temporary custody or subject to the jurisdiction of the juvenile court with a relative or nonrelative extended family member, as defined, the county is required to evaluate and approve or deny the home for purposes of AFDC-FC eligibility. This bill would instead require the county, immediately following the placement of a child in the home of a relative, to initiate an application for CalWORKs on behalf of the child using a shortened CalWORKs application and simplified CalWORKs eligibility standards. The bill would require the county, concurrently with initiating the application for CalWORKs, to evaluate and approve or deny the home for purposes of AFDC-FC eligibility, and, if the child is found to be ineligible for AFDC-FC, would require the placing agency to initiate and complete the applications for, and determine eligibility for, the Approved Relative Caregiver Funding Option Program, as specified, and screen the child for eligibility for the federal Supplemental Security Income program. The bill would also require the county social worker or eligibility worker to explain to the relative, either in person or by telephone, the eligibility requirements and benefit amounts for the AFDC-FC and CalWORKs programs, and the Approved Relative Caregiver Funding Option Program if the county has opted into the program, as well as any actions the relative could take to affect the child's eligibility for those programs. By requiring county employees to provide these services, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. Existing law requires that every youth who is in foster care and nearing emancipation be screened by the county for potential eligibility for the federal Supplemental Security Income (SSI) program. This bill would require that every youth who is in foster care and has been determined to be ineligible for AFDC-FC benefits be screened by the county for potential eligibility for the SSI program. By imposing this additional duty on counties, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. Existing law continuously appropriates moneys from the General Fund to defray a portion of county costs under the CalWORKs program. This bill would instead provide that the continuous appropriation would not be made for purposes of implementing the bill. 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.