Human services omnibus.

(1) Existing law generally requires parents to support their minor children and requires each county to maintain a local child support agency with responsibility for promptly and effectively enforcing child support obligations. Existing law establishes within the state's child support program a quality assurance and performance improvement program. Under this program, the 10 counties with the best performance standards receive an additional percentage of the state's share of those counties' collections that are used to reduce or repay aid that is paid under the California Work Opportunity and Responsibility to Kids (CalWORKs) program. Existing law suspends the payment of this incentive percentage for specified fiscal years. This bill would additionally suspend the payment of this incentive percentage for the 2019–20 and 2020–21 fiscal years. Existing law provides that the Department of Child Support Services and local child support agencies have the responsibility for promptly and effectively collecting and enforcing child support obligations. Existing law requires the Director of Child Support Services, in consultation with specified entities, to develop uniform forms, policies, and procedures to be employed statewide by all local child support agencies, including establishing a standard caseworker-to-case staffing ratio and a standard attorney-to-caseworker ratio, as specified. This bill would require the Department of Child Support Services to develop the uniform forms, policies, and procedures in consultation with the Child Support Directors Association of California, in addition to the currently prescribed entities. The bill would also require the department to establish a standard caseload-to-staffing ratio in place of the caseworker-to-case staffing ratios and would remove the requirement for an attorney-to-caseworker ratio. The bill would require the department to implement a revised local child support agency funding methodology in the 2019–20 fiscal year. The bill would require the department to convene a series of stakeholder working sessions to establish an ongoing local child support agency funding methodology to commence in the 2020–21 fiscal year, and would require the department to recommend changes to the 2019–20 funding methodology to the Legislature on February 1, 2020, as specified. Existing law requires the Department of Child Support Services to impose a $25 administrative service fee on a never-assisted custodial party who received child support collection services from the state and an annual amount of $500 or more in collected child support payments. This bill would increase the administrative service fee, effective October 1, 2019, to $35 on a never-assisted custodial party who received child support collection services from the state and an annual amount of $550 or more in collected child support payments. (2) Existing law, the California Community Care Facilities Act and the California Child Day Care Facilities Act, effective July 1, 2019, each prohibit the Department of Justice or the State Department of Social Services from charging a fee for fingerprinting or obtaining a criminal record for a license applicant who will provide services to 6 or fewer children. This bill would delete this prohibition and specifically authorize the Department of Justice or the State Department of Social Services to charge a reasonable fee for the costs of processing electronic fingerprint images and related information. (3) Under existing law, the State Department of Social Services regulates the licensure and operation of child day care centers and family day care homes. Existing law requires the department to inspect child day care centers as often as necessary to ensure the quality of care provided, or at least once every 3 years, and requires the department to conduct an annual unannounced inspection under specified circumstances. Existing law requires the department to make an unannounced site visit to all licensed family day care homes annually and as often as necessary to ensure compliance if specified funds are available for these purposes. If those specified funds are not available to implement annual unannounced site visits, existing law requires the department to inspect family day care homes similarly to child day care centers, as previously described. This bill would state the intent of the Legislature to achieve annual inspections for licensed child day care centers and licensed family day care homes and facilities on or before July 1, 2021. Existing law generally prohibits a person, firm, partnership, association, or corporation from operating, establishing, managing, conducting, or maintaining a child day care facility in this state without a current valid license. Existing law requires the State Department of Social Services to establish and continuously update a Trustline registry of persons who provide childcare, supervision, or in-home educational or counseling services and who are not required to be licensed. Under existing law, a provider who is registered pursuant to these provisions is known as a Trustline provider. Existing law generally requires a license-exempt childcare provider receiving subsidized payments for childcare services under the CalWORKs program to be registered as a Trustline provider. Existing law establishes the Emergency Child Care Bridge Program for Foster Children, under which county welfare departments may distribute vouchers, or payment, for childcare services for an eligible child who is placed with an approved resource family, a licensed or certified foster family, or an approved relative or nonrelative extended family member, or who is the child of a young parent involved in the child welfare system. Existing law requires counties that choose to participate, to determine eligibility for the bridge program and provide monthly payment either directly to the family or to the childcare provider or provide a monthly voucher for childcare, in an amount that is commensurate with the regional market rate, for up to 6 months following the child's initial placement. This bill would require, to the extent required by federal law, a child care provider who receives compensation, in whole or in part, under the bridge program to be registered as a Trustline provider, at no cost to the provider. The bill would require compensation under the bridge program to cease if the provider has a criminal conviction for which the department has not granted a criminal conviction exemption pursuant to specified provisions. These provisions would be implemented only if funding for Trustline registration is appropriated to the department for this purpose in the annual Budget Act or another statute. (4) Existing law provides for various public social services programs, including both long-term programs and short-term pilot programs, aimed at providing services to individuals in need of assistance. Existing law requires the State Department of Social Services and other state agencies to prepare specified reports relating to those programs. This bill would delete the authorization to conduct specified pilot programs and demonstration projects related to certain public social services programs. The bill also would delete various obsolete reporting requirements, including, among other things, annual ongoing reporting requirements relating to public social services programs and foster care. (5) Existing law, as part of the Mello-Granlund Older Californians Act, establishes the Office of the State Long-Term Care Ombudsman, under the direction of the State Long-Term Care Ombudsman, in the California Department of Aging. Existing law requires the State Ombudsman to ensure that residents have regular and timely access to the services provided through the office. This bill would specify that the State Ombudsman shall provide residents with regular and timely access to the services provided by the office through quarterly facility visits by the office to skilled nursing facilities and residential care facilities for the elderly. Existing law establishes an Aging and Disability Resource Connection (ADRC) program, administered by the California Department of Aging, to provide information to consumers and their families on available long-term services and supports (LTSS) programs and to assist older adults, caregivers, and persons with disabilities in accessing LTSS programs at the local level. Existing law requires area agencies on aging and independent living centers to be the core local partners in developing ADRC programs. Existing law makes the establishment of these provisions contingent upon the appropriation of funds for this purpose. This bill would, upon appropriation by the Legislature, require the department to administer the ADRC Infrastructure Grants Program for the purpose of implementing a No Wrong Door System, as defined. The bill would require funds to be awarded pursuant to the grant program to interested and qualified area agencies on aging and independent living centers to complete the planning and application process for designation and approval to operate as an ADRC program. The bill would also authorize grant funds to be awarded to aid designated ADRC programs operated by area agencies on aging and independent living centers in expanding or strengthening the services that they provide. The bill would suspend the implementation of these provisions on December 31, 2021, unless the Department of Finance makes a specified determination. (6) Existing law requires the Department of Rehabilitation to administer a program of services for persons with acquired traumatic brain injury under which service providers develop and utilize an individual service plan to identify the needs of consumers and deliver, either directly or by arrangement, coordinated services designed to meet those needs. Existing law authorizes the department to make grants from the funds in the Traumatic Brain Injury Fund to service providers for the purpose of carrying out the program. Existing law makes these provisions inoperative on July 1, 2024. This bill would delete that inoperative date, thereby extending the operation of the program indefinitely. (7) Existing law requires the Office of Systems Integration to implement a statewide automated welfare system for specified public assistance programs. Existing law declares the intent of the Legislature that representatives from the State Department of Social Services, the State Department of Health Care Services, the Office of Systems Integration, the Interim Statewide Automated Welfare System consortia, and counties meet with advocates, clients, and other stakeholders at least quarterly to review the development status of the Statewide Automated Welfare System (SAWS) project and to engage with stakeholders to discuss current and planned functionality changes, among other topics. This bill would require, to the extent possible within the technology, the development of the SAWS enrollment and eligibility functionality, case management systems, ancillary services, public portals, and mobile applications to have the goals of minimizing the burden of the overall eligibility process for enrollment and retention of benefits for low-income Californians, streamlining interactions for both clients and eligibility workers, and facilitating applicant and client submission of feedback. The bill would require the participants in the meetings described above to jointly update the Legislature at least twice per year through existing processes as to how the SAWS development, implementation, and maintenance minimizes client burden in order to improve access to safety net programs and incorporates ongoing applicant and client feedback toward continuous improvement. By imposing additional duties on counties, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. (8) 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 an automated, nonbiometric identity verification method in the CalWORKs program, and requires the department to annually review the method and provide an update to the Legislature, as specified. This bill would revise and recast those provisions to delete that annual review and update requirement and to repeal the requirement to implement and maintain a nonbiometric identity verification method in the CalWORKs program on January 1, 2021. The bill would also replace obsolete references to former statewide fingerprint imaging system requirements with reference to identity verification requirements for the CalWORKs program. Existing law establishes the maximum aid payment amounts to be provided to each family receiving aid under CalWORKs, increases the maximum aid payments by 10%, effective April 1, 2019, and states the intent of the Legislature to increase CalWORKs maximum aid payment levels in the 2019–20 and 2020–21 fiscal years. This bill would, effective October 1, 2019, increase the maximum aid payment amounts for CalWORKs recipients, based on the number of people in the assistance unit, whether the assistance unit includes a recipient who is exempt from participating in welfare-to-work activities, and the region in which the family resides, as specified. Existing law establishes the CalWORKs Home Visiting Initiative as a voluntary program for the purpose of supporting positive health, development, and well-being outcomes for eligible pregnant and parenting women, families, and infants born into poverty. Existing law requires the State Department of Social Services to award funds to participating counties in order to provide voluntary evidence-based home visiting services to any assistance unit that meets specified requirements. Existing law provides that a voluntary participant in the program is either a member of a CalWORKs assistance unit or the parent or caretaker for a child-only case, and requires the participant to be pregnant with no other children at the time of enrollment or a first-time parent or caretaker relative of a child less than 24 months of age at the time of enrollment. This bill would rename the initiative the CalWORKs Home Visiting Program and would make various technical, nonsubstantive changes to the program's provisions. The bill would revise program eligibility requirements, including by making eligible for the home visiting program an individual who is apparently eligible for CalWORKs aid and a pregnant individual who has applied for CalWORKs aid within 60 calendar days prior to reaching the 2nd trimester of pregnancy and would be eligible for CalWORKs aid other than not having reached the 2nd trimester of pregnancy. The bill would authorize a county and the home visiting program to incorporate participation of the noncustodial parent of a child who is a member of a CalWORKs assistance unit into home visiting services, as specified. As part of the CalWORKs program, a homeless family that has used all available liquid resources in excess of $100 is eligible for homeless assistance benefits to pay the costs of temporary shelter if the family is eligible for aid under the CalWORKs program. Under existing law, eligibility for temporary shelter assistance is limited to one period of up to 16 consecutive days every 12 months unless homelessness is a direct result of domestic violence by a spouse, partner, or roommate, in which case eligibility for temporary shelter assistance is limited to 2 periods of up to 16 consecutive days every 12 months. This bill would, on January 1, 2020, or upon a specified notification from the department, whichever is later, delete the requirement that temporary shelter assistance be used in consecutive calendar days, and would make conforming changes. Because this bill would increase the administrative duties of counties, it would impose a state-mandated local program. Existing law generally requires a recipient of CalWORKs benefits to participate in welfare-to-work activities as a condition of eligibility for aid. Existing law requires that necessary supportive services be available to participants in welfare-to-work activities, including childcare, which is provided pursuant to the Child Care and Development Services Act. The act establishes 3 stages of childcare services through which a recipient of CalWORKs will pass. The act requires county welfare departments to manage the first stage of childcare, and requires the State Department of Education to manage the 2nd and 3rd stages. 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, as specified. This bill would provide that, commencing with the 2020–21 fiscal year, the funding provided for stage one childcare shall be allocated to counties separately from that single allocation. This bill would increase access to childcare supportive services for welfare-to-work participants by, among other things, requiring that the childcare be full time unless the participant determines that part-time care better meets the family's needs, requiring first-stage childcare to be authorized for one year, or until the participant is transferred to the 2nd stage of childcare, and prohibiting the first stage or the 2nd stage of childcare services from being discontinued until confirmation is received from the administrator of the subsequent stage of childcare that the family has been enrolled or that the family is ineligible for services in the subsequent stage of childcare. The bill would also specify additional welfare-to-work program activities for which childcare services are available. This bill would require that a person be informed of the availability of childcare services upon enrollment in the CalWORKs program and at later times when the person expresses a need for childcare, as prescribed. By imposing new duties on county welfare departments, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. Existing law makes confidential and prohibits the release of information about applicants for public social services. Notwithstanding this prohibition, existing law authorizes a county welfare department to share information necessary for the administration of childcare programs and the CalWORKs program. This bill would require that specified information necessary to enroll or transfer a family into childcare services be made available by a county welfare department to a contractor that provides childcare services. The bill would require a county welfare department to provide a monthly report to 2nd-stage contractors containing specified information, as prescribed. The bill would authorize a county welfare department to provide training on security protocols and confidentiality of individual family data to a contractor who is given access to data pursuant to those provisions. By imposing new duties on county welfare departments, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. Existing law requires the State Department of Social Services to work with representatives of county human services agencies and the County Welfare Directors Association of California to develop recommendations for revising the methodology used for development of the CalWORKs single allocation annual budget. This bill would require the department to work with representatives of county human services agencies and the County Welfare Directors Association of California to develop specified material, including the budgeting methodology for welfare-to-work direct services. Existing law provides on and after July 1, 2019, for recovery of an overpayment of benefits and, except in cases involving an investigation into suspected fraud, requires the county to deem an overpayment uncollectible and expunge that overpayment if the individual responsible for the overpayment has not received aid under CalWORKs for 36 consecutive months or longer. This bill would make that provision operative when SAWS is able to produce a report identifying overpayment, as described, and would require an overpayment to be discharged, rather than expunged. Existing law requires the State Department of Social Services 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 the Cal-OAR to cover CalWORKs services provided to current and former recipients and to include the programmatic elements that each county offers as part of its CalWORKs service array. Existing law requires Cal-OAR to consist of performance indicators, a county CalWORKs self-assessment process, and a county CalWORKs system improvement plan. This bill would require the department to facilitate a workgroup that includes counties, advocates for the poor, organizations that represent workers, CalWORKs recipients, staff of the appropriate fiscal and policy committees of the Legislature, and other stakeholders in a review of the CalWORKs welfare-to-work laws and regulations. The bill would require the workgroup to develop a set of immediate, near-term, and long-term recommendations focused on eliminating policy barriers that would prohibit the successful implementation of Cal-OAR, as influenced by a welfare-to-work model known locally as CalWORKs 2.0. The bill would require the department to update the Joint Legislative Budget Committee on the recommendations of the workgroup by February 1, 2020, and would repeal these provisions on January 1, 2021. The bill would make related findings and declarations. Existing law limits the assets that an applicant for, or recipient of, CalWORKs may retain in order to obtain, or retain, eligibility for the CalWORKs program to the amount permitted under the CalFresh program. Existing law exempts $9,500 of the equity value of a motor vehicle from being counted as an asset of an applicant or recipient. This bill would, on June 1, 2020, or upon a specified notification from the department, whichever is later, increase the asset limitation to $10,000 and the motor vehicle exemption to $25,000. The bill would require the amount of the asset limitation and the motor vehicle exemption to be adjusted annually. By expanding eligibility for the CalWORKs program and increasing county administrative duties, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. Existing law requires the State Department of Social Services to establish an income reporting threshold for CalWORKs recipients, which is the lesser of (1) 55% of the monthly income for a family of 3 at the federal poverty level, plus a specified amount, (2) the amount likely to render the recipient ineligible for CalWORKs benefits, or (3) the amount likely to render the recipient ineligible for federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits. This bill would, on June 1, 2020, or upon a specified notification from the department, whichever is later, delete from that threshold formula the amount likely to render the recipient ineligible for CalWORKs benefits. Existing law exempts certain income from the calculation of the family's income for purposes of determining eligibility for, and the amount of aid paid under, the CalWORKs program, including disability-based unearned income, in accordance with specified provisions, depending on whether or not that income exceeds $225. This bill would on June 1, 2020, or upon a specified notification from the department, whichever is later, incrementally increase the above amount of exempted income on an annual basis, as specified. Because the bill would result in an increase in CalWORKs eligibility, thereby increasing the duties of counties administering the CalWORKs program, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. (9) Existing law provides for the temporary or emergency placement of dependent children of the juvenile court and nonminor dependents with relative caregivers or nonrelative extended family members under specified circumstances. Existing law requires counties to provide a specified payment to an emergency caregiver if, among other things, the emergency caregiver has completed an application for resource family approval and an application for the Emergency Assistance Program. Existing law requires these payments to be made from Emergency Assistance Program funds included in the state's Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) block grant, with the county solely responsible for the nonfederal share of cost, except as specified. During the 2018–19 fiscal year, existing law makes these payments ineligible for the federal or state share of cost upon approval or denial of the resource family application or beyond 180 days, whichever occurs first. However, the federal or state share may be available for up to 365 days if certain conditions are met by the county, including, among others, monthly documentation by the county of good cause for the delay in approving the resource family application that is outside the direct control of the county, as specified. Under existing law, during the 2019–20 fiscal year, and each fiscal year thereafter, payments provided under these provisions are ineligible for the federal or state share of cost upon approval or denial of the resource family application or beyond 90 days, whichever occurs first, but the department is required to consider extending payments beyond the 90 days if it determines that the resource family approval process cannot be completed within 90 days due to circumstances outside of a county's control. This bill would revise and recast the provisions that apply to the 2019–20 fiscal year and would instead provide that these payments are ineligible for the federal or state share of payment upon approval or denial of the resource family application or beyond 120 days, whichever comes first, subject to an extension beyond those payments, for up to 365 days of payments, if certain conditions are met by the county, including, among others, the provision of monthly documentation showing good cause for the delay in approving the resource family application that is outside the control of the county. This bill would also require each county, on and after July 1, 2019, to provide a payment equivalent to the resource family basic level rate of the home-based family care rate structure on behalf of an Indian child placed in the home of the caregiver who is pending approval as a tribally approved home, as defined, if specified criteria are met. By expanding the duties of counties under these provisions, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. (10) Existing law establishes the Aid to Families with Dependent Children-Foster Care (AFDC-FC) program, under which counties provide payments to foster care providers on behalf of qualified children in foster care. In order to be eligible for AFDC-FC, existing law requires, in pertinent part, a child to be placed in one of several specified placements. The AFDC-FC program provides for payments to group home providers at a per child per month rate for the care and supervision of the AFDC-FC child placed with the provider. Existing law requires the State Department of Social Services to determine the rate classification level (RCL) for each group home. Existing law prohibits a new group home rate or changes to an existing rate pursuant to the RCL system, except that the department may grant an exception, on a case-by-case basis and only through December 31, 2018, when there is a material risk to the welfare of children due to an inadequate supply of appropriate alternative placement options to meet the needs of children, as specified. Existing law authorizes the department to grant an additional extension to a group home beyond December 31, 2018, in increments up to 6 months and not to exceed a total of 12 months, upon a county child welfare department submitting a written request on behalf of a provider and providing required documentation. This bill would authorize the department to grant an additional extension to a group home until December 31, 2020, upon a county child welfare agency submitting a written request on behalf of a provider that includes an update to the previously submitted documentation described above. The bill would require the county child welfare and mental health agencies, in order to maintain the placement of foster youth placed in a group home that receives this extension, to submit a collaborative plan to the department and the State Department of Health Care Services that includes specified components. The bill would require the department, the State Department of Health Care Services, and stakeholders to develop a collaborative plan to address barriers to building high-quality services in residential treatment programs and in family-based settings, as prescribed. Existing law requires the State Department of Social Services to establish a payment system for foster family agencies that provide treatment, intensive treatment, and therapeutic foster care programs. Existing law also makes each child placed in a certified family home or resource family of a foster family agency eligible for the basic rate, which is adjusted annually to reflect the percentage change in the California Necessities Index. This bill would require, commencing July 1, 2019, the rates paid to foster family agencies, except for the rate paid to a certified family home or resource family agency, as described, to be 4.15% higher than the rates paid to foster family agencies in the 2018–19 fiscal year, and would provide for the suspension of the rate increase on December 31, 2021, unless a specified circumstance applies. Existing law requires the State Department of Social Services, with the advice and assistance of the County Welfare Directors Association of California and other specified stakeholders, to establish a working group to develop performance standards and outcome measures for providers of out-of-home care placements made under the AFDC-FC program, as specified. Existing law additionally authorizes the department to develop a means of identifying the child's needs and determining which out-of-home placement is the most appropriate for a child. This bill would require the department, in collaboration with the County Welfare Directors Association of California, to track the utilization, workload, and costs associated with implementing any specific tool developed to identify the child's strengths and needs and determine the most appropriate out-of-home placement. (11) Existing law establishes the federally funded and state-funded Kinship Guardianship Assistance Payment Program (Kin-GAP) , which provides aid on behalf of eligible children who are placed in the home of a relative guardian and the Approved Relative Caregiver Funding Program (ARC) for the purpose of making the amount paid to relative caregivers for the in-home care of children placed with them who are ineligible for AFDC-FC payments equal to the amount paid on behalf of children who are eligible for AFDC-FC payments. Existing law provides that when a child receiving benefits under the CalWORKs or AFDC-FC program becomes eligible for benefits under state-funded or federally funded Kin-GAP, respectively, during any month, the child shall continue to receive benefits under the CalWORKs or AFDC-FC program to the end of that calendar month, and Kin-GAP payments shall begin the first day of the following month. This bill would instead provide that when a child receiving benefits under the ARC or AFDC-FC program becomes eligible for benefits under the state-funded or federally funded Kin-GAP Program, respectively, the child shall continue to receive ARC or AFDC-FC benefits through the day that the juvenile court dismisses the dependency or terminates the wardship, and Kin-GAP payments shall begin the following day. (12) Existing law establishes the county-administered In-Home Supportive Services (IHSS) program, under which qualified aged, blind, and disabled persons are provided with supportive services in order to permit them to remain in their own homes. Existing law requires the state and counties to share the annual cost of providing IHSS and requires all counties to have a County IHSS Maintenance of Effort (MOE) , as prescribed. Under existing law, the statewide total County IHSS MOE base for the 2017–18 fiscal year is established at $1,769,443,000. This bill would, commencing July 1, 2019, establish a rebased County IHSS MOE, reducing the base for the 2019–20 fiscal year to $1,563,282,000. This bill would make additional adjustments to the County IHSS MOE relating to, among other things, benefits that are locally negotiated, mediated, or imposed, and administration expenditures. Once the state minimum wage reaches $15 per hour, the bill would require the state to pay 35%, and the county to pay 65%, of the nonfederal share of an increase in provider wages or health benefits locally negotiated, mediated, imposed, or adopted by ordinance, or of increases to rates in contracts, as specified. Existing law requires, beginning on July 1, 2019, and annually thereafter, that the County IHSS MOE from the previous year be adjusted by an inflation factor of 7%, or lower under certain circumstances. This bill would change the inflation factor to 4% beginning on July 1, 2020, and annually thereafter. 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 (1991 Realignment funds) . Existing law requires that a portion of IHSS costs that are the counties' responsibility be offset using a combination of General Fund moneys appropriated in the annual Budget Act and redirected 1991 Realignment funds, based on specified formulas. This bill would repeal those offsetting provisions for purposes of the 2019–20, 2020–21, 2021–22, and subsequent fiscal years. The bill would redirect moneys from specified accounts of the Local Revenue Fund to the mental health account, health account, and family support account, of each county or city and county and to the continuously appropriated County Medical Services Program Growth Subaccount, as specified, thereby making an appropriation. The bill would make other revisions relating to the distribution of 1991 Realignment funds. 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. Existing law requires, until January 1, 2020, 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 by January 1, 2018. This bill would, until January 1, 2021, instead require the specified mediation process 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, 2019. The bill would require the mediation process to also include the county board of supervisors holding a public hearing after the factfinding panel's public release of its findings of fact and recommended settlement terms. By imposing additional duties on counties, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. The bill would subject 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 public authority or nonprofit consortium, 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, beginning July 1, 2019, also subject a county to that withholding of 1991 Realignment funds if the factfinding panel's recommended settlement terms were released prior to June 20, 2019, and that county has not reached an agreement with the employee organization within 90 days after the release. 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. The bill would require the State Controller to deposit any amounts withheld pursuant to these provisions into the continuously appropriated General Growth Subaccount of the Sales Tax Growth Account of the Local Revenue Fund, as specified, thereby making an appropriation. Existing law requires the department to establish a program of direct deposit by electronic transfer for payments to in-home supportive services providers. This bill would require, beginning July 1, 2021, or an alternative date identified by the department, in-home supportive services providers to be paid by direct deposit or provider card. The bill would require the department to issue a request for proposal for one or more provider card issuers to offer provider cards and would require selected provider card issuers to comply with certain requirements, including minimizing charges and fees for providers using the card. The bill would authorize these provisions to be implemented by all-county letter or similar instruction. 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. This bill would require 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, the capabilities of the system, the rights of IHSS program consumers and providers, and development and implementation of the EVV system in a manner and timeframe that avoids payment of federal financial participation penalties, as specified. This bill would require the department to work with the County Welfare Directors Association of California to determine the actual one-time and ongoing county workload and costs to implement the EVV system and to consider the information for annual budget changes and county workload requirements related to implementation. This bill would make this provision inoperative on July 1, 2020, and repeal it on January 1, 2021. (13) Existing law, commonly known as the Continuum of Care Reform (CCR) , states the intent of the Legislature in adopting the CCR to improve California's child welfare system and its outcomes by using comprehensive initial child assessments, increasing the use of home-based family care and the provision of services and supports to home-based family care, reducing the use of congregate care placement settings, and creating faster paths to permanency resulting in shorter durations of involvement in the child welfare and juvenile justice systems. This bill would require the State Department of Social Services, the State Department of Health Care Services, the California State Association of Counties, the County Welfare Directors Association of California, the County Behavioral Health Directors Association of California, and the Chief Probation Officers of California to provide quarterly in-person updates to the Legislature on progress toward the CCR implementation. The bill would require the updates to include specified information on, among other topics, the transition of providers to the CCR program models, the capacity to provide mental health services, tracking child outcomes over time, the CCR-related costs and savings, system changes, and county recruitment and retention efforts. To the extent that this bill would add new duties for counties relating to reporting on the CCR-related services, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. This bill would exempt certain contracts or grants, as described, necessary for the State Department of Social Services to implement or evaluate the CCR from various laws and procedures, including the Public Contract Code and the State Contracting Manual and review by either the Department of General Services or the Department of Technology. This bill would make these provisions inoperative on July 1, 2021, and would repeal them as of January 1, 2022. (14) Existing law requires the State Department of Social Services to implement a statewide Child Welfare Services Case Management System to protect children and effectively administer and evaluate the state's child welfare services and foster care programs. Existing law requires the State Department of Social Services to establish a program of public health nursing in the child welfare services program and requires counties to use the services of the foster care public health nurse under this program. Existing law requires the foster care public health nurse to perform specified duties, including participating in medical care planning and coordinating for a child currently in foster care. This bill would establish a child welfare public health nursing early intervention program in the County of Los Angeles to improve outcomes for youth who are at risk of entering the foster care system, by maximizing access to health care, health education, and connection to safety net services. The program would be administered by the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health (DPH) , in cooperation with the county's Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS) . The bill would specify the duties of a county public health nurse participating in the pilot program, including conducting emergency and routine home visits with social workers and providing parents and guardians with educational tools and resources to ensure their child's physical, mental, and behavioral health needs are being met. The bill would require DPH and DCFS to develop appropriate outcome measures to determine the effectiveness of the program in achieving its objectives and report its findings and recommendations to the Legislature, as specified. The bill would suspend the implementation of these provisions on December 31, 2021, unless the Department of Finance makes a specified determination. This bill would require the State Department of Health Care Services and the county to seek any federal approvals necessary to implement the program and seek to maximize federal financial participation, as specified. The bill would require the State Department of Social Services, contingent upon an appropriation in the annual Budget Act, to provide funds to DPH for the program. (15) Existing law establishes the jurisdiction of the juvenile court, which may adjudge a child to be a dependent of the court under certain circumstances, including when the child suffered, or there is a substantial risk that the child will suffer, serious physical harm, or a parent fails to provide the child with adequate food, clothing, shelter, or medical treatment. Existing law establishes the grounds for removal of a dependent child from the custody of the dependent child's parents or guardian, and establishes procedures to determine placement of a dependent child, which may include placement with various types of caregivers. This bill would require the department to establish a statewide hotline, operational no sooner than January 1, 2021, and on the same date as the county-based mobile response systems described below, as the entry point for a Family Urgent Response System, as defined, to respond to calls from caregivers or current or former foster children or youth during moments of instability, as specified. The bill would require the hotline to include, among other things, referrals to a county-based mobile response system, as specified, for further support and in-person response. The bill would require the department to ensure that deidentified, aggregated data are collected regarding individuals served through the hotline and the county-based mobile response system and to publish a report on the department's internet website by January 1, 2022, and annually thereafter, including specified information. This bill would require, no sooner than January 1, 2021, and on the same date as the statewide hotline described above, county child welfare, probation, and behavioral health agencies, in each county or region of counties, as specified, to establish a joint county-based mobile response system that includes a mobile response and stabilization team for the purpose of providing supportive services to, among other things, address situations of instability, preserve the relationship of the caregiver and the child or youth, and stabilize the situation. The bill would require those agencies to submit a single, coordinated plan to the department, describing how the system would meet specified requirements. The bill would authorize those agencies to implement these provisions on a per-county basis or by collaborating with other counties to establish regional, cross-county mobile response systems, as specified. By creating new duties for county officials relating to foster care services, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. This bill would require the department, in collaboration with the State Department of Health Care Services, to issue all necessary guidance for county-based mobile response systems established pursuant to these provisions. The bill would require  the department, in collaboration with specified entities, on an annual basis beginning on January 1, 2022, to assess utilization and workload associated with implementation of the statewide hotline and mobile response system and provide an update to the Legislature during budget hearings. This bill would make these provisions inoperative in any fiscal year for which funding is not appropriated in the annual Budget Act for the purpose of complying with these requirements. This bill would suspend the implementation of these provisions on December 31, 2021, unless the Department of Finance makes a specified determination. (16) Existing federal law provides for the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) , 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 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 new eligibility provisions. Existing law makes those provisions relating to SSI/SSP benefits and CalFresh eligibility and the SNB and TNB programs inoperative during any fiscal year in which funding is not appropriated in the annual Budget Act for those purposes. This bill would delete those inoperative provisions, thereby making those benefits available without regard to an appropriation in the annual Budget Act. By expanding eligibility for, and imposing new administrative duties on counties in connection with, the programs described above, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. Existing law requires the State Department of Social Services to establish and supervise a county- or county-consortia-administered program to provide cash assistance to aged, blind, and disabled legal immigrants who are not citizens of the United States, and requires benefits provided under the program to be equivalent to the benefits provided under the SSI/SSP program. Existing law requires provision of these benefits only if funding is appropriated in the annual Budget Act for that purpose. This bill would delete the funding restrictions and make those benefits available, retroactive to June 1, 2019, without regard to an appropriation in the annual Budget Act. By expanding eligibility for, and imposing new administrative duties on counties in connection with, the program described above, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. 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 $10 monthly additional food assistance benefit for each eligible CalFresh household, as defined. Existing law requires the state to pay to the counties 100% of the cost of WINS benefits, using funds that qualify for the state's TANF program maintenance of effort requirements, as specified. This bill would delete the requirement that the state use funds that qualify for the state's TANF program maintenance of effort requirements to pay for the cost of WINS benefits. This bill would require the department to work with representatives for 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 2020–21 fiscal year. (17) Existing law establishes the CalFood Program, formerly known as the State Emergency Food Assistance Program, administered by the State Department of Social Services, whose ongoing primary function is to facilitate the distribution of food to low-income households. Existing law creates both the CalFood Account and the Public Higher Education Pantry Assistance Program Account in the Emergency Food for Families Voluntary Tax Contribution Fund, and requires that moneys in these respective accounts, upon appropriation by the Legislature, be allocated to the department for allocation for specified purposes, such as allocating moneys from the CalFood Account to the CalFood Program for the purchase, storage, and transportation of food grown or produced in California. Existing law prohibits the storage and transportation expenditures associated with the CalFood Program from exceeding 10% of the CalFood Program fund's annual budget. This bill would increase from 10% to 15% the annual budget limitation on storage and transportation expenditures associated with the CalFood Program, commencing on July 1, 2019. (18) 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 to a participating county for the provision of various services, including advocacy services and housing assistance to assist clients who are homeless or at risk of becoming homeless to obtain disability benefits. Existing law requires a participating county to provide housing assistance to these clients during their application periods for disability benefits programs, and to place a client who receives subsidies in housing that the client can sustain without a subsidy upon approval of disability benefits. Existing law requires the department to periodically inform the Legislature of the implementation progress of the program and authorizes the department to implement these provisions through all-county letters. This bill would additionally make tribes and combinations of counties or tribes eligible for funding under the program as grantees. The bill would require grantees to use the funding for the provision of certain services, including housing assistance, and to make a reasonable effort to place a client who receives subsidies in housing that the client can sustain without a subsidy upon approval of disability benefits or consider providing limited housing assistance until an alternative subsidy, affordable housing voucher, or other sustainable housing option is secured. The bill would require the department to annually inform the Legislature of the implementation progress and to submit an annual report to the Legislature on the implementation of the program. The bill would remove the authorization for the department to implement the provisions through all-county letters. 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 for the purpose of providing housing-related supports to eligible families experiencing homelessness if that homelessness prevents reunification between an eligible family and a child receiving child welfare services, or where lack of housing prevents a parent or guardian from addressing issues that could lead to foster care placement. This bill would expand the scope of the program to also apply to tribal governments and would make conforming changes. The bill would make certain changes to the criteria for housing-related supports, requiring, among other things, the use of an assessment tool. The bill would require a participating county or tribe to utilize a cross-agency liaison to coordinate activities, as specified. (19) Existing law establishes the Department of Housing and Community Development in the Business, Consumer Services, and Housing Agency. The department is responsible for administering various housing and home loan programs throughout the state. This bill would require the Department of Housing and Community Development, upon appropriation, to provide funding to counties for allocation to child welfare services agencies to help young adults secure and maintain housing, as specified. (20) Existing law delegates authority to various state agencies to oversee programs aimed at providing services for needy individuals, including providing medical services, shelter, and legal services for immigrants. Existing law establishes the Rapid Response Reserve Fund in the State Treasury to address costs, such as shelter and transportation, arising from immigration and other specified situations. This bill would require 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. The bill would prescribe requirements for the grants or contracts, including that the grants or contracts provide critical funding for immigrants, including medical treatment, temporary shelter, food, and clothing. The bill would require the department to provide an update to the Legislature, as specified, regarding any entity receiving funds and would require the update to contain specified information, including the name of the entity or entities that will receive the funding, a timeline for implementation of the services, and the approximate number of persons that will be served per month by the funds. The bill's provisions would be inoperative on July 1, 2022, and would be repealed on January 1, 2023. The bill would state that these provisions are severable. Existing law prohibits a county's costs in administering employment-related and English-language training programs funded by the Refugee Social Services program funds derived from the federal Refugee Act of 1980 from exceeding the percentage for county administrative costs permitted by the department in administering the Refugee Targeted Assistance program. This bill would repeal those provisions. Existing law requires the department, after setting aside state administrative funds, to allocate social services funds derived from the federal Refugee Act of 1980 and federally targeted assistance to eligible counties, to be used by the county, pursuant to a plan developed by the county, to provide services to refugees that lead to the earliest possible self-sufficiency for the refugees. This bill would additionally authorize the department, to the extent permitted by federal law, to contract with, or award grants to, qualified nonprofit organizations for the administration of refugee social services and refugee cash assistance. The bill would also make conforming changes and update the terminology and references used in the provisions relating to refugee social services. The bill would authorize the department to implement and administer all provisions relating to refugee social services and refugee cash assistance through all-county letters or similar instruction. Existing law appropriates, for the 2017–18 fiscal year, $10,000,000 from the General Fund to the State Department of Social Services in order to provide additional services for refugee pupils by allocating funding to school districts impacted by significant numbers of refugee pupils and other eligible populations served by the federal Office of Refugee Resettlement based on the eligibility criteria and allocation methodology set forth for the federal Refugee School Impact program. This bill would expand the purposes of that appropriation to provide additional services for pupils who are unaccompanied undocumented minors, as defined, thereby making an appropriation. The bill instead would require the State Department of Social Services to allocate funding to school districts impacted by significant numbers of refugee pupils, other eligible populations served by the federal Office of Refugee Resettlement, and unaccompanied undocumented minors using a formula to be developed by the department based upon the refugee and unaccompanied undocumented minor arrivals in a school district during the preceding 60-month period for which the department has data. Funds appropriated by this bill would be applied toward the minimum funding requirements for school districts and community college districts imposed by Section 8 of Article XVI of the California Constitution. (21) 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. (22) 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 specified reasons. 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. (23) This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as a bill providing for appropriations related to the Budget Bill.