CalWORKs: housing assistance.

Existing law establishes the California Work Opportunity and Responsibility to Kids (CalWORKs) program under which, through a combination of federal, state, and county funds, each county provides cash assistance and other benefits to qualified low-income families. As part of the CalWORKs program, a homeless family that has used all available liquid resources in excess of $100 is eligible for homeless assistance benefits to pay the costs of temporary shelter if the family is eligible for aid under the CalWORKs program. This bill would also provide that homeless assistance is available to homeless families that would be eligible for aid under the CalWORKs program but for the fact that the only child or children in the family are in out-of-home placement pursuant to an order of the dependency court, if the family is receiving reunification services and the county determines that homeless assistance is necessary for reunification to occur. This bill would also require the department to work with county human services agencies, the County Welfare Directors Association, and advocates of CalWORKs recipients to gather information regarding actual costs of a nightly shelter and best practices for transitioning families from a temporary shelter to a permanent shelter and to provide that information to the Legislature on an annual basis. Under existing law, when the federal government provides funds for the care of a needy relative with whom a needy child is living, aid to the child for any month includes aid to meet the need of that relative, if CalWORKs payments are made with respect to the child for that month, except as prescribed. Existing law provides that the parent or parents shall be considered living with the needy child for a period of up to 180 consecutive days of the needy child's absence from the family assistance unit, and the parents shall be eligible for CalWORKs services, except as specified, if certain conditions are met, including that the child has been removed from the parents and placed in out-of-home care, and that the county has determined that the provision of services is necessary for family reunification. This bill would include the previously described homeless assistance benefit to pay the costs of temporary shelter as a service provided to those eligible parents. Because this bill would increase the administrative duties of counties, it 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. This bill would incorporate additional changes to Section 11450 of the Welfare and Institutions Code proposed by AB 557 and AB 607 to be operative only if this bill and AB 557, this bill and AB 607, or all 3 bills are enacted and this bill is enacted last. 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 the statutory provisions noted above.