CalWORKs eligibility: income exemptions.

Existing federal law provides for allocation of federal funds through the federal Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) block grant program to eligible states. Existing law provides for the California Work Opportunity and Responsibility to Kids (CalWORKs) program, under which, through a combination of state and county funds and federal funds received through the TANF program, each county provides cash assistance and other benefits to qualified low-income families. Under existing law, certain types of payments received by recipients of aid under the CalWORKs program, including, among others, an award or scholarship provided by a public or private entity to, or on behalf of, a dependent child based on the child's academic or extracurricular achievement or participation in a scholastic, educational, or extracurricular competition, are exempt from consideration as income for purposes of determining eligibility and aid amount. This bill would delete the condition that an award or scholarship be based on a child's academic or extracurricular achievement or participation in a scholastic, educational, or extracurricular competition, in order to be exempt as income for purposes of the CalWORKs program. The bill would also exempt any income or stipend paid by the United States Census Bureau, a governmental entity, or a nonprofit organization for temporary work related to improving participation in the decennial census that is earned during the year preceding a decennial census and during the year of the decennial census from being included as income for these purposes. By expanding the scope of eligibility for CalWORKs, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. This bill would require the State Department of Social Services to adopt regulations on or before October 1, 2022, and would authorize the department to implement the bill through an all-county letter or similar instruction until the regulations are adopted. 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. 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. This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.