Human services.

(1) Existing law establishes the Department of Child Support Services, which administers all federal and state laws and regulations relating to child support enforcement obligations. Existing law requires each county to maintain a local child support agency that is responsible for establishing, modifying, and enforcing child support obligations, including medical support, enforcing spousal support orders, and determining paternity, as specified. Existing law, commencing January 1, 2023, requires a local child support agency to cease enforcement of child support arrearages and otherwise past due amounts owed to the state that the Department of Child Support Services or the local child support agency has determined to be uncollectible, as specified. This bill would instead require a local child support agency to cease enforcement of child support arrearages assigned to the state and other fees and costs owed to the state when the department or local child support agency has determined that the amount is uncollectible. (2) Existing law, the California Community Care Facilities Act, provides for the licensing and regulation of community care facilities by the State Department of Social Services. Under the act, community care facilities include various types of facilities, including community crisis homes, which are defined to mean facilities certified by the State Department of Developmental Services and licensed by the State Department of Social Services as adult residential facilities that provide 24-hour nonmedical care to individuals with developmental disabilities receiving regional center service, in need of crisis intervention services, and who would otherwise be at risk of admission to the acute crisis center at Fairview Developmental Center, Sonoma Developmental Center, an acute general hospital, an acute psychiatric hospital, an institution for mental disease, or an out-of-state placement. This bill would eliminate the reference to the Sonoma Developmental Center for purposes of that definition. (3) The California Community Care Facilities Act also provides for regulation of community care facilities that provide nonmedical care, including adult residential facilities and residential care facilities for the elderly. Under existing law, the Supplemental Security Income/State Supplementary Program for the Aged, Blind and Disabled (SSI/SSP) is, pursuant to contract, administered by the federal government and the department. This program provides cash assistance to low-income aged, blind, and disabled persons. Other existing law requires the department to establish and supervise a county- or county consortia-administered program, known as the Cash Assistance Program for Immigrants (CAPI) , which provides cash benefits to aged, blind, and disabled legal immigrants who meet specified criteria. This bill would establish the Community Care Expansion Program. Under the program, the department would award grants, upon appropriation of funds in the annual Budget Act and as specified in the annual Budget Act, to qualified grantees to preserve or expand capacity of residential adult and senior care facilities through the acquisition, construction, or rehabilitation of property, or to grantees to provide capitalized operating subsidy reserves to existing licensed residential adult and senior care facilities that serve at least one qualified resident, in order to avoid the closure of facilities, and to increase the acceptance of new qualified residents. The bill would define "qualified resident" to mean applicants for or recipients of SSI/SSP or CAPI benefits who need the care and supervision that is provided by the licensed facility that receives the grant. The bill would require the department to develop criteria for the program, including the methodology and distribution of the funds awarded to grantees under the program. The bill would require funds awarded pursuant to the program to be used to supplement, and not supplant, other funding available from existing local, state, or federal programs or from grants with similar purposes. The California Constitution prohibits the development, construction, or acquisition in any manner of a low-rent housing project by any state public body, as defined, until a majority of the qualified electors of the city, town, or county in which it is proposed to develop, construct, or acquire the same, voting upon that issue, approve the project by voting in favor at an election. The California Constitution, for purposes of this prohibition, defines low-rent housing project to mean any development composed of urban or rural dwellings, apartments, or other living accommodations for persons of low income, financed in whole or in part by the federal government or a state public body or to which the federal government or a state public body extends assistance by supplying all or part of the labor, by guaranteeing the payment of liens, or otherwise. Existing law establishes exclusions from this definition of "low-rent housing project," including any development composed of urban or rural dwellings, apartments, or other living accommodations, that meets any one of specified criteria, including that the development is privately owned housing that receives no ad valorem property tax exemption, except as specified, and not more than 49% of the dwellings, apartments, or other living accommodations of the development may be occupied by persons of low income, or the development consists of the rehabilitation, reconstruction, improvement or addition to, or replacement of, dwelling units of a previously existing low-rent housing project, or a project previously or currently occupied by lower income households. This bill would expand that exclusion to include the development of an adult or senior care facility that meets one or more of those criteria. (4) Existing law requires the State Department of Developmental Services and the State Department of Social Services to jointly implement a licensing program to provide special health care and intensive support services to children and specifically authorizes the departments to license and regulate group homes for children with special health care needs. Existing law requires a group home for children with special health care needs to possess a community care facility license issued pursuant to the California Community Care Facilities Act. This bill would define for the purposes of the act a "group home for children with special health care needs." (5) Existing law establishes the jurisdiction of the juvenile court, which may adjudge a minor or nonminor to be a dependent or ward of the court under certain circumstances. Existing law authorizes a social worker who has supervision over a dependent of the court to place the child in specified homelike settings, including a group home for children. This bill would require those group homes to be vendored by a regional center. (6) Existing law establishes the Aid to Families with Dependent Children-Foster Care (AFDC-FC) program, under which counties provide payments to foster care providers on behalf of qualified children in foster care. The program is funded by a combination of federal, state, and county funds. In order to be eligible for AFDC-FC, existing law requires a child or nonminor dependent to be placed in one of several specified placements, including, among others, a community care facility licensed under the California Community Care Facilities Act and vendored by a regional center. This bill would specify that a child is not eligible for AFDC-FC if they are placed in a group home for children with special health care needs. (7) Existing law generally requires, prior to the placement of a child in a short-term residential therapeutic programs or out-of-state residential facilities, that a qualified individual conduct an independent assessment and determination regarding the needs of the child. Existing law provides for the confidentiality of information regarding a minor in proceedings in the juvenile court and related court proceedings and limits access to juvenile case files. Existing law authorizes only certain individuals to inspect a juvenile case file, including, among others, members of children's multidisciplinary teams, persons, or agencies providing treatment or supervision of the minor. This bill would require that, for purposes of determining the individuals who may access a juvenile case file, a qualified individual be considered a member of the child's multidisciplinary team. (8) Existing law requires the State Department of Social Services to convene a working group to develop a pregnancy prevention plan that effectively addresses the needs of adolescent male and female foster youth and includes, among other things, effective strategies and programs for preteen and older teen foster youth and nonminor dependents and selecting and providing appropriate materials to educate foster youth and nonminor dependents in family life education. This bill would, subject to an appropriation for this purpose, require the department to compile and report annual performance and outcome data on the implementation of sexual and reproductive health training and education and the availability and use of sexual and reproductive health care services. The bill would require enumerated performance and outcome data to be included in the report and would require the department to consult with the working group in selecting additional performance and outcome data measures to include in the report. The bill would require the report to be completed annually, beginning July 1, 2023, and to be posted on the department's internet website. (9) Existing law provides for the California Work Opportunity and Responsibility to Kids (CalWORKs) program, under which, through a combination of state, county, and federal funds, each county provides cash assistance and other benefits to qualified low-income families and individuals. Under existing law, a CalWORKs recipient family is not eligible for further aid if reasonably anticipated income, less exempt income, as specified, equals or exceeds the maximum aid payment. This bill would, commencing July 1, 2022, instead provide that a recipient family is not eligible for further aid if the family's reasonably anticipated income, less exempt income, exceeds specified income reporting thresholds, and would also prohibit an applicant family from receiving aid if the family's reasonably anticipated income, less exempt income, as specified, equals or exceeds the maximum aid payment. (10) Under existing law, $47 per month is paid to a pregnant person qualified for CalWORKs aid to meet special needs resulting from pregnancy. This bill would require the county human services agency to require a pregnant person to provide medical verification of pregnancy, as specified. By increasing the duties in administering the CalWORKs program, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. (11) Existing law provides for the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) , administered in California as CalFresh, under which each county distributes nutrition assistance benefits provided by the federal government to eligible households. Existing law provides for the establishment of a statewide electronic benefit transfer (EBT) system, administered by the State Department of Social Services, for the purpose of providing financial and food assistance benefits. Existing federal law provides for the Pandemic Electronic Benefit Transfer (P-EBT) program, under which the United States Secretary of Agriculture is authorized to approve state plans to provide eligible children with temporary emergency nutrition assistance benefits during fiscal years 2020 and 2021 in any case in which a school is closed or has reduced the number of days or hours that students attend the school during a public health emergency designation during which the school would otherwise be in session. Existing law requires each school district or county superintendent of schools maintaining any kindergarten or any of grades 1 to 12, inclusive, to provide each needy pupil with one nutritionally adequate free or reduced-price meal during each schoolday. Existing law requires that all applications and records concerning any individual made or kept by any public officer or agency in connection with the administration of any provision of law relating to free or reduced-price meal eligibility be kept confidential, subject to specified exceptions. This bill would authorize the State Department of Education and the State Department of Social Services to share data for the limited purposes of administering the P-EBT food benefit program, including, but not limited to, identifying eligible students and evaluating program outcomes. The bill would authorize this data sharing to continue until the P-EBT program is terminated by federal law or federal approval to administer the program expires. (12) Existing law provides for the In-Home Supportive Services program, administered by the State Department of Social Services and counties, under which qualified aged, blind, and disabled persons receive supportive services to allow them to remain in their own homes. Existing law establishes the Medi-Cal program, administered by the State Department of Health Care Services, under which qualified low-income individuals receive health care services. Existing law authorizes certain Medi-Cal beneficiaries to receive waiver personal care services, as defined, to allow them to remain in their own homes. This bill would require the State Department of Social Services to administer the Career Pathways Program for providers of in-home supportive services, related services, or waiver personal care services, to increase the quality of care, recruitment and retention of providers for recipients and to provide training opportunities for career advancement in the home care and health care industries. Under the bill, the program would be implemented as a pilot project no later than September 1, 2022, or as otherwise specified, and would remain operative until March 31, 2024, or until a later date, subject to an appropriation. The bill would set forth the objectives and curriculum of the career pathways, certain criteria for provider participation in the program, and incentive payments for completion of specified activities. The bill would require the department to review and approve proposed training curriculum, enter into agreements with multiple qualified third-party entities, as defined, and determine the methodology and distribution of appropriated funds. Under the bill, provider participation in the training would be voluntary and at no cost to providers, and providers would be compensated for each hour of training, as specified, without requiring counties or public authorities to provide any funding for the training compensation. The bill would require the department to contract with another entity to complete an evaluation of the project. The bill would require the submission of an interim report, as specified, to the Legislature by no later than May 1, 2023, with a final report of the evaluation of the pilot project submitted to the Legislature by December 31, 2024. (13) Existing law establishes the Office of Health Information Integrity to ensure the enforcement of state law mandating the confidentiality of medical information and requires the office to assume statewide leadership, coordination, policy formulation, direction, and oversight responsibilities for the implementation of, and compliance with, the federal Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, among other duties. Existing law establishes the Office of Patient Advocate to provide assistance to, and advocate on behalf of, health care consumers by, among other things, coordinating amongst, providing assistance to, and collecting data from, all of the state agency consumer assistance or patient assistance programs and call centers, to better enable health care consumers to access the health care services to which they are eligible. This bill would abolish the Office of Health Information Integrity and the Office of Patient Advocate, establish the Center for Data Insights and Innovation within the California Health and Human Services Agency, and transfer the duties of the Office of Health Information Integrity and the Office of Patient Advocate to the center. The bill would also require the center to assume responsibility for administering the State Committee for the Protection of Human Subjects, as specified. The bill would establish the Center for Data Insights and Innovation Fund and, upon appropriation by the Legislature, make moneys in the fund available to the center to accomplish its duties. The bill would also establish the Health Plan Improvement Trust Fund and, upon appropriation by the Legislature, make the moneys in the fund available to administer various duties relating to monitoring the quality of health care and patient experience. This bill would require the Center for Data Insights and Innovation to keep all personal information obtained by the center confidential, as specified. The bill would require the center to meet various requirements with regard to the disclosure of information, including the development of a comprehensive program regarding the disclosure of information to qualified researchers according to specified data use agreements. The bill would specify that a violation of those data use agreements would be a misdemeanor. By creating a new crime, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. Existing law authorizes the California Health and Human Services Agency, or one of the departments under its jurisdiction, to apply for federal funds made available through the federal American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA) for health information technology and exchange, and establishes the California Health Information Technology and Exchange Fund for these purposes. This bill would repeal those provisions. Existing law authorizes the Office of Health Information Integrity to establish and administer demonstration projects to evaluate potential solutions to facilitate health information exchange that promote quality of care, respect the privacy and security of personal health information, and enhance the trust of the stakeholders. This bill would repeal those provisions. (14) Existing law requires the State Department of Social Services, subject to an appropriation in the annual Budget Act, to administer the California Guaranteed Income Pilot Program to provide grants to eligible entities for the purpose of administering pilot programs and projects that provide a guaranteed income to participants. In order to receive grant funds under the program, existing law requires an eligible entity to, among other things, present commitments of additional funding from nongovernmental sources for its pilot program or project. This bill would delete the requirement that the commitment of additional funds be from nongovernmental sources. The bill would additionally condition the receipt of grant funds on the eligible entity presenting a plan to provide certain benefits counseling and informational materials to individuals receiving guaranteed income payments funded with a grant. (15) Existing constitutional provisions require that a statute that limits the right of access to the meetings of public bodies or the writings of public officials and agencies be adopted with findings demonstrating the interest protected by the limitation and the need for protecting that interest. This bill would make legislative findings to that effect. (16) 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 with regard to certain mandates no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason. With regard to any other mandates, this bill would provide that, if the Commission on State Mandates determines that the bill contains costs so mandated by the state, reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to the statutory provisions noted above. (17) Existing law continuously appropriates moneys from the General Fund to defray a portion of county costs under the CalWORKs program. This bill would instead provide that the continuous appropriation would not be made for purposes of implementing the requirements described in paragraphs (9) and (10) . (18) This bill would reappropriate up to $458,000 of the unencumbered balance of a budget item from the Budget Act of 2020, to be available for encumbrance or expenditure until June 30, 2022, from the Federal Trust Fund to the State Council on Developmental Disabilities, as specified. (19) This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as a bill providing for appropriations related to the Budget Bill.