CalWORKs: special diet and food preparation allowance.

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 to 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, including a recurring special needs allowance of up to $10 per month for each eligible recipient. Under existing law, recurring special needs includes special diets upon the recommendation of a physician for circumstances other than pregnancy, and unusual costs of transportation, laundry, housekeeping services, telephone, and utilities. This bill would include food preparation within the list of unusual costs for purposes of the recurring special needs allowance. The bill would provide that the reasons for which a county shall grant a recurring special needs allowance for a special diet include, but are not limited to, verified lack of access to potable water and a child recipient having an elevated blood lead level, as specified. The bill would prohibit a county from requiring the recommendation of a physician regarding a special diet if there is a verified lack of access to potable water, and would authorize a county to waive the requirement if the county has reason to believe that there is a lack of access to potable water. The bill would, commencing on December 1, 2023, or on the date that the Statewide Automated Welfare System can perform the necessary automation for this purpose, whichever date is later, require the recurring special allowance for special diets to be provided in the form of a supplemental food benefit and prohibit the special diets allowance from being considered income for the purposes of determining eligibility or amount of aid for any state or local means-tested public benefit program. By increasing the administrative duties of counties administering the CalWORKs program, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. The bill would require the State Department of Social Services to implement this act by all-county letters or similar instructions beginning no later than October 1, 2020, until regulations are adopted on or before October 1, 2022. 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.