Supplemental Security Income and CalFresh: preenrollment.

Existing federal law establishes various disability benefits programs, including the Supplemental Security Income (SSI) program, under which cash assistance is provided to qualified low-income aged, blind, and disabled persons. Existing federal law requires the federal Commissioner of Social Security to develop a system under which an individual can apply for SSI benefits prior to the discharge or release of the individual from a public institution. This bill would require the Secretary of the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation to establish and maintain a statewide memoranda of understanding with the federal Social Security Administration to allow a person incarcerated in a correctional institution to apply for and receive a replacement social security card and to allow the administration to process SSI claims under the prerelease program. Existing federal law provides for the federal 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 federal law generally prohibits a resident of an institution from receiving supplemental nutrition assistance benefits. This bill would require the State Department of Social Services, on or before March 31, 2018, to request a waiver to allow for the preenrollment of otherwise eligible applicants to the CalFresh program up to one month prior to the applicants' reentry into the community from a county jail or the state prison. To the extent that any federally necessary waiver is obtained, the bill would authorize a county board of supervisors or the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation to establish a policy to facilitate applications for the CalFresh program for prisoners prior to their release from a county jail or the state prison, respectively.