AB 135

Bill Subjects

Abstract

Existing law, the California Community Care Facilities Act, provides for the licensing and regulation of community care facilities, including group home facilities, short-term residential therapeutic programs, and adult residential facilities, by the State Department of Social Services. The department similarly regulates residential care facilities for the elderly. Existing law requires administrators of these facilities to complete a department-approved certification program. Under existing law, the department is authorized to charge a fee of up to $100 for an initial or renewal administrator certification, and an additional $300 delinquency fee for processing a late renewal. Existing law also authorizes a fee of up to $150 every 2 years to certification program vendors for review and approval of the training program, and $100 every 2 years for review and approval of continuing education courses. This bill would uniformly refer to these certification programs as administrator certification training programs. The bill would revise the existing fee structure, commencing July 1, 2021, including making the $100 fee for processing a certification application or renewal subject to a 10% increase each year for 4 years, and imposing a new examination fee of $100 for 3 attempts, and a $10 per unit fee for processing continuing education courses. The bill would subject the fees for administrator certification training program vendor applications and continuing education vendor training programs to a 10% increase over 4 years. 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 requires the State Department of Social Services to implement and maintain nonbiometric identity verification methods in the CalWORKs program. This bill, commencing July 1, 2021, would authorize a CalWORKs applicant or recipient to provide proof of identity via videoconferencing or any other electronic means that allows for a visual interaction between the applicant or recipient and county eligibility staff. Under the bill, verification conducted in this manner would satisfy any inperson identification requirement. Because the bill would increase the administrative duties of counties, it would impose a state-mandated local program. Under existing law, an applicant family is not eligible for aid under the CalWORKs program unless the family's income, exclusive of the first $90 of earned income for each employed person, is less than the minimum basic standard of care, as specified. This bill would, as of July 1, 2022, increase that amount of excluded earned income to $450, as specified. Because the bill would result in an increase in CalWORKs eligibility, thus increasing the duties of counties administering the CalWORKs program, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. Under existing law, a parent or caretaker relative is not eligible for CalWORKs aid when the parent or caretaker has received aid for a cumulative total of 48 months. Existing law increases that time limit to 60 months on May 1, 2022, or upon a specified notification to the Legislature from the State Department of Social Services. Existing law excepts from those time limits any month in which specified conditions exist. This bill would require the department to automate a one-time process that allows former CalWORKs recipients excluded from an existing assistance unit due to the formerly applicable 48-month time limit, but who have fewer than 60 countable months of time on aid in CalWORKs, to be added to the existing assistance unit if all information needed to complete an eligibility determination is in the case record and all other eligibility requirements have been met. Under existing law, when the federal government provides funds for the care of a needy relative with whom a needy child is living, aid to the child for any month includes aid to meet the needs of that relative, except as prescribed. Existing law provides that the parent or parents shall be considered living with the needy child for a period of up to 180 consecutive days of the needy child's absence from the family assistance unit, and the parents shall be eligible for CalWORKs services, but not for the payment of aid, if certain conditions are met, including that the child has been removed from the parents and placed in out-of-home care and the county has determined that the provision of services or homeless assistance benefits is necessary for family reunification. This bill, beginning July 1, 2022, would increase the 180-day limit to up to 6 months, or a time period as determined by the State Department of Social Services, and would require those eligible parents to also be eligible for the payment of aid and specified childcare services. The bill would require the department to issue comprehensive policy, fiscal, and claiming instructions to the counties before July 1, 2022, and to notify the Legislature when the Statewide Automated Welfare System has automated the bill's provisions. Because the bill would increase the administrative duties of counties, it would impose a state-mandated local program. Under existing law, if a family does not include a needy child qualified for aid under CalWORKs, aid is paid to a pregnant child who is 18 years of age or younger at any time after verification of pregnancy, as specified, and aid is paid to a pregnant person for the month in which the birth is anticipated and for the 6-month period immediately prior to the month in which the birth is anticipated, as specified. Existing law requires verification of pregnancy as a condition of eligibility for aid under those provisions. Under existing law, $47 per month is paid to a pregnant person qualified for CalWORKs aid to meet special needs resulting from pregnancy. This bill would instead require, if a family does not include a needy child qualified for aid under CalWORKs, that aid be paid to any pregnant person as of the date of the application for aid, as specified. The bill would authorize a pregnant person to satisfy the pregnancy verification by means of a sworn statement or, if necessary, a verbal attestation, followed by medical verification, as specified. The bill would require a person who receives aid pursuant to these provisions to report the end of a pregnancy to the county within 30 days and would discontinue this aid at the end of the month following the month in which the person makes that report. The bill would increase the above-described supplement for a pregnant person to $100 per month and would discontinue this supplement at the end of the month following the month in which a person reports the end of their pregnancy. The bill would make the above provisions operative on certain dates in 2022 or when the State Department of Social Services certifies that the California Statewide Automated Welfare System can perform the necessary automation, as specified. Because the bill would result in an increase in CalWORKs eligibility, thus increasing the duties of counties administering the CalWORKs program, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. Existing law increases the CalWORKs maximum aid payments by 5% commencing March 1, 2014, by an additional 5% commencing April 1, 2015, and by an additional 1.43% commencing October 1, 2016. Existing law specifies a process by which increases may be made to the maximum aid payments depending on projections of revenue and costs by the Department of Finance. This bill would, effective October 1, 2021, increase the maximum aid grant amounts by an additional 5.3%. Existing law authorizes current and future grants payable to an assistance unit to be reduced due to prior overpayments, and requires a county to take all reasonable steps necessary to promptly correct any overpayment of supportive services payments to a recipient. This bill, commencing August 1, 2021, would require that a nonfraudulent CalWORKs overpayment that is established for a current CalWORKs case on or after that date, and for the benefit months of April 2020 to the end of the proclamation of a state of emergency related to the COVID-19 pandemic, or June 30, 2022, whichever date is sooner, be classified as an administrative error. Existing law prohibits a county from attempting to recover payments when the outstanding overpayments are less than $250 if the individual is no longer receiving aid under the CalWORKs program, and requires a county to discharge an overpayment if the county determines that the overpayment has been caused by a major systemic error or negligence. This bill, commencing July 1, 2022, or the date the department notifies the Legislature that the Statewide Automated Welfare System can perform the necessary automation to implement the bill, whichever date is later, except as otherwise specified, would authorize a county to establish an overpayment only if the overpayment occurred within 24 months before the date that the county discovered the overpayment, except in cases involving overpayment due to fraud. The bill would prohibit a county from collecting any portion of a nonfraudulent overpayment that occurred more than 24 months prior to the date the county discovered the overpayment. The bill would authorize the department to implement these provisions by all-county letters or similar instructions until regulations are adopted, and would require the department to adopt emergency regulations no later than January 1, 2023, and to subsequently promulgate final regulations. Existing law requires the department to establish, by July 1, 2019, the CalWORKs Outcomes and Accountability Review (Cal-OAR) to facilitate a local accountability system that fosters continuous quality improvement in county CalWORKs programs and in the collection and dissemination by the department of best practices in service delivery. Existing law requires Cal-OAR to consist of performance indicators, a county CalWORKs self-assessment process, and a county CalWORKs system improvement plan. Existing law also finds and declares that county human services agencies are transforming the welfare-to-work process away from a compliance-oriented and work-first model into a modern, science-based, and goal-oriented welfare-to-work model known locally as CalWORKs 2.0. This bill would require, no later than November 1, 2021, the department to convene and facilitate a Cal-OAR steering committee to make recommendations to the Legislature on how to implement Cal-OAR and CalWORKs 2.0 principles and practices statewide and prioritize recommendations made by the Cal-OAR stakeholder group, as specified. Existing law declares the intent of the Legislature that the annual Budget Act appropriate state and federal funds in a single allocation to counties for the support of administrative activities undertaken by the counties to provide CalWORKs benefit payments, required work activities, and supportive services. Existing law requires the State Department of Social Services to work with representatives of county human services agencies and the County Welfare Directors Association to develop recommendations for revising the methodology used for development of the CalWORKs single allocation annual budget. This bill would require the number of hours per case per month of case work time budgeted for intensive cases to be incrementally increased, as specified, and as of July 1, 2024, be 10 hours. Existing law establishes the Safety Net Reserve Fund in the State Treasury, and creates within the Safety Net Reserve Fund a Medi-Cal Subaccount and a CalWORKs Subaccount. Existing law requires that fund and those subaccounts to be utilized, upon appropriation, for the purpose of maintaining existing program benefits and services for the Medi-Cal and CalWORKs programs during economic downturns, as specified. Existing law imposes upon the Department of Finance specified duties related to these subaccounts. This bill would require, for the 2021–22 fiscal year, upon order of the Director of Finance, the Controller to transfer $450,000,000 from the General Fund to the Safety Net Reserve Fund. Existing federal law, the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021, establishes a Pandemic Emergency Assistance Fund to allocate money to state, tribal, and territorial governments to assist needy families impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. This bill would require the State Department of Social Services to use funds allotted to the state from the fund, and appropriated by the Legislature for this purpose in the Budget Act of 2021, to make a flat rate one-time payment to each CalWORKs assistance unit that is an active assistance unit on the date of eligibility, as specified. The bill would require the amount of the one-time payment to be based on the funds available and the most recent caseload data, as determined by the department. The bill would require the department to submit a written report to the Legislature, no later than November 1, 2021, that would include specified information relating to the one-time payments. Existing law continuously appropriates moneys from the General Fund to defray a portion of county costs under the CalWORKs program. By increasing expenditures for this purpose, this bill would make an appropriation. Under existing law, the parents of a minor child are responsible for supporting the child. Existing law establishes the Department of Child Support Services, which administers all federal and state laws and regulations relating to child support enforcement obligations. Existing law requires each county to maintain a local child support agency that is responsible for establishing, modifying, and enforcing child support obligations, including medical support, enforcing spousal support orders, and determining paternity, as specified. This bill would, as of January 1, 2023, require a local child support agency to cease enforcement of child support arrearages and otherwise past due amounts owed to the state that the Department of Child Support Services or the local child support agency has determined to be uncollectible, as specified. The bill would require the department to adopt regulations to implement these changes by July 1, 2024, and would authorize the department to implement and administer these changes through a child support services letter or similar instruction until regulations are adopted. Existing law requires each county to maintain a local child support agency that is responsible for establishing, modifying, and enforcing child support obligations, including medical support, enforcing spousal support orders, and determining paternity, as specified. Existing law authorizes attorneys employed within the local child support agency to direct, control, and prosecute civil actions and proceedings in the name of the county in support of child support activities of the department and the local child support agency. Existing law authorizes a child support agency to substitute original signatures with any form of electronic signature, as specified. This bill would specify that a child support agency is authorized to substitute original signatures of the agent of the local child support agency with any form of electronic signature. The bill would also, effective July 1, 2021, authorize a child support agency to substitute any original signatures, including those of the support obligors or obligees, with a printed copy or electronic image of an electronic signature obtained in compliance with certain requirements, as specified. The bill would require the local child support agency that elects to substitute original signatures to maintain the electronic form of the document bearing the original electronic signature until the final disposition of the case and to make it available for review upon the request of the court or any party of the action or proceeding. Existing law also establishes within the state's child support program a quality assurance and performance improvement program. Existing law provides that the 10 counties with the best performance standards shall receive an additional 5% of the state's share of those counties' collections that are used to reduce or repay aid that is paid under the CalWORKs program. Existing law requires these additional funds received by a county to be used for specified child support-related activities. Existing law suspends the payment of this additional 5% for the 2002–03 to 2020–21 fiscal years, inclusive. This bill would extend the suspension of the additional 5% payments through the 2021–22 and 2022–23 fiscal years. Existing law requires that the satisfaction of a money judgment for support be credited first against the current month's support, then against the principal amount of the judgment remaining unsatisfied, and then against the accrued interest that remains unsatisfied, except as otherwise provided in specified situations, including support paid for recipients of certain types of public benefits. This bill would require the Department of Child Support Services to distribute support collections received on or after May 1, 2020, in accordance with specified federal law that requires specified arrearages to be paid to the family, and specified excess amounts to be retained by the state or paid to the federal government, in such a manner as to distribute all support collections to families first to the maximum extent permitted by federal law. Existing law provides for state-subsidized childcare programs and childcare for recipients of benefits under the CalWORKs program, which is administered by counties. Existing law establishes the Emergency Child Care Bridge Program for Foster Children, to be implemented at the discretion of each county, for the purpose of stabilizing foster children with families at the time of placement by providing a time-limited payment or voucher for childcare following the child's placement, or for a child whose parent is in foster care, and by providing the family with a childcare navigator to assist the family in accessing long-term subsidized childcare. Existing law suspends a specific allocation of funds for the Emergency Child Care Bridge Program included in the Budget Act of 2020 on December 31, 2021, unless the Department of Finance makes a specified determination regarding General Fund revenues and expenditures. This bill would repeal that conditional suspension. Existing law establishes the In-Home Supportive Services (IHSS) program, administered by the State Department of Social Services and counties, under which qualified aged, blind, and disabled persons are provided with services in order to permit them to remain in their own homes. This bill would extend eligibility for the IHSS program to individuals who are eligible for state-only funded full-scope Medi-Cal benefits and meet all other IHSS program eligibility criteria. Because counties administer the IHSS program, and this bill would expand IHSS program eligibility, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. Existing law requires the department to implement a 7% reduction in authorized hours of service to each IHSS recipient, but appropriates funds to fully offset this reduction until December 31, 2021, unless a specified condition applies. Existing law states the intent of the Legislature to authorize an assessment on home care services, including in-home supportive services. Existing law requires the Director of Finance to estimate the total amount of additional funding that would be derived from that assessment and calculate the amount by which the 7% reduction in authorized hours of service for each IHSS recipient is offset by General Fund savings from that assessment. Existing law requires the 7% reduction in authorized hours of services to be mitigated by the percentage offset determined by the Director of Finance. Under existing law, these provisions become operative only upon certification by the State Department of Health Care Services that any necessary federal approvals have been obtained. Existing law establishes the In-Home Supportive Services Reinvestment Fund to receive moneys if the assessment is implemented retroactively, and to use those moneys to provide goods or services for one-time direct reinvestments benefiting IHSS recipients. Existing law provides that the moneys in the fund are continuously appropriated to the State Department of Social Services for these purposes, subject to specified conditions. This bill would delete those provisions relating to the reduction in authorized hours, the assessment on home care services, and the IHSS Reinvestment Fund. Under the federal 21st Century Cures Act, a state is required to use an electronic visit verification system (EVV system) to electronically verify specified information with respect to Medicaid-funded personal care services and home health care services provided by the state, or lose a percentage of federal Medicaid funding, as specified. Existing law requires the State Department of Social Services to develop and implement the EVV system in accordance with specified principles, including compliance with specified federal statutory and case law, and prohibits the EVV system from utilizing geotracking or Global Positioning System capabilities. This bill would delete that prohibition, and would instead require the department to collaborate with stakeholders to identify the least intrusive manner to record the location of in-home supportive service delivery at the time service begins and ends each day, and would exempt certain in-home supportive service providers from the EVV system requirements. Under existing law, a county board of supervisors may elect to contract with a nonprofit consortium to provide for the delivery of in-home supportive services, or establish, by ordinance, a public authority to provide for the delivery of in-home supportive services. This bill would require the department, in consultation with stakeholders, to create, and provide to the Legislature, the framework for a permanent provider backup system. The bill would prohibit, among other things, the implementation of a permanent backup provider system until statutes are enacted to define the parameters of this service, including the criteria and circumstances when those services may be approved for a recipient who is authorized to receive in-home supportive services pursuant to specified provisions. Existing law provides for the allocation of funds appropriated from the continuously appropriated Local Revenue Fund for the distribution of sales tax and motor vehicle license fee moneys to local agencies for the administration of various health, mental health, and public social service programs, including IHSS (1991 Realignment funds) . Existing law requires the State Controller to deposit amounts withheld pursuant to specified provisions to be deposited into the continuously appropriated General Growth Subaccount of the Sales Tax Growth Account of the Local Revenue Fund, as specified. Existing law, until January 1, 2021, required a specified mediation process, including a factfinding panel making findings of fact and recommended settlement terms, to be held if a public authority or nonprofit consortium and the employee organization fails to reach agreement on a bargaining contract with in-home supportive service workers. That law subjected a county to a withholding of a specified amount of 1991 Realignment funds if the parties have completed the mediation process, the factfinding panel has issued findings of fact and recommended settlement terms that are more favorable to the employee organization than those proposed by the employer of record, the parties do not reach an agreement within 90 days of the release of those recommendations, and the collective bargaining agreement for IHSS providers in that county has expired. This bill would reenact those provisions and require the mediation process described above to be held if a public authority or nonprofit consortium and the employee organization fail to reach an agreement on a bargaining contract on or after October 1, 2021. The bill would revise the amount of the withholding of the 1991 Realignment funds described above, and would also subject a county to a withholding of 1991 Realignment funds on October 1, 2021, if the factfinding panel's recommended settlement terms were released prior to June 30, 2021, and that county has not reached an agreement with the employee organization within 90 days after the release, as specified. The bill would require the Public Employment Relations Board to provide written notification of the withholding to the county, the employee organization, the Department of Finance, and the State Controller. Because the provisions described above would require the State Controller to deposit any amounts withheld pursuant to these reenacted provisions into the continuously appropriated General Growth Subaccount of the Sales Tax Growth Account of the Local Revenue Fund, as specified, the bill would make an appropriation. By imposing additional duties on counties, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. Existing law requires the state and counties to share the annual cost of providing IHSS pursuant to a specified cost ratio, including participating in wage and individual health benefit increases at that ratio, up to a specified amount. Existing law requires all counties to have a rebased County IHSS Maintenance of Effort (MOE) , and requires the rebased MOE to be adjusted for the annualized cost of increases in provider wages, health benefits, or other benefits, as prescribed. Existing law increases the level of county participation in the cost of specified future wage and benefit increases when the state minimum wage reaches $15, effective January 1, 2022. Under existing law, with respect to certain wage and individual health benefit increases that are locally negotiated, mediated, or imposed, or are adopted by ordinance, the state is required to participate at the specified cost ratio in a total of wages and individual health benefits up to $1.10 per hour above the state minimum wage in the corresponding year. Existing law also requires the state to participate at the specified cost ratio in a cumulative total of up to 10% within a 3-year period in the sum of the combined total of changes in wages or individual health benefits, or both. Existing law limits this participation arrangement to no more than 2 3-year periods, after which the county is required to pay the entire nonfederal share of any increases in wages and individual health benefits that exceed $1.10 above minimum wage. This bill would expand the limitation on the 10% state participation to allow no more than 2 3-year periods that commence before, and no more than 2 3-year periods that commence on or after, the date the state minimum wage reaches $15. The bill would delete subsequent MOE adjustments that otherwise would have applied when the $15 minimum wage takes effect on January 1, 2022. Existing federal law establishes various disability benefits programs, including the Supplemental Security Income (SSI) program, under which cash assistance is provided to qualified low-income aged, blind, and disabled persons, and the Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) program, under which benefits are provided to persons with disabilities who have paid social security taxes. Existing state law provides for disability benefits programs, including the State Supplementary Program for the Aged, Blind, and Disabled (SSP) , under which state funds are provided in supplementation of federal SSI benefits. Under existing law, benefit payments under SSP are calculated by establishing the maximum level of nonexempt income and federal SSI and state SSP benefits for each category of eligible recipient. The state SSP payment is the amount required, when added to the nonexempt income and SSI benefits available to the recipient, to provide the maximum benefit payment. Existing law prohibits, for each calendar year, commencing with the 2011 calendar year, any cost-of-living adjustment from being made to the maximum benefit payment unless otherwise specified by statute, except for the pass along of any cost-of-living increase in the federal SSI benefits. Existing law continuously appropriates funds for the implementation of SSP. This bill, commencing January 1, 2022, would increase the amount of aid paid under SSP that is in effect on December 31, 2021, less the federal benefit portion received, by a percentage increase that the State Department of Social Services and the Department of Finance determines can be accomplished with $291, 287,000. The bill would require those departments to notify specified legislative committees and the Legislative Analyst's Office of the final percentage increase effected by the appropriation in the Budget Act of 2021 for the purposes of implementing the increase. The bill would also, subject to an appropriation in the Budget Act of 2023, provide an additional grant increase commencing January 1, 2024, subject to the same calculations, notifications, and implementation as the first increase. The bill would provide that the continuous appropriation would not be made for purposes of implementing these provisions. Existing law, the Mello-Granlund Older Californians Act, establishes the California Department of Aging and sets forth its mission to provide leadership to the area agencies on aging in developing systems of home- and community-based services that maintain individuals in their own homes or least restrictive homelike environments. This bill would require the department, subject to an appropriation of funds for this purpose in the annual Budget Act, to administer the Access to Technology Program for older adults and adults with disabilities, a pilot program to connect older adults and adults with disabilities to technology to help reduce isolation, increase connections, and enhance self-confidence. The bill would require funds appropriated for the program to be provided to county human services departments that opt to participate, and would require the funds to be used for, among other things, providing technology to older adults and adults with disabilities. This bill would create the Long-Term Care Patient Representative Program and the Office of the Long-Term Care Patient Representative in the California Department of Aging to train, certify, provide, and oversee patient representatives to protect the rights of nursing home residents, as specified. Existing law requires the attending physician and surgeon of a resident in a skilled nursing facility or intermediate care facility who prescribes or orders a medical intervention of a resident that requires the informed consent of a resident who lacks capacity to provide that consent and who does not have a person with legal authority to make those decisions on behalf of the resident to inform the skilled nursing facility or intermediate care facility. Existing law requires the facility to conduct an interdisciplinary team review of the prescribed medical intervention prior to the administration of the medical intervention, subject to specified proceedings. Existing law authorizes a medical intervention prior to the facility convening an interdisciplinary team review in the case of an emergency, under specified circumstances. Existing law imposes civil penalties for a violation of these provisions. This bill would make these provisions inoperative no later than July 1, 2022, as prescribed, and would instead require the physician and surgeon to document the determination that the resident lacks capacity, as defined, in the resident's medical record, and would require the skilled nursing facility or intermediate care facility to act promptly and identify, or use due diligence to search for, a legal decisionmaker, as defined. If no legal decisionmaker can be identified or located, the bill would require the facility to take further steps to promptly identify, or use due diligence to search for, a patient representative to participate in an interdisciplinary team review, as specified. The bill would require, among other things, that if the resident lacks capacity and there is no legal decisionmaker or patient representative, the skilled nursing facility or intermediate care facility to provide notice to the resident and to the patient representative, as specified. The bill would require the Long-Term Care Patient Representative Program to assign a public patient representative if no family member or friend is available to serve in that capacity. The provisions of the bill relating to the responsibilities of the physician and surgeon and the facility with respect to medical interventions, as described, would become operative no later than July 1, 2022, as prescribed. Existing law, upon appropriation, requires the California Department of Aging to administer the Aging and Disability Resource Connection Infrastructure Grants Program for the purpose of implementing a No Wrong Door System, which enables consumers to access all long-term services and supports through one agency, organization, coordinated network, or portal, and provides specified information about the availability of, and eligibility for, services. Existing law suspends this program on December 31, 2021, unless the Department of Finance determines that the estimates of General Fund revenues and expenditures required to be released by May 14, 2021, contain projected annual General Fund revenues that exceed projected annual General Fund expenditures in the 2021–22 and 2022–23 fiscal years by the sum total of General Fund moneys appropriated for all programs subject to suspension on that date pursuant to the Budget Act of 2019 and the bills providing for appropriations related to the Budget Act of 2019. This bill would repeal the provisions relating to the potential suspension of this program. Existing federal law establishes various nutrition programs for older adults and existing state law authorizes the California Department of Aging to make state funds available to fund senior nutrition programs that complement those federal programs. Existing law suspends a specific allocation of funds for the Senior Nutrition program included in the Budget Act of 2020 on December 31, 2021, unless estimates of General Fund revenues and expenditures required to be released by May 14, 2021, contain projected annual General Fund revenues that exceed projected annual General Fund expenditures in the 2021–22 and 2022–23 fiscal years by the sum total of General Fund moneys appropriated for all programs subject to suspension on that date in the Budget Act of 2020 and the bills providing for appropriations related to the Budget Act of 2020. This bill would repeal this suspension provision. Existing law, the Elder Abuse and Dependent Adult Civil Protection Act, establishes various procedures for the reporting, investigation, and prosecution of elder and dependent adult abuse. Existing law requires each county welfare department to establish and support a system of protective services for elderly and dependent adults who may be subjected to neglect, abuse, or exploitation or who are unable to protect their own interests, and requires each county to establish an adult protective services program. Existing law requires certain individuals to be mandated reporters of elder and dependent adult abuse, including an employee of a county adult protective services agency. The act requires each county's adult protective services program to include specific policies and procedures, including provisions for emergency shelter or in-home protection. Existing law applies the definitions of the act on provisions relating to the county adult protective services program. For purposes of the act, existing law defines various terms. Under the act, "adult protective services" is defined as those preventive and remedial activities performed on behalf of elders and dependent adults who meet certain criteria. Existing law defines "multidisciplinary personnel team" as a team of 2 or more persons who are trained in certain matters pertaining to the elderly and dependent adults and who are qualified to provide a broad range of services related to abuse of those individuals, and existing law identifies certain individuals who may be on the multidisciplinary team. Existing law defines an "elder" as a person who is 65 years of age or older and a "dependent adult" as an adult between 18 and 64 years of age who has specific limitations. Existing law imposes definitions of the act on provisions on protective placements and custody of endangered adults, in addition to prescribed terms. This bill would instead define "adult protective services" as those activities performed on behalf of elders and dependent adults who have come to the attention of the adult protective services agency due to potential abuse or neglect, would expand the multidisciplinary team to include additional individuals, such as housing representatives, and would make additional changes to certain definitions under the act and on provisions on protective placements and custody of endangered adults. The bill would expand the list of mandated reporters to include, among others, a county in-home support services agency. This bill would authorize county protective service agencies and the Home Safe Program to refer individuals with complex or intensive needs to certain state or local agencies, and would authorize referrals to be made before or after an individual begins to receive adult protective services. For the purposes of investigating or providing services under an adult protective services program, commencing January 1, 2022, this bill would instead define an "elder" as a person who is 60 years of age or older and a "dependent adult" as a person who is between 18 and 59 years of age, inclusive, and has prescribed limitations. By requiring counties to provide services to additional individuals, and by expanding the scope of a crime under the Elder Abuse and Dependent Adult Civil Protection Act, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. This bill would require the department to convene a workgroup to develop recommendations to create or establish a statewide adult protective services case management or data warehouse system. The bill would require the department to submit the recommendations to the Legislature by November 1, 2022. Existing law establishes the Home Safe Program, which requires the State Department of Social Services to award grants to counties, tribes, or groups of counties or tribes, that provide services to elder and dependent adults who experience abuse, neglect, and exploitation and otherwise meet the eligibility criteria for adult protective services, for the purpose of providing prescribed housing-related supports to eligible individuals. This bill would additionally require the county's adult protective services program policies and procedures to include provisions for homeless prevention through the Home Safe Program. The bill would authorize a county that receives grant funds under the Home Safe Program to, as part of providing case management services to elder or dependent adults who require adult protective services, provide housing assistance to those who are homeless or at risk of becoming homeless. By imposing additional duties on counties in the administration of their adult protective services programs, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. Existing federal law provides for the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, 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 authorizes the United States Secretary of Agriculture to waive state compliance with various requirements of the SNAP program. This bill would authorize the State Department of Social Services to implement a waiver approved by the United States Secretary of Agriculture through all-county letters or similar instructions. If the waiver is approved for a period of 24 months or longer, the bill would authorize the department to implement the waiver in this manner only until regulations are adopted. Existing law requires each county human services agency to carry out the local administrative responsibilities of this program, subject to the supervision of the State Department of Social Services and to rules and regulations adopted by the department. Existing law requires the department to work with representatives of county human services agencies and the County Welfare Directors Association of California to update the budgeting methodology used to determine the annual funding for county administration of the CalFresh program beginning with the 2021–22 fiscal year. This bill would instead require the department to work with those entities to update that budgeting methodology beginning with the 2022–23 fiscal year. Existing law requires the State Department of Social Services, in conjunction with the State Department of Public Health and appropriate stakeholders, to develop and submit to the Legislature a community outreach and education campaign to help families learn about, and apply for, CalFresh. This bill would require the State Department of Social Services, on or before July 1, 2023, subject to an appropriation in the annual Budget Act, to develop a CalFresh user-centered simplified paper application for households that include older adults, as defined by CalFresh, and people with disabilities who are eligible to be enrolled in the Elderly Simplified Application Project operated by the United States Department of Agriculture. The bill would require the department to maintain the simplified paper application for older adults and people with disabilities to the extent the Elderly Simplified Application Project is no longer operational. Existing law requires each county welfare department, to the extent permitted by federal law, to exempt a household from complying with face-to-face interview requirements for the purpose of determining eligibility for CalFresh at initial application and recertification. Existing law, on or before July 1, 2021, requires each county welfare department to implement various scheduling techniques for purposes of scheduling and rescheduling at initial application and recertification. This bill would extend the date for each county welfare department to implement the above-described scheduling techniques to January 1, 2022. The bill would, to the extent permitted by federal law, give an individual the option to complete an application or recertification interview and provide the required client signature by telephone, as prescribed. The bill would authorize counties to implement any method of telephonic or electronic signature that is supported by county business practice and technology. The bill would require certain counties to comply with these provisions beginning on or before January 1, 2023, and require the remaining counties to comply with the provisions beginning on or before January 1, 2024. By imposing new duties on counties, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. Existing law requires county welfare departments, no later than January 1, 2022, in an effort to expand CalFresh program outreach and retention and improve dual enrollment between the CalFresh and Medi-Cal programs, to undertake certain actions, including, ensuring that Medi-Cal applicants, as specified, who also may be eligible for CalFresh are screened and given the opportunity to apply for CalFresh at the same time they are applying for Medi-Cal or submitting information for the renewal process. This bill would extend the date to complete those actions to January 1, 2023. Existing federal law authorizes eligible counties to participate in the Restaurant Meals Program (RMP) , which allows eligible recipients to purchase meals at qualified restaurants. Existing law also requires the department, to the extent permitted by federal law and in consultation with various stakeholders, to establish and implement a statewide RMP on or before September 1, 2020. This bill would extend the deadline to establish and implement a statewide RMP to on or before September 1, 2021. Existing law makes a recipient of Supplemental Security Income/State Supplementary Payment Program (SSI/SSP) benefits eligible for CalFresh benefits on and after a specified date if the recipient is otherwise eligible for CalFresh benefits. Existing law establishes the SSI/SSP Cash-In Supplemental Nutrition Benefit (SNB) Program and the SSI/SSP Cash-In Transitional Nutrition Benefit (TNB) Program to provide nutrition benefits to a CalFresh household that had its benefits reduced or became ineligible when a previously excluded SSI/SSP recipient was added to the household. Under the TNB Program, existing law authorizes a household to be recertified for TNB for additional 6-month periods through a recertification process, and if a household is discontinued for failure to provide the documentation or information required to determine continuing eligibility for TNB, existing law requires the benefits to be restored back to the original date of discontinuance of TNB, if all documentation and information required to determine continuing eligibility is provided to the county within 30 days of the date of discontinuance from TNB. This bill would instead authorize a household to be recertified for TNB for additional 12-month periods, and would extend the time for required documentation and information to be provided to the county to restore discontinued benefits to 90 days. The bill would require the State Department of Social Services, in consultation with representatives of county human services agencies and the County Welfare Directors Association of California, to develop and implement a process that maintains eligibility for all beneficiaries of benefits provided under the TNB Program for 2 years by pausing, as specified, the above-described discontinuances and marking all recertifications as complete. By expanding eligibility for the TNB Program and thereby increasing the duties of county officials, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. Existing law requires current and future CalFresh benefits to be reduced, as specified, to recover a benefit overissuance caused by inadvertent household error or administrative error. This bill would limit the period in which a county may establish a claim to recover an overissuance of CalFresh benefits due to inadvertent household error or administrative error to the 24 months preceding the month the county welfare department determined the overissuance occurred. The bill would require the claim to equal the total amount of overissuance during the 24 months immediately preceding the date the overissuance was discovered. The bill would make these provisions operative on July 1, 2022, or upon the department's notification to the Legislature that the Statewide Automated Welfare System can perform the necessary automation to implement these provisions, whichever date is later. The bill would authorize the department to implement and administer these provisions through all-county letters or similar instructions until regulations are adopted. The bill would require the department to adopt emergency regulations no later than January 1, 2023, and would authorize the department to readopt an emergency regulation, as specified. Existing law requires the State Department of Social Services to establish a food assistance program, known as the California Food Assistance Program (CFAP) , to provide assistance to a noncitizen of the United States if the person's immigration status meets the eligibility criteria of SNAP in effect on August 21, 1996, but the person is not eligible for SNAP benefits solely due to their immigration status, as specified. Existing law also makes eligible for the program an applicant who is otherwise eligible for the program, but who entered the United States on or after August 22, 1996, if the applicant is sponsored and the applicant meets one of a list of criteria, including that the applicant, after entry into the United States, is a victim of the sponsor or the spouse of the sponsor if the spouse is living with the sponsor. This bill instead would require the department to use state funds appropriated for CFAP to provide nutritional benefits to households that are ineligible for CalFresh benefits solely due to their immigration status. The bill would state the intent of the Legislature, subject to an appropriation in the Budget Act of 2023, to begin a targeted, age-based implementation of the expansion of CFAP regardless of immigration status. The bill would require the amount of nutrition benefits provided to each CFAP household to be identical to the amount that would otherwise be provided to a household eligible for CalFresh benefits. The bill would, to the extent permissible under federal law, require the delivery of CFAP nutrition benefits to be identical to the delivery of CalFresh benefits to eligible CalFresh households. The bill would authorize the department to implement and administer these provisions through all-county letters or similar instructions without taking regulatory action until final regulations are adopted, as specified. The bill would make these provisions operative on the date the department notifies the Legislature that the Statewide Automated Welfare System can perform the necessary automation to implement the bill. To the extent this bill would expand eligibility for CFAP, which is administered by the counties, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. Existing law requires the Office of Systems Integration within the California Health and Human Services Agency to implement a statewide automated welfare system, known as CalSAWS, for various public assistance programs, including the CalWORKs program, CalFresh, and the Medi-Cal program. Under existing law, the state is consolidating existing consortia systems into the single CalSAWS. Existing law requires an applicant for public social services or public assistance to file an affirmation setting forth the applicant's belief that they meet the specific conditions of eligibility. This bill would authorize the CalSAWS consortium to develop, deploy, and maintain a telephonic signature solution to enhance the ability for county human services customers and staff to complete transactions by telephone. The bill, until the CalSAWS consortium has implemented an integrated telephonic signature solution, would authorize an applicant for public social services or public assistance to make an oral attestation regarding their qualification for services or assistance if they are unable to provide a physical signature or if the county is unable to accept an electronic signature. Existing law establishes the California Community Services Block Grant Program, pursuant to which the Governor may assume responsibility for the federal Community Services Block Grant Program, and authorizes financial assistance under that program for various eligible activities designed to have a measurable and potentially major impact on causes of poverty in the community or those areas of the community where poverty is a particularly acute problem. Existing law establishes criteria for eligible beneficiaries, as defined, of the program, which include individuals living in households with incomes that do not exceed the official poverty line according to the poverty guidelines updated periodically by the United States Department of Health and Human Services, as provided. This bill would revise the definition of "eligible beneficiaries" for purposes of the state program to, instead, include all individuals living in households with incomes not to exceed the income eligibility level as a percentage of the poverty line that a state may adopt, as defined in specified federal law. Existing law establishes the Department of Community Services and Development, under the direction of an executive officer known as the Director of Community Services and Development, within the California Health and Human Services Agency. Existing law, among other things, authorizes the department to apply for, administer, and oversee federal block grant funds and other public and private funds designed to support antipoverty programs in the state that are not currently administered by other departments. Existing federal law, the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021, among other things, requires the federal Department of Health and Human Services to carry out a Low-Income Household Drinking Water and Wastewater Emergency Assistance Program, which is also known as the Low Income Household Water Assistance Program, for making grants to states and Indian tribes to assist low-income households that pay a high proportion of household income for drinking water and wastewater services, as provided. This bill would require the Department of Community Services and Development to administer the Low Income Household Water Assistance Program in this state, and to receive and expend moneys appropriated and allocated to the state for purposes of that program, pursuant to the above-described federal law. The bill would authorize the department to develop and implement a state plan, requirements, guidelines, and subgrantee contract provisions for the program without taking further regulatory action, as specified. The bill would require the state plan to include specified details regarding program implementation and would require the department to, upon the execution of contracts for Low Income Household Water Assistance Program funding with local service providers, and every 6 months thereafter until funding is exhausted, report to the Legislature and post to the department's website specified information. The bill would require the department to post a draft state plan to its internet website, hold a public meeting prior to submission of the state plan to allow for public comment, and post the final plan to the department's internet website. Existing law requires the Department of Community Services and Development to receive and administer the federal Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program Block Grant. Existing law requires the department to afford local service providers maximum flexibility and control in the planning, administration, and delivery of Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program Block Grant services. Existing law prescribes amounts to be applied to certain services under the program, including for weatherization and related services and the reduction of home energy needs, among other things. Existing federal law, the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021, provides supplemental funding to the state for the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program. This bill, until January 1, 2025, would exempt the department from specified state requirements and prescribed funding amounts that otherwise would apply to the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program for purposes of using supplemental funding provided to the state by the federal American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 for the program. The bill would require the department to, upon the execution of contracts for ARPA funding with local service providers, and every 6 months thereafter until funding is exhausted, report to the Legislature and post specified information to the department's website. Under existing law, the Public Utilities Commission has regulatory authority over public utilities, including electrical corporations. Existing law makes an appropriation to fund the California Arrearage Payment Program. This bill would establish the California Arrearage Payment Program (CAPP) within the Department of Community Services and Development. The bill would require the department to survey utility applicants to obtain data pertaining to the total number of residential and commercial customer accounts in arrears to determine the total statewide energy utility arrearage and to develop an allocation formula for determining an individual utility applicant's share of CAPP funds. The bill would authorize specified utilities to apply for CAPP funds, on behalf of their customers, and would require the utility to use any funds received, as specified, to offset customer arrearages that were incurred during the COVID-19 pandemic bill relief period, as defined. The bill would prohibit service from being discontinued due to nonpayment for those customers included in a utility's CAPP application while the department reviews and approves all pending CAPP applications, and would require the utility applicant to waive any associated late fees and accrued interest for customers who are awarded CAPP benefits. The bill would require the department to report specified data to the Legislature and on its public-facing internet website relating to distribution of CAPP benefits. The bill would make the program inoperative as of July 1, 2025, and would repeal the provisions as of January 1, 2026. Existing law requires the State Department of Social Services, after setting aside the necessary state administrative funds, to allocate federal funds appropriated for refugee social services programs to each eligible county or qualified nonprofit organization, as defined, based on the number of refugees receiving aid in the eligible county or the number of refugees that reside in the eligible county. This bill would authorize the department, if an eligible county or qualified nonprofit organization declines all or part of those funds, or returns unexpended funds, to exercise its discretion to reallocate the declined or returned funds among eligible counties and qualified nonprofit organizations. The bill would also authorize the department, if the federal Office of Refugee Resettlement provides additional funding or designates funding for services to a specific population of eligible individuals, to exercise its discretion to allocate those funds among eligible counties and qualified nonprofit organizations consistent with federal law. Existing law requires the department to ensure that noncitizen victims of specified crimes have access to refugee cash assistance and refugee social services, as specified. This bill would establish the Enhanced Services for Asylees and Vulnerable Noncitizens to provide resettlement services for persons granted asylum by the United States Attorney General or the Secretary of Homeland Security or who are eligible to receive the above-described refugee cash assistance and services as victims of crime. The bill would require the program to provide culturally appropriate and responsive case management services, as specified, for persons newly granted asylum and vulnerable noncitizens for up to 90 days within the first year following their grant of asylum or eligibility for services as a victim of a crime, respectively. This program would be implemented only to the extent that funds are appropriated in the annual Budget Act. Existing law requires the State Department of Social Services to administer a rapid response program to award grants or contracts to entities that provide critical assistance to immigrants during times of need. Existing law makes these provisions inoperative on July 1, 2022. This bill would repeal the sunset date, thereby making the rapid response program operative indefinitely. Existing law requires the State Department of Social Services to award funds to counties for the purpose of providing CalWORKs housing supports to CalWORKs recipients who are experiencing homelessness or housing instability that would be a barrier to self-sufficiency or child well-being. Existing law authorizes a county to continue providing these housing supports to CalWORKs recipient who no longer receives CalWORKs benefits because the recipient no longer meets income eligibility requirements. This bill would also authorize those funds to be used to provide housing supports to CalWORKs recipients who are at risk of homelessness and for whom housing instability would be a barrier to self-sufficiency or child well-being. Under the Home Safe Program, an eligible individual is an individual who, among other things, is an adult protective services client. Existing law requires counties that receive grants under the Home Safe Program to provide matching funds. This bill would, for the purposes of the Home Safe Program, modify the definition of homeless and would expand the definition of an eligible individual to include individuals who are in the process of intake to adult protective services, or an individual who may be served through a tribal social services agency who appears to be eligible for adult protective services. Existing law establishes the Bringing Families Home Program and, to the extent funds are appropriated in the annual Budget Act, requires the State Department of Social Services to award program funds to counties and tribal governments for the purpose of providing housing-related supports to eligible families meeting specified conditions, including that the family is homeless, as defined, if that homelessness prevents reunification between an eligible family and a child receiving child welfare services, or when lack of housing prevents a parent or guardian from addressing issues that could lead to foster care placement. Existing law requires the department to award those funds to counties and tribes according to specified requirements, including a requirement for a county or tribe receiving funds to provide matching funds. This bill would, for the purposes of the Bringing Families Home Program, modify the definition of "homeless" and expand the definition of "eligible family" to include an individual or family that is at risk of homelessness or in a living situation that cannot accommodate the child or multiple children in the home. Existing law establishes the Housing and Disability Income Advocacy Program under the administration of the State Department of Social Services. Under the existing program, state funds are granted, subject to an appropriation in the annual Budget Act, to a participating county for the provision of outreach, case management, and advocacy services to assist clients who are homeless or at risk of becoming homeless to obtain disability benefits. Existing law requires a grantee, with the assistance of the department, to seek reimbursement of funds used for housing assistance, general assistance, or general relief from the federal Commissioner of Social Security pursuant to an interim assistance reimbursement agreement, as specified. Existing law also requires a grantee that receives state funds to provide matching funds. This bill would waive the requirement to seek reimbursement of funds through June 30, 2024, and would exempt a grantee from the requirement to match certain funds between July 1, 2021, and June 30, 2024, as specified. Existing constitutional provisions require that a statute that limits the right of access to the meetings of public bodies or the writings of public officials and agencies be adopted with findings demonstrating the interest protected by the limitation and the need for protecting that interest. This bill would make legislative findings to that effect. 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. This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as a bill providing for appropriations related to the Budget Bill.