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, 2018, 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.

This 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 collaborate and coordinate with the county human services agency or agencies that will be asked to refer CalWORKs recipients to the program in implementing procedures for referrals, regular progress reports, and other communication, as needed. 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, 2022.

This bill would appropriate $50,000,000 from the General Fund for the purpose of funding these provisions.

This bill would make these provisions inoperative on July 1, 2023, and would repeal them as of January 1, 2024.

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, 2017, 2018, 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.

This 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 collaborate and coordinate with the county human services agency or agencies that will be asked to refer CalWORKs recipients to the program in implementing procedures for referrals, regular progress reports, and other communication, as needed. 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, 2021. 2022.

This 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, 2022, and would repeal them on January 1, 2023.

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, 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.

This 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 collaborate and coordinate with the county human services agency or agencies that will be asked to refer CalWORKs recipients to the program in implementing procedures for referrals, regular progress reports, and other communication, as needed. 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, 2021.

This 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, 2022, and would repeal them on January 1, 2023.

SENATE COMMITTEE ON

Senator Ricardo Lara, Chair

2017 - 2018 Regular Session

SB 232 (Bates) - Parental Empowerment Pilot Project

This bill meets the criteria for referral to the Suspense File.

Bill Summary:

SB 232 would require the California Department of Social Services (CDSS), in consultation with the County Welfare Directors Association of California (CWDA), to design and implement a 5-year pilot project to provide grants to private organizations that assist individuals receiving California Work Opportunity & Responsibility to Kids (CalWORKs) benefits to achieve economic independence, and to evaluate the effectiveness of the grant-funded programs. This bill would appropriate $50 million from the General Fund to CDSS for the purposes of funding the pilot program.

Fiscal Impact:

• $50 million appropriated to CDSS for funding grants for the pilot programs. (GF)
• Significant costs, likely in the hundreds of thousands, to CDSS for additional staff to initiate, select, administer, and evaluate the pilot programs.
• Unknown, but likely significant costs to CDSS for automation changes.

Background:

According to the Public Policy Institute of California, nearly one in four children in California live in poverty and 40% of California residents live at or near poverty. The CalWORKs program, which implements the federal TANF program, is a welfare program that gives cash aid and employment-related services to eligible California families. While the federal time limit for aid is 60 months, California’s lifetime limit for adults in the CalWORKs program is 48 months, with 24 of those months contingent upon meeting federal work-participation requirements. CalWORKs provides temporary cash assistance to approximately 485,500 low-income families to help them meet basic needs. Adults in the program must work or participate in subsidized employment or other allowable activities, including job search, and certain educational activities.

California leads the nation in the number of homeless families, accounting for about 28% of all individuals experiencing homelessness in the United States. CalWORKs families who are homeless are entitled to a one-third benefit of $65 a day for up to four members for the costs of temporary shelter and additional family members are allotted an additional $15 per day, up to a daily maximum of $125 and a maximum of 16 consecutive days. Limited assistance may be available for families who are at risk of eviction or need help with housing deposits in order to secure permanent housing.

The CalWORKs Housing Support Program was created through budget trailer bill language in 2014, to help clients find permanent housing and reach self-sufficiency by providing rental assistance and deposits on a time-limited basis as long as an adult in the family has employment income sufficient to take over rental costs. Currently, 49 of the state’s 58 counties participate in the program. In recent years, the federal government has shifted its focus towards the Housing First approach which provides support services to maximize housing stability, as opposed to addressing predetermined treatment goals prior to permanent housing entry. SB 1380 (Mitchell, Chapter 847, Statutes of 2016) established the Homeless Coordinating Financing Council to oversee implementation of Housing First regulations, and any new state-funded program created after July 1, 2017 is required to adopt guidelines and regulations to incorporate Housing First components.

Proposed Law:

This bill would:

• Require CDSS, in consultation with CWDA, no later than July 1, 2018, to design and implement a five-year pilot project under which monetary grants are provided to organizations operating programs that assist individuals receiving CalWORKs benefits achieve economic independence;
• Require CDSS, in developing the pilot project, to do all of the following:
  • Develop a competitive review process for all grant proposals submitted and a methodology to determine grant amounts;
  • Develop eligibility requirements for organizations seeking a grant;
  • Develop an ongoing evaluation, utilizing objective criteria, as specified, of the effectiveness of an organization receiving grant funding in teaching its program participants the skills necessary to achieve economic independence.
• Permit CDSS 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 and would require CDSS and any entity it contracts with to seek input from stakeholders during the development process;
• Specify the minimum requirements for an organization to be considered for a grant;
• Require an organization to demonstrate in its grant application how it will coordinate its program with CalWORKs requirements and require CDSS to take into consideration the extent to which an organization seeking funding has conferred with, and is collaborating with its respective county human services agency or agencies;
• Permit an organization receiving a grant to utilize the grant funds in any reasonable manner, as long as the funds are expended in furtherance of the program elements or other requirements CDSS establishes;
• Prohibit an organization receiving a grant from limiting the participants’ ability to access a full scope of physical, psychosocial, and mental health services;
• Require an organization receiving a grant to comply with anti-discrimination laws;
• Specify that the benefits an individual may receive through participation in a program receiving grant funding are in addition to any other public assistance benefits for which the individual may be eligible;
• Permit organizations receiving grant funding to set their own eligibility criteria for their programs as long as the eligibility criteria are consistent with the goals of this pilot project;
• Require organizations receiving grant funding to collaborate and coordinate with the county human services agency or agencies that will be asked to refer CalWORKs recipients to the program in implementing procedures for referrals, regular progress reports, and other communication, as needed;
• Specify that participation in a program administered by an organization receiving grant funding is voluntary;
• Require that, no later than December 31, 2022, CDSS, or the academic institution or other entity CDSS 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 and post the report on CDSS’s Internet Web site;
• Sunset the pilot program on July 1, 2023 and repeal this section of statute on January 1, 2024;
• Appropriate $50 million from the state’s General Fund to CDSS for purposes of funding the pilot program.

Related Legislation:

SB 659 (Bates, 2015) was nearly identical to SB 232. This bill was held in the Senate Human Services Committee.

-- END --

SENATE COMMITTEE ON HUMAN SERVICES

Senator Wiener, Chair

2017 - 2018 Regular

Bill No: SB 232

Subject: Parental Empowerment Pilot Project

SUMMARY

This bill would require the California Department of Social Services (CDSS), in consultation with the County Welfare Directors Association of California (CWDA), to design and implement a 5-year pilot project to provide grants to private organizations that assist individuals receiving CalWORKs benefits to achieve economic independence, and to evaluate the effectiveness of the grant-funded programs.

ABSTRACT

Existing law:

1. Establishes the federal Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program, which permits states to implement the program under a state plan. (42 USC § 601 et seq.)
2. Establishes in state law the CalWORKs program to provide cash assistance and other social services for low-income families through the TANF program. Under CalWORKs, each county provides assistance through a combination of state, county and federal TANF funds. (WIC 11200 et seq.)
3. Establishes under the CalWORKs program, a welfare-to-work program and requirement that adults participate in work or employment-related activities for specified amounts of time. (WIC 11320, et seq.)
4. Requires counties to submit a plan annually detailing how it intends to deliver the full range of activities and services necessary to move CalWORKs recipients from welfare to work, including how it will collaborate with public and private agencies for training and support services, what partnerships it will form with the private sector, the range of welfare-to-work activities it will offer recipients, how it will provide substance abuse and mental health treatment services, how it will provide child care and transportation services, performance outcomes to track whether the county’s program meets locally established objectives, and other items. (WIC 10531)
5. Defines a lengthy list of allowable welfare-to-work activities including unsubsidized employment, on-the-job-training, work-study, education to complete a high school proficiency or general educational certificate, other educational pursuits, mental health, substance abuse and domestic violence services and other activities necessary to assist an individual in obtaining and retaining employment. (WIC 11322.6)
6. Limits an adult’s participation in welfare-to-work activities and the associated cash benefits to 24 cumulative months during a recipient’s lifetime unless a recipient meets federally defined work participation requirements, and to 48 months of lifetime aid if an adult is meeting federal work requirements. (WIC 11322.85)
7. Creates a family stabilization program within the welfare-to-work program and defines eligibility to include an identified situation or crisis that is destabilizing the family and would interfere with participation in welfare-to-work activities and services, as defined, and determined by the county. (WIC 11325.24 (b))
8. Requires each county to implement a family stabilization program, mandates that services include intensive case management and services designed to support the family in overcoming the crisis, clarifies that funds for the family stabilization program be in addition to any funds allocated to the client through the welfare-to-work program and permits funds in the family stabilization program to be used to provide housing and other needed services. (WIC 11325.24 (c) et seq.)
9. Establishes the CalWORKs housing support program and identifies a recipient as eligible for housing supports if the county determines that his or her family is experiencing homelessness or housing instability that would be a barrier to self-sufficiency or child well-being. (WIC 11330.5)
10. Requires that organizations receiving grants must comply with anti-discriminatory laws. (GOV 11135)
11. Defines “Housing First” to mean the evidence-based model that uses housing as a tool, rather than a reward, for recovery and that centers on providing or connecting homeless people to permanent housing as quickly as possible. Housing First providers offer services as needed and requested on a voluntary basis and that do not make housing contingent on participation in services. (WIC 8255 (d))
12. Requires that California agencies and departments administering state programs created on or after July 1, 2017, to adopt guidelines and regulations to incorporate core components of Housing First, as specified, and requires that agencies and departments administering state programs in existence prior to July 1, 2017, to revise or adopt guidelines and regulations that incorporate the core components of Housing First, by July 1, 2019, as specified and in conjunction with the state’s new Homeless Coordinating Financing Council. (WIC 8256)
13. Establishes a Homeless Coordinating Financing Council to, among other duties, create a statewide data system or warehouse that collects local data through Homeless Management Information Systems, with the ultimate goal of matching data on homelessness to programs impacting homeless recipients of state programs, such as Medi-Cal and CalWORKS. The Council is also tasked with overseeing implementation of the statewide Housing First model. (WIC 8257)

This bill:

1. Makes a series of Legislative findings and declarations about the scope of spending on California’s health and human services programs and the fact that poverty remains a persistent problem.
2. Requires CDSS, in consultation with CWDA, no later than July 1, 2018 to design and implement a five-year pilot project under which monetary grants are provided to organizations operating programs that assist individuals receiving CalWORKs benefits to achieve economic independence.
3. Requires CDSS in developing the pilot project to, at a minimum, do all of the following:
   1. Develop a competitive review process for all grant proposals submitted and a methodology to determine grant amounts. To the extent possible, the competitive review process shall ensure that funding is granted to programs that are located in three total regions: one urban, one suburban, and one rural.
   2. Develop eligibility requirements for organizations seeking a grant that requires, at a minimum, each organization’s program to include twelve specified eligibility requirements (See item No. 6 below). Specifies that the eligibility requirements for organizations seeking a grant do not affect an individual’s eligibility for CalWORKs benefits, as determined by the county. 
   3. Develop an ongoing evaluation, utilizing objective criteria, of the effectiveness of an organization receiving grant funding in teaching its program participants the skills necessary to achieve economic independence.
4. Requires that the evaluation criteria, at a minimum, include an examination of all of the following:
   1. The number and percentage of participants that complete the program.
   2. The number and percentage of program participants that begin the program with a high school diploma or equivalent.
   3. The number and percentage of program participants that achieve a high school diploma or equivalent while in the program.
   4. The number of program participants that obtain nonsubsidized employment of at least 20 hours per week by the time of program completion, with regular follow-up to determine if this minimum level of nonsubsidized employment is maintained for the duration of the ongoing evaluation, as specified.
   5. The attainment of academic stability for the children of program participants. The department shall develop a definition of academic stability for purposes of this section.
   6. The number and percentage of program participants still receiving CalWORKs benefits upon completion of the program.
   7. The average income of program participants at the time of program completion.
   8. The number and percentage of program participants that achieve family reunification, when applicable.
5. Permits CDSS 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 required evaluation. Requires CDSS and any academic institution or other entity the department contracts with to create, perform, or both create and perform the evaluation to seek input from stakeholders during the development process.
6. Requires each program, in order to be considered for a grant to include all of the following program elements:
7. Education focused on the attainment of a high school diploma or its equivalent.
8. Mental health services.
9. Employment training.
10. Financial training.
11. Parenting skills training.
12. Life skills training.
13. Child care services. Each participating child care provider shall obtain a criminal record clearance pursuant to Section 1596.871 of the Health and Safety Code. For purposes of this section, “child care provider” includes a paid employee or a volunteer. If the organization serves only pregnant women, the organization shall not be required to provide child care services to be eligible for grant funding.
14. A clean and sober environment.
15. Comprehensive, targeted case management to assist program participants.
16. Ongoing monitoring of program participants for at least five years after they have completed the program for purposes of measuring long-term program effectiveness.
17. Trauma-informed social work.
18. Temporary housing on a 24-hours-a-day, seven-days-a-week basis, including food facilities.
19. Requires the organization to demonstrate in its grant application how it will coordinate its program with CalWORKs requirements.
20. Requires CDSS, in considering the applications received and determining which organizations shall be awarded grants, to take into consideration the extent to which an organization seeking funding has conferred with, and is collaborating with, the county human services agency or agencies that would be asked to refer CalWORKs recipients to its program.
21. Permits an organization receiving a grant to utilize the grant funds in any reasonable manner, as long as the funds are expended in furtherance of the program elements or other requirements established by CDSS. Housing, transportation, and child care expenses for program participants shall be considered an allowable use of grant funds.
22. Prohibits an organization receiving a grant from limiting a participants’ ability to access a full scope of physical, psychosocial, and mental health services.
23. Requires that the benefits an individual may receive through participation in a program receiving grant funding are in addition to any other public assistance benefits for which the individual may be eligible.
24. Permits organizations receiving grant funding to set their own eligibility criteria for their programs as long as the eligibility criteria are consistent with the goals of this pilot project. The criteria for eligibility set by the organization do not affect an individual’s eligibility for CalWORKs benefits, as determined by the county.
25. Requires organizations receiving grant funding to collaborate and coordinate with the county human services agency or agencies that will be asked to refer CalWORKs recipients to the program in implementing procedures for referrals, regular progress reports, and other communication, as needed
26. Establishes that participation in a program administered by an organization receiving grant funding pursuant to this section is voluntary.
27. Requires CDSS or the contractor conducting its evaluation 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, 2022, as specified. Additionally requires the report be posted on the department’s Internet Web site.
28. Prohibits the report from identifying individuals who participate in the program, or from containing personally identifiable information.
29. Sunsets the pilot program on July 1, 2023, and repeals this section of statute on January 1, 2024.
30. Appropriates $50 million from the state’s General Fund to the State Department of Social Services for purposes of funding the pilot program.

FISCAL IMPACT

This bill has not been analyzed by a fiscal committee; however it contains a $50 million General Fund appropriation over five years for the purposes of funding the pilot program described.

BACKGROUND AND DISCUSSION

Purpose of the bill:

The author states that SB 232 will help move families out of poverty “through a holistic approach that addresses the root problems of families in crisis and supports the overall well-being of the children.” The author states that this bill allows California to try something new in helping elevate families out of poverty. The author states, “their needs extend beyond just food and shelter. Helping one attain education, life skills, job training, money management and even parenting skills prepares these individuals for life beyond one of these programs.”

The author states there may be concern about the cost of the program, but she states, “while difficult to quantify, there is real potential for long-term savings as graduates of the programs funded through the pilot project, and graduates of programs initiated subsequent to the original pilot, achieve lasting economic independence. Even if there isn’t immediate savings, improving the program participants’ quality of life is well worth the cost.”

Background

Nearly one in four California children lives in poverty, and 40 percent of all residents of the state were poor or near poor in 2014, according to researchers at the Public Policy Institute of California and Stanford University’s Center on Poverty and Inequality, who created a state-specific measurement of poverty. The California Poverty Measure calculates cost of living, benefit of social safety net programs and the range of family needs and resources in determining poverty in the Golden State.

Researchers have indicated that California’s heightened poverty rate is significantly impacted by the state’s high housing costs and other costs of living, including child care. A 2014 Stanford poverty center report found that 26.3 percent of young children – aged 6 or younger - were below poverty under the California Poverty Measure, and 24.9 percent were considered below poverty using the official measure.

According to official poverty measurements, a single rate nationwide that is based generally on the cost to feed a family, 15.3 percent of Californians lacked enough resources to meet basic needs in 2015.^[1] In 2017, the poverty threshold for a family of three is $20,160 in annual income – roughly $1,680 per month. The official poverty line does not account for housing costs or other critical family expenses and resources.

TANF and CalWORKs

In 1935, amid the Great Depression, Congress authorized Aid to Families with Dependent Children, the nation’s first welfare program, to stabilize the families of jobless Americans. At the time, jobless Americans were estimated to be one-quarter of the nation’s workforce. Six decades later, the AFDC cash entitlement program was replaced by the Temporary Aid to Needy Families (TANF), which set time limits on receipt of federal benefits and mandated work participation. Federal funding for CalWORKs comes from the TANF block grant. While the federal time limit for aid is 60 months, California’s lifetime limit for adults in the CalWORKs program is 48 months, with 24 of those months contingent upon meeting federal work-participation requirements.

CalWORKs provides temporary cash assistance to approximately 485,500 low-income families to help them meet basic needs. Two-thirds of CalWORKs cases are headed by a single parent. Adults in the program are subject to a 48-month limit lifetime limit on CalWORKs aid and strict requirements on work participation to remain in the program after the first 24 months. These required welfare-to-work activities can include job finding, job training, educational pursuits, subsidized employment or unsubsidized employment, as defined and within specific parameters. Currently, a grant to a family of three in a high-cost California county is $714 per month – 42.5 percent of the federal poverty level.

Welfare to Work

Adults in the CalWORKs program must work or participate in subsidized employment or other allowable activities, including job search, and certain educational activities. Depending on family composition, these activities are required for 20, 30, or 35 hours per week. The program also offers supportive services, such as childcare and – in a limited number of cases – housing support. Adults may be referred to mental health or drug and alcohol treatment, if appropriate.

Family Stabilization

If a CalWORKs client or an immediate family member is facing a challenge that may prevent the client from working, the family may be referred to a county’s family stabilization program. Services include intensive case management with a caseworker who has a lowered caseload, and supports to address barriers. A crisis that might warrant a referral to family stabilization program could include homelessness or imminent risk of homelessness, unsafe living conditions due to domestic violence or untreated or undertreated behavioral needs.

Family stabilization is distinguished from other services intensive case management and a more robust assessment to identify less visible barriers. Under this program, caseworkers also have the ability to refer other family members for services if their troubles are creating a barrier to employment for the adult CalWORKs participant, such as a child’s untreated behavioral needs. As of June 2016, there were 5,291 family stabilization services provided statewide, another 4,000 individuals receiving services for domestic abuse, mental health, substance abuse or other supports. According to the same point-in-time data, there were also 903 cases that received homeless supports. More than half of those receiving services were children.

Homeless Services for CalWORKs families

California leads the nation in the number of homeless families. According to the US Housing and Urban Development annual homeless count, this state accounted for 28 percent of all people experiencing homelessness as individuals in the United States, or 97,660 people.^[2] Of the 118,142 people experiencing homelessness in California, 66 percent, or 78,390 people, were without shelter and 34 percent, or 39,752, were staying in emergency shelters, transitional housing programs, or safe havens. California accounted for nearly half of all unsheltered people in the country in 2016. Florida had the second highest share of the unsheltered homeless population in the nation, with nine percent.

WIC 11450 defines homelessness within the CalWORKs program to mean a family lacks a fixed and regular nighttime residence, has a primary nighttime residence that is a supervised publicly or privately operated shelter designed to provide temporary living accommodations, or is residing in a public or private place not designed for a regular sleeping accommodation for human beings.

CalWORKs families who are homeless are entitled to a one-time benefit of $65 a day for up to four members for the costs of temporary shelter, and additional family members are allotted an additional $15 per day, up to a daily maximum of $125, and for a maximum of 16 consecutive days. Limited assistance may be available for families who are at risk of eviction or need help with housing deposits in order to secure permanent housing. The high cost of housing in California exacerbates challenges to finding housing for families on CalWORKs who are homeless.

Housing Support program

Budget trailer bill in 2014 established the CalWORKs Housing Support Program to help clients find permanent housing and reach self-sufficiency. The program provides rental assistance and deposits on a time-limited basis as long as an adult in the family has employment income sufficient to take over the rental costs. County social workers work with the clients’ landlord to set up housing, and work with the client to teach credit repair, and financial literacy, as well as providing mental health counseling. The bill allocated $20 million for the program to 20 counties in FY 2014-15, and increased in each subsequent year to the current $47 million in FY 2016-17. Currently 49 of the state’s 58 counties participate in the program. Advocates say the program is challenged to find affordable housing for participants.

Between September 2014 and December 2016, more than 6,500 families were moved from homelessness to permanent housing through the program, according to CDSS. Statewide, nearly 4,000 families were receiving services and/or financial assistance through this program during the month of December 2016. The majority of families housed are ready to exit the program after receiving rental subsidies for six months or less.

Housing First

According to the U. S Department of Housing and Urban Development, “Housing First is an approach to quickly and successfully connect individuals and families experiencing homelessness to permanent housing without preconditions and barriers to entry, such as sobriety, treatment or service participation requirements.” Under Housing First, supportive services are offered to maximize housing stability and prevent returns to homelessness as opposed to addressing predetermined treatment goals prior to permanent housing entry. The Housing First model, thus, is philosophically in contrast to models that require commitment to clean and sober living in exchange for housing.

In recent years, the federal government has shifted its focus towards funding Housing First programs. Federal McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Grants must be used for Housing First programs. As a result, housing programs under the HCD, such as the Veterans Housing and Homeless Prevention Program, already integrate core components of Housing First.

Under SB 1380 (Mitchell, Chapter 847, Statutes of 2016), a state agency or department that funds, implements, or administers a state program that provides housing or housing-related services to people experiencing homelessness or at risk of homelessness must adopt guidelines and regulations to include Housing First policies. The bill established the Homeless Coordinating and Financing Council to oversee implementation of the Housing First regulations and to identify resources to prevent and end homelessness in California.

Any new state-funded programs created on or after July 1, 2017, are required to adopt guidelines and regulations to incorporate the core components of Housing First. Existing programs that do not already incorporate the core components of Housing First will be required to revise or adopt guidelines and regulations that incorporate the core components of Housing First.

St. John’s Program for Real Change

This bill is largely structured after a program in Sacramento that serves as many as 180 women and children daily and maintains an average wait list of 250 people. St. John’s Program for Real Change provides housing, food and child care for women and their children. The yearlong program is highly structured, requiring participants to attend school in order to obtain a high school diploma, or equivalency certificate, participate in parenting training, job training and eventually paid work in one of the St. John’s programs. The program’s website notes that participants “must participate in employment training at one of our social enterprises, Plates, Plates Midtown and First Steps, in which women build work ethic and on-the-job training skills. This sets them up for a new kind of success and presents them as viable candidates for the workforce and a new life.”

Mental health counseling is available, and women are required to submit to random drug testing. St. John’s is largely supported by private donations and currently is undergoing a $4 million, 90-bed expansion in order to reduce its waiting list.

The program director is an outspoken critic of the Housing First model. In January 2016, shortly after the prior version of this bill was held in committee, the program director co-authored an opinion in The Sacramento Bee describing the federal government’s move to a housing-first approach as “moving in the wrong direction.”

Constitutionality of drug testing mandates

Many states have introduced measures to require drug testing for welfare recipients, with a significant increase during and after the recession. A Congressional Research Service report issued in March 2015 noted that lawmakers in a majority of states reportedly proposed legislation in 2011, 2012, 2013, and/or 2014 that would require drug testing of beneficiaries of governmental assistance under certain circumstances.^[3] The report cited two federal cases that found state laws conditioning eligibility for new or ongoing benefits upon a drug test were unconstitutional.

In 2003, a federal appellate court in Marchwinski v. Howard ruled that subjecting every welfare applicant in Michigan to a drug test without reason to believe that drugs were being used, was unconstitutional. In 2013, a federal appellate panel similarly struck down a 2011 Florida law under the same reasoning, arguing that requiring drug testing as a condition of eligibility for TANF violated the constitutional protection against unreasonable searches, guaranteed under the 4^th Amendment.

Additionally, state data in Florida showed that the measure produced few results: Just 108 of 4,086 people tested, or 2.6 percent, were found to have been using narcotics. State records showed that the requirement cost more money to carry out than it saved.^[4]

Related legislation:

AB 227 (Mayes, 2017) Establishes graduated monthly incentive payments for CalWORKs recipients upon completion of a high school diploma, an associate’s degree or career technical education program, and a bachelor’s degree.

SB 659 (Bates, 2015) was nearly identical to this bill. It was held in the Senate Human Services Committee.

SB 1380 (Mitchell, Chapter 847, Statutes of 2016) established the requirement that state-funded programs addressing homelessness adopt a housing-first approach to care and treatment.

SB 855 (Budget and Fiscal Review, Chapter 29, Statutes of 2014) established in the budget trailer bill a rapid housing support program for CalWORKs clients who were homeless.

AB 74 (Budget Committee, Chapter 21, Statutes of 2013) responded to a list of items developed by the CDSS stakeholder workgroup established in SB 1041 and added a number of specific elements to the 24-month clock, including family stabilization. These supports were designed to help adults with barriers to work be better prepared to enter the workforce and sustain employment.

COMMENTS

This bill is nearly identical to SB 659, which was held in this committee last year. The bill envisions incorporating CalWORKs clients into a model of care, exemplified by the St. John’s Program for Real Change, which provides housing, job training and other supports to women primarily supported by private donations. The author states that this model of care, when applied to CalWORKs homeless clients, will prove more successful than the existing program.

The author has worked with CWDA and other stakeholders to address initial concerns about ensuring the pilot program would be incorporated into the counties’ existing CalWORKs structure. However, the author has not addressed a key component of this bill, which is how to remedy the conflict between this bill’s clean-and-sober housing approach and the federal and state priorities to provide a housing-first model. Between last year’s version of this bill and today’s, the state enacted SB 1380, which mandates that state-funded programs that address homelessness use a housing-first approach. Committee staff therefore recommend the following amendments:

1. Given the underlying conflict with the state’s housing first policy, the author may wish to consider clarifying the “clean and sober” requirement in the program eligibility requirements of this bill as follows:

WIC 1337 (d)

In order to be considered for a grant, an organization shall, at a minimum, include all of the following elements in its program:

8. A clean and sober environment in a manner that is consistent with federal guidance and state law relating to the core components of Housing First, as described in Sections 8255 and 8256.

1. Additionally, staff recommends removing the uncodified legislative intent language from Section 1 of the bill, as it contains data that may be currently out of date, and will become more dated. Staff recommends the following amendment:

Strike Section 1 of the bill.

POSITIONS

Support:

Community Action Agency of Butte County, Inc.

County Welfare Directors Association of California

LIUNA Locals 777 & 792

Solutions for Change

National Association of Social Workers, California Chapter

Esplanade House Children’s Fund

Oppose:

None.

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1. http://www.ppic.org/main/publication_show.asp?i=261 ↑

2. The 2016 Annual Homeless Assessment Report to Congress, US Department of Housing and Urban Development, November 2016 ↑

3. Congressional Research Service, “ Constitutional Analysis of Suspicionless Drug Testing Requirements for the Receipt of Governmental Benefits,” March 6, 2015 ↑

4. Robles, Frances, “Florida Law on Drug Tests for Welfare Is Struck Down,” New York Times, Dec. 31, 2013; ↑