CalWORKs: welfare-to-work: self-employment.

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 requires a recipient of CalWORKs to participate in welfare-to-work activities for a specified number of hours per week as a condition of eligibility. Existing law identifies the welfare-to-work activities in which a recipient may participate, including, among others, self-employment. This bill would require, for the purpose of calculating the number of hours a recipient is participating in welfare-to-work activities, the number of hours for self-employment activities to be based solely on the number of hours the recipient is engaged in self-employment activities. The bill would require the State Department of Social Services to implement and administer these provisions through an all-county letter or similar instructions from the director no later than October 1, 2022. To the extent this bill would increase the administrative duties of counties with regard to the CalWORKs program, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. 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 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.