AB 1612

Bill Subjects

Abstract

(1) Existing law prohibits a state agency from disclosing any personal information in a manner that would link the information disclosed to the individual to whom it pertains, subject to prescribed exceptions. One of these exceptions authorizes a state agency to release personally identifiable data to a nonprofit entity conducting scientific research, provided the request for information is approved by the Committee for the Protection of Human Subjects (CHS) for the California Health and Human Services Agency, or an institutional review board as specified. This bill would, instead, authorize a state agency to release data to a nonprofit educational institution, and would authorize the release of data to another nonprofit entity if the data is related to education. (2) Existing law contains various provisions relating to the disclosure of personal information between adoptees and their biological siblings, the implementation of which is delayed until July 1, 2010. This bill would delay implementation of these provisions until July 1, 2011. (3) Existing law requires an appropriation made available in the annual Budget Act for the purposes of augmenting funding for local child support agencies in the furtherance of their revenue collection responsibilities to be subject to specified requirements. One of these requirements is that the Department of Child Support Services submit an interim report to the fiscal committees of the Legislature by January 1, 2010, to track and evaluate the impact of the augmentation on revenue collections and cost-effectiveness. This bill would revise this requirement to provide that the department submit an interim report by January 1 of the year for which a budget appropriation is made for these purposes. (4) Existing law requires the State Department of Social Services, before issuing a license or special permit to any person to operate or manage a day care or community care facility, to secure from an appropriate law enforcement agency a criminal record to determine whether the applicant or any other specified person has ever been convicted of various crimes. Existing law provides that, except during the 2003–04 to the 2009–10 fiscal years, neither the Department of Justice nor the State Department of Social Services may charge a fee for the fingerprinting of an applicant for a license to operate a facility that will provide nonmedical board, room, or care, a day care center, or a family day care home, that will serve 6 or fewer children, or for obtaining a criminal record of these applicants. This bill would extend these fee exceptions through the 2011–12 fiscal year. (5) Existing law requires the State Registrar to instruct all local registrars who have automated birth registration to automatically capture specified information in an electronic file, including the mother's marital status. Existing law prohibits disclosure of this marital status information except to the State Department of Public Health and, without any personal identifying information, to the federal government, for demographic and statistical analysis. This bill would also permit the disclosure of this information to the Department of Child Support Services for demographic and statistical analysis. (6) Existing law requires the State Department of Social Services to establish a CalWORKs county peer review process and to implement the process first in pilot counties, and then statewide no later than July 1, 2007. This bill would, instead, require the department to implement the process statewide no later than July 1, 2012. (7) Existing law provides for the allocation of funds received by the state from the federal Emergency Contingency Fund for State Temporary Assistance for Needy Families Programs, in accordance with the federal American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA) , to pay county costs for certain wage subsidy programs and nonrecurrent short-term benefit programs, as defined, notwithstanding the provisions of the existing allocation. These provisions become inoperative on October 1, 2010, and are repealed as of January 1, 2011. This bill would, instead, provide that these provisions become inoperative, and are repealed, upon the expiration of federal authority for the Emergency Contingency Fund, as provided in ARRA, or subsequent federal legislation that extends the fund. This bill would also provide that, for the purposes of these provisions, services may be provided to needy youth, as defined. (8) Existing law authorizes the Director of Social Services to enter into an agreement, in accordance with specified federal law, with any California Indian tribe or any out-of-state Indian tribe regarding the care and custody of Indian children and jurisdiction over Indian child custody proceedings, as prescribed. This bill would expressly limit an out-of-state Indian tribe with which the department may enter into a new agreement to one which has reservation land that extends into this state. The bill would require an agreement of this nature that relates to adoption assistance to meet certain service delivery standards, and to provide the local matching share of costs, as specified. (9) Existing law provides for the intercounty transfer of benefits for recipients of CalWORKs or Medi-Cal benefits that move from one county to another within the state, as prescribed. This bill would require counties, no later than April 1, 2011, to begin using the applicable intercounty transfer process of eligibility, as specified, for food stamp recipients who are also recipients of CalWORKs or Medi-Cal benefits, when a food stamp recipient moves from one county to another within the state. This bill would require the State Department of Social Services to establish, and the counties to begin using, no later than July 1, 2011, a process of intercounty transfer of eligibility for benefits for food stamp recipients who are not receiving CalWORKs or Medi-Cal benefits. To the extent that this would increase the duties of county officials who administer public social services programs, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. (10) Existing law requires the State Department of Social Services to administer a voluntary Temporary Assistance Program (TAP) to provide cash assistance and other benefits to specified current and future CalWORKs recipients who meet the exemption criteria for participation in welfare-to-work activities and are not single parents who have a child under one year of age. Existing law requires that the TAP commence on or before October 1, 2011. This bill would extend the date by which the TAP shall commence to October 1, 2012. (11) Existing law requires the State Department of Social Services, with respect to counties that implement a welfare-to-work plan that includes designated subsidized work activities, to pay the county 50% of the participant's wage subsidy, subject to specified conditions. Under existing law, these provisions are inoperative until September 30, 2010, unless the department makes specified determinations concerning the provisions relating to the allocation of funds received from the federal Emergency Contingency Fund for State Temporary Assistance for Needy Families Programs. This bill would instead make these provisions inoperative until the expiration date of federal authority for the Emergency Contingency Fund for State Temporary Assistance for Needy Families Programs subject to the above-described conditions. (12) Existing law, the Aid to Families with Dependent Children-Foster Care (AFDC-FC) program, provides for payments to group home providers at a per child per month rate, and in accordance with prescribed rate classification levels, for the care and supervision of the AFDC-FC child placed with the provider. Existing law defines care and supervision for purposes of the AFDC-FC program to include reasonable travel to and from the child's home for visitation. This bill would also include within the definition of care and supervision for purposes of the AFDC-FC program reasonable travel for the child to remain in the school in which he or she is enrolled at the time of placement. This bill would authorize the department to implement these provisions by all-county letters or similar instructions from the department until regulations are adopted. This bill would provide that, commencing on the effective date of this bill, no new group home rate or change to an existing rate shall be established for a period of one year. This bill would also require the State Department of Social Services to establish a working group to develop revisions to the current system of setting reimbursement rates for group homes, as specified. (13) Existing law requires the State Department of Social Services to establish a Work Incentive Nutritional Supplement (WINS) program, under which each county is required to provide a $40 monthly additional food assistance benefit for each eligible food stamp household, as defined. Existing law requires the state to pay the counties 100% of the cost of WINS benefits, using funds that qualify for the state's Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program maintenance of effort requirements, as specified. Existing law prohibits WINS benefits from being paid before October 1, 2011, and requires full implementation of the program on or before April 1, 2012. This bill would extend the time for payment of WINS benefits to commence to October 1, 2012, and the time for full implementation of the program to April 1, 2013. Existing law authorizes the director to implement the WINS program by all-county letters by March 1, 2011, pending the adoption of emergency regulations. This bill would extend the time for issuance of all-county letters to March 1, 2012. Existing law requires the department to convene a workgroup on or before December 1, 2010, comprised of designated representatives, to consider the progress of the WINS automation effort in tandem with a preassistance employment readiness system (PAERS) program and any other program options that may provide offsetting benefits to the caseload reduction credit in the CalWORKs program. Existing law prohibits full implementation of the WINS program until the workgroup is convened. This bill would extend the date by which the department is required to establish the WINS/PAERS workgroup to December 1, 2011, and would make conforming changes. (14) (a) Existing law provides for the county-administered In-Home Supportive Services (IHSS) program, under which qualified aged, blind, and disabled persons receive services enabling them to remain in their own homes. Existing law specifies the maximum hours of services per month for an IHSS recipient. This bill would reduce the hours of service for IHSS recipients by 3.6%, commencing 90 days following the enactment of the bill, through the 2011–12 fiscal year, after which the recipients authorized service hours would be restored, as specified. The bill would authorize the department to implement and administer these provisions through all-county letters or similar instructions from the department. (b) Existing law provides that when any increase in IHSS provider wages or benefits is negotiated or agreed to by a public authority or nonprofit consortium, the county shall use county-only funds for the state and county share of any increase in the program, unless otherwise provided in the Budget Act or appropriated by statute. Existing law establishes a formula with regard to provider wages or benefits increases negotiated or agreed to by a public authority or nonprofit consortium, and specifies the percentages required to be paid by the state and counties, beginning with the 2000–01 fiscal year, with regard to the nonfederal share of any increases. Notwithstanding the existing formula, existing law limits state participation to a total cost of wages up to $9.50 per hour and individual health benefits up to $0.60 per hour, commencing July 1, 2009, unless a specified notice is made by the Director of Finance to the Joint Legislative Budget Committee, in accordance with a designated section of the Government Code. This bill would delay implementation of the provisions that limit state participation in IHSS wages and benefits to $9.50 per hour and $0.60 per hour, respectively until July 1, 2012, and would further condition implementation on issuance by a court of competent jurisdiction of a specified order validating the wage and benefit reductions. (c) Existing law limits eligibility for each domestic or related service under the IHSS program to a recipient who is assessed at a rank 4 or 5, as defined. This bill would delay implementation of this eligibility limitation, until July 1, 2012, and would further condition implementation on issuance by a court of competent jurisdiction of a specified order validating the eligibility limitation. (d) Existing law, subject to prescribed exceptions, requires a recipient of IHSS services to be assigned a functional index score, as defined, and requires a determination of eligibility for services to be based upon these scores, as specified. This bill would delay implementation of the requirement for a functional index score, until July 1, 2012, and would further condition implementation on issuance by a court of competent jurisdiction of a specified order validating the functional index score requirement. (e) To the extent that the foregoing provisions of this bill relating to program reductions would increase the duties of counties administering the IHSS program, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. (f) Existing law requires that criminal background checks be conducted for prospective and existing IHSS providers. Under existing law, if an applicant or provider is rejected as a result of information in a criminal background report, the applicant or provider shall receive a copy of the report to review the information for accuracy and completeness. Existing law requires the applicant or provider to be advised of his or her right to submit a formal challenge, as specified, if the applicant or provider finds information in the report to be inaccurate or incomplete. The bill would require a nonprofit consortium, public authority, or county with criminal background check authority to secure a criminal background check clearance to accept a clearance for certain individuals who have been deemed eligible to receive payment under the IHSS program by another nonprofit consortium, public authority, or county with criminal background check authority. To the extent that these procedures would impose additional duties on counties administering the IHSS program, this bill would create a state-mandated local program. (g) Existing law prohibits a person from providing supportive services if he or she has been convicted of specified crimes in the previous 10 years. Under existing law, the State Department of Social Services and the State Department of Health Care Services are required to develop a provider enrollment form that each person seeking to provide supportive services shall complete, sign under penalty of perjury, and submit to the county, containing designated statements relating to the provider's criminal history. This bill would specify other criminal convictions, including convictions for certain violent and serious felonies, fraud in the obtaining of aid, and designated felony sex offenses, that would preclude specified provider applicants from becoming a provider of in-home supportive services, in addition to the criminal convictions that exclude a person from providing or being paid to provide in-home supportive services under existing law. The bill would apply the new criminal conviction exclusions commencing 90 days following the effective date of the bill. The bill would require the provider enrollment form to be revised to include the excludable criminal convictions provided for by the bill. This bill would authorize a recipient of in-home supportive services to employ a particular provider who has been convicted of an excludable offense identified in the bill, by submitting an individual waiver to the county, as specified. The bill would prescribe the county's duties with respect to processing and granting these individual waivers. The bill also would authorize a provider applicant with an excludable criminal conviction to seek a general exception, in order to provide in-home supportive services to the general recipient population, and would prescribe criteria to be used by the State Department of Social Services in determining whether to grant the exception. This bill would specify applicable notice and administrative hearing requirements, and other duties of the department in connection with the implementation of the bill. By changing the definition of the crime of perjury, and by increasing duties of counties administering the In-Home Supportive Services program, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. (15) The Sales and Use Tax Law imposes a sales tax on retailers for the privilege of selling tangible personal property at retail, measured by the gross receipts from the sale of tangible personal property sold at retail in this state. A violation of specified provisions of this law is a crime. This bill would impose a sales tax on providers of support services for the privilege of selling support services at retail, measured by the gross receipts from the sale of those services in this state at a specified rate of those gross receipts. This bill would specify that a seller is the State Department of Social Services, a county, or other person or entity, as provided. It would require sellers to collect, report, and pay the sales tax. This bill would provide for the administration of the tax by the State Board of Equalization. By changing the definition of a crime, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. The bill would also create the Personal Care IHSS Quality Assurance Revenue Fund in the State Treasury, and would require the revenue from the tax, less refunds, to be deposited in the fund. The bill would provide that the fund is continuously appropriated to the State Department of Social Services for purposes of supplementary payments to providers of in-home supportive services. This bill would require providers of in-home supportive services to be paid a supplementary payment equal to a prescribed percentage of the gross receipts of the provider, plus additional amounts, as specified. The bill would require the supplementary payment to be made from the Personal Care IHSS Quality Assurance Fund. The bill would require specified amounts to be transferred, on an ongoing basis, from the General Fund to the Personal Care IHSS Quality Assurance Fund, thereby making an appropriation. This bill would also require an amount to be transferred from the General Fund to the Personal Care IHSS Quality Assurance Fund, in the form of a loan, for initial implementation costs. The bill would exclude the supplementary payment from gross income and would make related changes. To the extent that the bill would increase the duties of counties administering the IHSS program, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. This bill would provide that its provisions shall be operative only if the Director of Health Care Services obtains necessary federal approvals, and be implemented commencing on the date permitted under that federal approval. This bill would make the provisions of the bill inoperative and repeal the provisions under specified circumstances. (16) Existing law requires each county to pay 30% of the nonfederal costs of administering the Food Stamp program. Existing law also requires counties to expend an amount for programs that provide services to needy families that, when combined with the funds expended above for the administration of the Food Stamp program, equals or exceeds the amount spent by the county for corresponding activities during the 1996–97 fiscal year. This bill would provide that any county that equals or exceeds the amount spent by the county for corresponding activities during the 1996–97 fiscal year entirely through expenditures for the administration of the Food Stamp program in fiscal years 2010–11 and 2011–12, shall receive the full state General Fund allocation for the administration of food stamps without paying the county's share of the nonfederal costs for the amount above the 1996–97 expenditure requirement. (17) 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 with regard to certain mandates no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason. With regard to any other mandates, this bill would provide that, if the Commission on State Mandates determines that the bill contains costs so mandated by the state, reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to the statutory provisions noted above. (18) This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.