Existing law establishes various public social services programs to provide eligible recipients with certain aid or health care benefits, among others. Existing law also requires each county to provide aid to its indigent residents who are not supported by other means under programs known as general assistance programs. Existing federal law, the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 (PRWORA) , makes specified persons without lawful status in the United States ineligible for state and local public benefits unless a state law is enacted that affirmatively provides for that eligibility, and defines "state or local public benefit" to mean, among other things, any retirement, welfare, health, disability, public or assisted housing, postsecondary education, food assistance, unemployment benefit, or any other similar benefit for which payments or assistance are provided to an individual, household, or family eligibility unit by an agency of a state or local government or by appropriated funds of a state or local government. Existing state law authorizes a city, county, city and county, or hospital district, at its discretion, to provide aid, including health care, to persons who, but for the previously described provision of the federal PRWORA, would meet the eligibility requirements for any program of that entity. This bill would clarify that the above-described authorization for provision of aid is an authorization to provide a state or local public benefit, as defined by the federal PRWORA.
Existing law, the California Community Care Facilities Act, provides for the licensing and regulation of community care facilities, including short-term residential therapeutic programs, by the State Department of Social Services, and defines a short-term residential therapeutic program as a residential facility licensed by the department and operated by any public agency or private organization that provides an integrated program of specialized and intensive care and supervision, services and supports, treatment, and short-term, 24-hour care and supervision to children that is trauma-informed. Under the act, the department is authorized to issue citations for violations of these provisions. This bill would, notwithstanding any law and commencing January 1, 2027, require licenses for short-term residential therapeutic programs to be renewed annually if the licensee has a total of 5 or more specified citations in the past 12 months. The bill would require that the licensee not be subject to ongoing annual review if it receives less than 5 violations in the 12 months following an annual license review.
Existing law requires the Department of Motor Vehicles to establish the California Legacy License Plate Program, and to create and issue a series of specialized license plates, consisting of one or more of 3 specified designs that replicate license plates from the state's past. Existing law imposes additional fees for the issuance, renewal, replacement, and transfer of these license plates and requires that those additional fees be deposited in the California Environmental License Plate Fund. Existing law requires the Department of Motor Vehicles to issue "Have a Heart, Be a Star, Help our Kids" special license plates that include specified shapes and imposes additional fees, as specified, for their issuance, renewal, replacement, and transfer. Existing law requires that those additional fees be deposited in the Child Health and Safety Fund, as specified. This bill would authorize, commencing July 1, 2027, an applicant for a California Legacy License Plate to apply to use a shape from the "Have a Heart, Be a Star, Help our Kids" special license plates for an additional fee, and would require that funds from the fees generated be deposited in the California Environmental License Plate Fund and the Child Health and Safety Fund, as specified. The bill would additionally increase the fees, commencing July 1, 2027, for the initial issuance and renewal of the "Have a Heart, Be a Star, Help Our Kids" license plates. Existing law requires that 50% of the funds derived from the "Have a Heart, Be a Star, Help Our Kids" license plates be available, upon appropriation, to the State Department of Social Services for administering various provisions related to childcare licensing, as specified. Existing law requires that, upon appropriation by the Legislature, the remaining balance be available, as described, for programs that address other categories of potential childhood injury, as specified. This bill would require moneys allocated to the Child Health and Safety Fund from the "Have a Heart, Be a Star, Help Our Kids" license plates and the California Legacy License Plates to be expended, upon appropriation by the Legislature, as specified, including allocating 25% to the State Department of Social Services for administering various provisions related to childcare licensing, as specified. The bill would allocate the remaining for programs that address specified child health and safety concerns and specified child abuse prevention purposes. The bill would also include provisions that would permit a portion of these funds, allocated to the Emergency Medical Services Authority, to be expended for the preparation of a specified report to the Legislature required by AB 1639 of the 2025–26 Regular Session, and would make those provisions operative contingent upon the enactment of that bill, as specified.
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 requires the State Department of Social Services (department) to maximize all available food choices for CalFresh recipients, as specified. This bill, notwithstanding the requirement to maximize food choices, would require the department to prohibit CalFresh recipients from using CalFresh benefits to purchase sweetened drinks or candy, as defined, except at restaurants. If the department determines that federal permission, as specified, is necessary, the bill would require the department to request federal permission and authorize the department to delay implementation until federal permission is granted. Existing law requires the department to establish a food assistance program, known as the California Food Assistance Program (CFAP) , to provide assistance to specified noncitizens of the United States who meet certain criteria. Existing law, to become operative on the date that the department notifies the Legislature that the Statewide Automated Welfare System (SAWS) has been updated to perform the necessary automation, and to the extent permissible under federal law, among other things, requires the delivery of CFAP nutrition benefits to be identical to the delivery of CalFresh benefits to eligible CalFresh households. When the department prohibits CalFresh recipients from using CalFresh benefits to purchase sweetened drinks or candy as described above and to the extent permissible under federal law, this bill would also require the department to prohibit the purchase of those products with CFAP benefits.
Existing law requires a youth service organization to develop and implement child abuse prevention policies to, among other requirements, ensure reporting of suspected incidents of child abuse to persons or entities outside of the organization, including reporting required by mandated reporters, as prescribed. Existing law requires an administrator, employee, or regular volunteer of a youth service organization to complete training in child abuse and neglect notification and training in child abuse and neglect reporting, as specified. Existing law requires an administrator, employee, or regular volunteer of a youth service organization to undergo a background check, as prescribed. This bill would specify that a parent volunteer, as defined, is not a regular volunteer, would exclude a parent volunteer from the above-described training requirements, and would require a parent volunteer to undergo a background check.
