BILL NUMBER: AB 2382 INTRODUCED
BILL TEXT
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Bradford
FEBRUARY 21, 2014
An act to amend Section 11253.5 of the Welfare and Institutions
Code, relating to CalWORKs.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 2382, as introduced, Bradford. CalWORKs: eligibility: truancy.
(1) Existing federal law provides for allocation of federal funds
through the federal Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF)
block grant program to eligible states, with California's version of
this program being known as the California Work Opportunity and
Responsibility to Kids (CalWORKs) program. Under the CalWORKs
program, each county provides cash assistance and other benefits to
qualified low-income families and individuals who meet specified
eligibility criteria, including participating in specified
welfare-to-work activities. Existing law exempts from these
welfare-to-work requirements a child who is under 16 years of age or
attending an elementary, secondary, vocational, or technical school
on a full-time basis.
Existing law conditions the receipt of CalWORKs aid upon the
school attendance of all children in an assistance unit who are
subject to compulsory education, as specified. Existing law further
requires that this attendance requirement be included in the
recipient's welfare-to-work plan. Under existing law, if the county
determines that an eligible child under 16 years of age is not
regularly attending school as required, the county is prohibited from
considering the needs of all adults in an assistance unit in
computing the grant of a family, unless the county determines that
good cause exists. Existing law prohibits the needs of a child 16
years of age or older from being considered in computing the grant to
the family if the county determines that he or she has not been
regularly attending school or participating in a welfare-to-work
plan, unless the county determines that good cause exists.
This bill would revise these requirements by, among other things,
deleting the requirement that the aid grant of a family be reduced if
the county determines that an eligible child under 16 years of age
is not regularly attending school. The bill would require that, if
the county determines that a child who is 16 years of age or older is
not attending school, the county inform the family of how to enroll
the child in a continuation school within the county and screen the
family to determine its eligibility for family stabilization
services. The bill would require the county to document that the
family was given this information and was screened for those
services. The bill would prohibit the consideration of the child's
needs in computing the grant to the family for any month in which the
county is informed by a school district or a county school
attendance review board that the child did not attend school unless
one of several circumstances is present, including that the county is
provided with evidence that the child has been attending school or
there is good cause for school nonparticipation at any time during
the month. The bill would provide that a child whose needs are
excluded from computing the family grant would remain eligible for
services that may lead to school attendance. By imposing additional
duties on counties, the bill would impose a state-mandated local
program.
(2) 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.
(3) 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 these
statutory provisions.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: yes.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Section 11253.5 of the Welfare and Institutions Code is
amended to read:
11253.5. (a) All children 16 years of age or older in
an assistance unit for whom school attendance is compulsory, except
individuals who are eligible for the Cal-Learn Program under Article
3.5 (commencing with Section 11331), for any period during which that
article is operative, and children subject to a county school
attendance project under Article 2 (commencing with Section 18236) of
Chapter 3.3 of Part 6, shall be required to attend school.
school pursuant to subdivision (f).
(b) Applicants for and recipients of aid under this chapter shall
be informed of the attendance requirement in subdivision (a)
and it shall be included in the recipient's
recipients ' welfare-to-work plan under Section
11325.21.
(c) A recipient shall cooperate in providing the county with
documentation routinely available from the school or school district
of regular attendance of all applicable children in the assistance
unit when the county determines it is appropriate.
necessary to determine eligibility, unless there is good cause
for the inability to secure that documentation.
(d) If it is determined by the county that any eligible child
under the age of 16 years is not regularly attending school as
required, the needs of all adults in the assistance unit shall not be
considered in computing the grant of the family under Section 11450
unless it has been determined by the county that good cause exists.
(e)
( d) If it is determined by the county that
any child in the assistance unit who is age 16 years or older is not
regularly attending school as required,
or participating pursuant to a welfare-to-work plan, the
required by subdivision (a), the family shall be informed of how
to enroll the child in a continuation school within the county and
screened to determine eligibility for family stabilization services.
The county shall document that the family was given this information
and was screened for those services. The needs of the child
shall not be considered in computing the grant of the family under
Section 11450 unless it has been determined by the county
that good cause exists. for any month in which the
county is informed by a school district or a county school attendance
review board that the child did not attend school pursuant to
subdivision (f), unless one of the following conditions is present:
(1) The county is provided with evidence that the child's
attendance records are not available.
(2) The county is provided with evidence that the child has been
attending school.
(3) Good cause for school nonparticipation exists at any time
during the month.
(4) Any member of the household is eligible to participate in
family stabilization pursuant to Section 11325.24.
(5) The county is provided with evidence that the child, parent,
or caregiver is complying with requirements imposed by a school
attendance review board, the county probation department, or the
district attorney pursuant to Section 48263 or 48263.5 of the
Education Code.
(6) A member of the household is cooperating with a plan developed
by a county child welfare agency.
(e) A child whose needs have not been considered in computing the
grant of the family pursuant to this section shall remain eligible
for services that may lead to attendance in school.
(f) For the purposes of this section, a child shall be presumed to
be attending school unless he or she has been deemed a chronic
truant pursuant to Section 48263.6 of the Education Code.
SEC. 2. No appropriation pursuant to Section 15200 of the Welfare
and Institutions Code shall be made for purposes of implementing this
act.
SEC. 3. If the Commission on State Mandates determines that this
act contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement to local
agencies and school districts for those costs shall be made pursuant
to Part 7 (commencing with Section 17500) of Division 4 of Title 2 of
the Government Code.