SB 659: Opportunity Grant Pilot Project.

Existing federal law provides for the 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.

This bill would require the State Department of Social Services, in consultation with the County Welfare Directors Association of California, no later than July 1, 2016, 2017, to design and implement a 5-year pilot project under which monetary grants are provided to organizations operating programs that assist individuals receiving CalWORKs benefits achieve economic independence. The bill would require the department, in developing the pilot project, among other things, to develop a competitive review process for all grant proposals submitted, to develop eligibility requirements for organizations seeking a grant, and to develop an ongoing evaluation of the effectiveness of an organization receiving grant funding in teaching its program participants the skills necessary to achieve economic independence. The bill would authorize the department to enter into an agreement with an academic institution or other entity with sufficient expertise for the purpose of creating, performing, or both creating and performing the evaluation. The bill would authorize an organization receiving a grant to utilize the funds in any reasonable manner, as long as the funds are expended in furtherance of the organizations program or other requirements established by the department. The bill would require organizations receiving grant funding to contact the county welfare department upon being notified of the grant and to make a good faith effort to coordinate their programs with CalWORKs requirements. The bill would require the department, or the academic institution or other entity the department contracted with, to send a report evaluating the effectiveness of the programs funded by the grants to the relevant policy and fiscal committees of the Legislature by December 31, 2020. 2021. The bill would appropriate $50,000,000 from the General Fund for the purpose of funding these provisions. The bill would make these provisions inoperative on July 1, 2021, 2022, and would repeal them on January 1, 2022. 2023.