AB 1932: Department of Social Services: C.R.I.S.E.S. Grant Pilot Program 2.0.

Existing law establishes the State Department of Social Services in the Health and Welfare Agency and sets forth its powers and duties relating to the administration of various programs relating to public social services.

Prior law, until June 30, 2026, enacted the Community Response Initiative to Strengthen Emergency Systems Act, or the C.R.I.S.E.S. Act, for purposes of creating, implementing, and evaluating the C.R.I.S.E.S. Grant Pilot Program, which the act established. The act required the department to administer the program if appropriate funding was made available to the department. The act required, on or before January 1, 2023, the department to award grants to qualified grantees, including city, county, and tribal departments of social services, disability services, health services, public health, or behavioral health, based on grant eligibility criteria developed in partnership with a stakeholder workgroup.

This bill would establish the Community Response Initiative to Strength Emergency Systems Act 2.0, or the C.R.I.S.E.S. Act 2.0, and the C.R.I.S.E.S. Grant Pilot Program 2.0, until June 30, 2032. The bill would require the department to administer the program if appropriate funding is made available in the annual Budget Act. The bill would require the department to award grants to grantees, which are community-based organizations, on or before October 1, 2027, and annually thereafter, subject to appropriate funding.

The bill would reestablish the Community Response Initiative to Strengthen Emergency Systems Program Fund within the State Treasury, and would authorize, upon appropriation by the Legislature, the moneys to be expended by the department for purposes of the program. The bill would prohibit more than 10% of the grant funds to be used for implementation and administration of the program. The bill would authorize the department to enter into agreements with one or more entities to facilitate the implementation of the program, not to exceed 5% of the appropriated funds.

The bill would require the department to convene a stakeholder workgroup consisting of specified individuals. The bill would require the department to award grants of at least $250,000 each to eligible grantees, which are community-based organizations, based on criteria developed by the department in consultation with the stakeholder workgroup. The bill would require a grantee to report at least annually to the department on the use of funding awarded under the program. The bill would require the department to issue a public report, to be posted on its internet website 6 months following the end of the program, with specified information.

The bill would authorize the department to implement, interpret, or make specific the provisions of the program without taking regulatory action, as specified.

This bill would make these provisions inoperative on June 30, 2032, and would repeal them as of January 1, 2033.