CalFresh: customer service standards: performance goals.

Existing federal law provides for the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) , known in California as CalFresh, formerly the Food Stamp Program, under which supplemental nutrition assistance benefits allocated to the state by the federal government are distributed to eligible individuals by each county. Existing law requires the State Department of Social Services to establish and maintain a plan, known as the County Administrative Cost Control Plan, whereby costs for county administration of CalFresh are effectively controlled within the amounts annually appropriated for that administration, and whereby standards and performance criteria are established and are required to be adhered to by counties. This bill would require the department, in collaboration with key stakeholders, to establish statewide customer service standards and performance goals with regard to CalFresh, revise the standards and goals to reflect changes in CalFresh performance over time, measure the progress made toward the execution of the standards and goals on an annual basis, and make the standards and goals publicly available for the purpose of informing the Legislature and the public. The bill would also require the department to develop a data management tool that includes specified data, including, but not limited to, data regarding CalFresh applications received through multiple channels. This bill would require data from the data management tool to be made publicly available on an ongoing basis and updated at least on a quarterly basis within 60 days following the end of each quarter, and would require the department to use the data from the tool to measure the progress made towards the standards and goals established pursuant to these provisions. The bill would make related findings and declarations.