CalWORKs: aid amounts: education support payments.

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 for Needy Families 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 also establishes the CalWORKs Educational Opportunity and Attainment Program, which provides CalWORKs recipients with a one-time education incentive award of $500 for completion of a high school diploma or its equivalent. Existing law establishes the Cal-Learn Program, under which a recipient of CalWORKs aid who is under 19 years of age, who is pregnant or a custodial parent, and who does not have a high school diploma or its equivalent is required to participate in the program as a student attending school on a full-time basis, except as specified. Existing law provides for a supplement to, or a reduction in, a Cal-Learn participant's CalWORKs aid grant based on his or her performance in school. Existing law provides a Cal-Learn participant with a supplement of $500 for successful completion of high school or a California high school equivalency examination. This bill, effective May 1, 2019, would make a person under 19 years of age who attains a high school diploma or its equivalent while receiving CalWORKs aid, and who is ineligible for the payment supplements under the Cal-Learn Program, eligible to receive a one-time education support payment of $500. By increasing the administrative duties of counties administering the CalWORKs program, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. This bill would require the State Department of Social Services to implement the bill by all-county letters or similar instructions beginning no later than May 1, 2019, until regulations are adopted on or before May 1, 2021. Existing law continuously appropriates moneys from the General Fund to defray a portion of county costs under the CalWORKs program. This bill would 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, 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.