10500-10507
WELFARE AND INSTITUTIONS CODE
SECTION 10500-10507
10500. Every person administering aid under any public assistance program shall conduct himself with courtesy, consideration, and respect toward applicants for the recipients of aid under that program, and shall endeavor at all times to perform his duties in such manner as to secure for every person the amount of aid to which he is entitled, without attempting to elicit any information not necessary to carry out the provisions of law applicable to the program, and without comment or criticism of any fact concerning applicants or recipients not directly related to the administration of the program. 10501. No person concerned with the administration of a public assistance program shall dictate how any recipient shall expend the aid granted to him. 10505. Prior to granting any changes in benefits or levels of service for public social services programs, including the Medi-Cal program, funded by the federal government for benefits or services which are permitted, but not required to be given, under federal law, and which changes program or county administrative costs funded from the General Fund in excess of five hundred thousand dollars ($500,000) on an annual basis, there shall first be obtained a certification by the State Department of Finance that funds are available for the expenditure and that the department has identified the specific funding sources, and has determined whether the expenditure involves a federal mandatory or optional benefit or level of service. The Department of Finance may not approve any expenditure covered by this section until at least 30 days after the information required by this section has been provided to the chairman of the committee of each house which considers appropriations and the Chairman of the Joint Legislative Budget Committee. 10506. (a) Except as otherwise required by Sections 10614 and 14100.5, the State Department of Health Services (Genetically Handicapped Persons, CCS, CHDP, and the caseload programs in the Genetic Disease Branch), State Department of Alcohol and Drug Programs (Drug Medi-Cal Program), Managed Risk Medical Insurance Board, State Department of Developmental Services, State Department of Mental Health, and Department of Child Support Services shall submit to the Department of Finance for its approval all assumptions underlying all estimates used to develop the departments' budgets by September 10 of each year, and those assumptions, as revised by, March 1 of the following year. (b) The Department of Finance shall approve, modify, or deny the assumptions underlying all estimates within 15 working days of their submission. If the Department of Finance does not modify, deny, or otherwise indicate that the assumptions are open for consideration pending further information submitted by the department by that date, the assumptions as presented by the submitting department shall be deemed to be accepted by the Department of Finance as of that date. (c) Each department or board described in subdivision (a) shall also submit an estimate of expenditures for each of the categorical aid programs in its budget to the Department of Finance by November 1 of each year and those estimates as revised by April 20 of the following year. Each estimate shall contain a concise statement identifying applicable estimate components, such as caseload, unit cost, implementation date, whether it is a new or continuing premise, and other assumptions necessary to support the estimate. The submittal shall include a projection of the fiscal impact of each of the approved assumptions related to a regulatory, statutory, or policy change, a detailed explanation of any changes to the base estimate projections from the previous estimate, and a projection of the fiscal impact of that change to the base estimate. (d) Each department or board shall identify those premises to which either of the following applies: (1) Have been discontinued since the previous estimate was submitted. The department or board shall provide a chart that tracks the history of each discontinued premise in the prior year, the current year, and the budget year. (2) Have been placed in the basic cost line of the estimate package. (e) In the event that the methodological steps employed in arriving at the estimates in May differ from those used in November of the preceding year, the department or board shall submit a descriptive narrative of the revised methodology. In addition, the estimates shall include fiscal charts that track appropriations from the Budget Act to the current Governor's Budget and May Revision for all fund sources for the prior year, current year and budget year. This information shall be provided to the Department of Finance, the Joint Legislative Budget Committee, the Health and Human Services Policy Committees, and the fiscal committees, along with other materials included in the annual May Revision of expenditure estimates. (f) The estimates of average monthly caseloads, average monthly grants, total estimated expenditures, including administrative expenditures and savings or costs associated with all regulatory or statutory changes, as well as all supporting data provided by the department or developed independently by the Department of Finance, shall be made available to the Joint Legislative Budget Committee, the Health and Human Services Policy Committees, and the fiscal committees. (g) On or after January 10, if the Department of Finance discovers a material error in the information provided pursuant to this section, the Department of Finance shall inform the consultants to the fiscal committees of the error in a timely manner. (h) The departmental estimates, assumptions, and other supporting data prepared for purposes of this section shall be forwarded annually to the Joint Legislative Budget Committee, the Health and Human Services Policy Committees, and the fiscal committees of the Legislature, not later than January 10 and May 14 by the department or board if this information has not been released earlier by the Department of Finance. (i) The requirements of this section do not apply to the State Department of Social Services estimate or the State Department of Health Services' Medi-Cal Program estimate, which are governed by Sections 10614 and 14100.5, respectively. (j) The Department of Rehabilitation shall submit assumptions and an estimate of case services expenditures for the Vocational Rehabilitation (VR) program specifically detailing the VR supported employment and work activity elements in accordance with this part, except that assumptions shall be submitted only annually, on or before March 1, and an estimate of expenditures shall be submitted only annually, on or before April 20, to the Department of Finance. The departmental assumptions and the departmental estimate of expenditures shall be forwarded annually, on or before May 14, to the Joint Legislative Budget Committee, and to the health and human services policy committees and fiscal committees of the Legislature, if this information has not been released earlier by the Department of Finance. 10507. (a) The department shall estimate the costs for county administration of human services programs using county-specific cost factors in the programs' budgeting methodology. (b) County-specific cost factors shall be estimated using a county survey process that requires county certification of reasonable costs, and review by the department to determine that those costs are reasonable and necessary to meet program requirements and objectives. (c) No later than November 1, 2006, the department, in consultation with the County Welfare Directors Association, shall develop the survey instrument and process to incorporate actual reasonable county cost factors to administer human services programs. The survey shall include, but shall not be limited to, salaries and benefits, operating support, electronic data processing, staff development, and other costs reasonable and necessary to meet program requirements and objectives. The process shall include an assessment of how state requirements and county operational practices affect the costs of county administration of human services programs. (d) Commencing with the May Revision of the 2007-08 budget, and annually thereafter, the department shall identify in its budget documents the estimates developed pursuant to this section and the difference between these estimates and the proposed funding levels.