CalWORKs: welfare to work.

Existing law establishes the California Work Opportunity and Responsibility to Kids (CalWORKs) program, under which each county provides cash assistance and other benefits to qualified low-income families using federal, state, and county funds. Existing law establishes a 48-month lifetime limit of CalWORKs benefits for eligible adults, as specified. Existing law requires a recipient of CalWORKs to participate in certain welfare-to-work activities as a condition of eligibility for 24 cumulative months, as specified, and then to meet other federal requirements afterwards, as specified. Existing law authorizes each county to provide an extension of the 24 months for recipients who are unlikely to meet the federal requirements, and authorizes a recipient to request the extension and present evidence to the county that he or she meets a specified circumstance, including that the recipient has achieved satisfactory progress in an educational or treatment program that has a known graduation, transfer, or completion date that would meaningfully increase the likelihood of his or her employment. This bill would provide that for purposes of the educational or treatment program circumstance, a high school education or its equivalent is presumed to meaningfully increase the likelihood of the recipient's employment. The bill would additionally include as a circumstance to be presented as evidence in requesting an extension, that the recipient obtained his or her high school diploma or its equivalent while participating in specified welfare-to-work activities during the 24 months, and an additional period of time to complete an educational program or other specified activity in which he or she is currently participating would meaningfully increase the likelihood of his or her employment.