AB 607: Public social services: disaster assistance services.

(1)Existing law provides for 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 and individuals. Existing law prohibits a person from receiving CalWORKs benefits unless he or she is a resident of the state. Existing law requires CalWORKs eligibility to be terminated if the recipient has received aid payment at an address outside of the state for two consecutive months, the county has made inquiry of the recipient, and the recipient has not responded and has not clearly shown that he or she has not established residence elsewhere and has been prevented by illness or other good cause from returning to this state.

This bill, to be known and cited as the Community Resiliency and Disaster Preparedness Act of 2017, would, among other things, additionally authorize a person who has responded, clearly showing that he or she has not established residence elsewhere and has been prevented from returning to the state due to a disaster declared by the Governor, or the President of the United States, to continue his or her CalWORKs eligibility. To the extent that this bill affects eligibility under the CalWORKs program, the bill would create a state-mandated local program.

As part of the CalWORKs program, existing law provides that a homeless family that has used all available liquid resources in excess of $100 may be eligible for assistance to pay for temporary shelter or permanent housing, as specified, and requires a family that becomes homeless as a direct and primary result of a state or federally declared natural disaster to be eligible for the temporary and permanent homeless assistance.

This bill would, in the event of a state or federally declared disaster in a county, require the county human services agency to coordinate with public and private disaster response organizations and agencies to identify and inform recipients of their eligibility for the temporary and permanent homeless assistance. By increasing the duties of county officials, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program.

(2)Existing federal law provides for the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), known in California as CalFresh, under which supplemental nutrition assistance benefits allocated to the state by the federal government are distributed to eligible individuals by each county. Existing federal law, through Disaster SNAP, provides for short-term food assistance benefits to families suffering in the wake of a major disaster.

This bill would require the department and the county human services agency, if the President of the United States issues a major disaster declaration for individual assistance, to request to operate a federal Disaster Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (D-SNAP) for the regions affected by the major disaster. The bill would require the department to offer training on Disaster CalFresh to county human services agencies and others. The bill would require county human services agencies to annually submit to the department a disaster plan, as specified, to ensure there are sufficient resources necessary to continue adequate access to benefits during a disaster. By increasing the duties of county officials, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program.

(3)The bill would, in the event of a declaration by the Governor or the President of a major disaster, continuously appropriate to the State Department of Social Services from the General Fund an amount necessary to cover specified costs relating to the administration of disaster assistance services provided under CalFresh, but not to exceed $300,000 per disaster declaration.

(4)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.

(5)This bill would incorporate additional changes to Section 11450 of the Welfare and Institutions Code proposed by AB 236 and AB 557 to be operative only if this bill and AB 236, this bill and AB 557, or all 3 bills are enacted and this bill is enacted last.

(6)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.