11200-11217
WELFARE AND INSTITUTIONS CODE
SECTION 11200-11217
11200. This chapter shall be known and may be cited as the California Work Opportunity and Responsibility to Kids Act, and may also be cited as the CalWORKs program. 11200.5. Funding for social services under this chapter is subject to the provisions of Part 1.5 (commencing with Section 10100) of this division. 11201. For the purposes of this chapter, the following shall apply: (a) "Unemployed parent" means a natural or adoptive parent with whom the child is living. (b) A child for whom a parent is applying for assistance under this chapter shall be considered to be deprived of parental support or care due to the unemployment of his or her parent or parents when the parent has worked less than 100 hours in the preceding four weeks and meets the requirements concerning an unemployed parent in effect on August 21, 1996, as set forth in Section 233.100 of Title 45 of the Code of Federal Regulations except for the provisions of subparagraph (i) to (v), inclusive, of paragraph (3) of subsection (a) of that section. (c) A family receiving aid under this chapter with a child who is considered to be deprived of parental support or care due to unemployment may continue to receive assistance regardless of the number of hours his or her parent works provided the family does not exceed the applicable gross or net income limits and is otherwise eligible for assistance. 11202. As used in this chapter, the term "needy child" means a child living in a family as described in Section 11250, or a child as described in Section 11401. 11203. (a) During those times as the federal government provides funds for the care of a needy relative with whom a needy child or needy children are living, aid to the child or children for any month includes aid to meet the needs of that relative, if money payments are made with respect to the child or children for that month, and if the relative is not receiving aid under Chapter 3 (commencing with Section 12000) or 5 (commencing with Section 13000) of this part or Part A of Title XVI of the Social Security Act for that month. Needy relatives under this chapter include only natural or adoptive parents, the spouse of a natural or adoptive parent, and other needy caretaker relatives. (b) (1) The parent or parents shall be considered living with the needy child or needy children for a period of up to 180 consecutive days of the needy child's or children's absence from the family assistance unit and the parent or parents shall be eligible for services under this chapter including services funded under Sections 15204.2 and 15204.8 if all of the following conditions are met: (A) The child has been removed from the parent or parents and placed in out-of-home care. (B) When the child was removed from the parent or parents, the family was receiving aid under this section. (C) The county has determined that the provision of services under this chapter including services funded under Sections 15204.2 and 15204.8, is necessary for reunification. (2) For purposes of this subdivision, the parent or parents shall not be eligible for any payment of aid under Section 11450. (c) The department shall revise its state Temporary Assistance for Needy Families plan to incorporate the provisions of subdivision (b) and to incorporate the good cause exception provisions authorized by paragraph (10) of subsection (a) of Section 608 of Title 42 of the United States Code with respect to cases where reunification occurs after 180 consecutive days from the date of the removal of the child or children from the home. 11204. Nothing in this chapter shall be construed as authorizing any public official, agent, or representative, in carrying out any of the provisions of this chapter, to take charge of any child over the objection of either of the parents of such child, or of the person standing in the place of a parent to such child, except pursuant to a proper court order. 11205. The Legislature finds and declares that the family unit is of fundamental importance to society in nurturing its members, passing on values, averting potential social problems, and providing the secure structure in which citizens live out their lives. Each family unit has the right and responsibility to provide for its own economic security by full participation in the work force to the extent possible. Each family has the right and responsibility to provide sufficient support and protection of its children, to raise them according to its values and to provide every opportunity for educational and social progress. 11206. In case of dispute, the application and supporting documents pertaining to his case on file in the department or on file in any county office shall be open to inspection at any time during business hours by the applicant or recipient or his attorney or agent. 11207. Every county shall grant aid to any child eligible therefor, in any amount needed, not to exceed the amount specified in Section 11450, and shall administer this chapter in such a manner as to achieve the greatest possible reduction of dependency and to promote the rehabilitation of recipients. At the time of application the county department shall discuss parental responsibility with the applicant. 11208. Caseworker services shall be made available immediately to an applicant for aid under this chapter upon the filing of his application. 11209. The department shall make rules and regulations for the proper maintenance and care of needy children and for the administration of Aid to Families with Dependent Children. Such rules and regulations shall be binding upon the institutions, county welfare departments and any public or private agency that is responsible for the placement and care of a child receiving AFDC-FC. The department may inquire at any time into the management of any institution or public or private agency receiving aid on behalf of children under their placement and care in accordance with the provisions of this chapter or into the management by any county of Aid to Families with Dependent Children. If an institution, public or private agency or a county fails to comply promptly with the provisions of this chapter and the rules and regulations of the department cannot be enforced in any other manner, the institution, public or private agency or county failing or refusing to comply with such provisions, rules, and regulations, or to permit the inquiry provided for in this section, shall not thereafter receive aid under the provisions of this chapter until it has complied with all such provisions, rules, and regulations and has permitted the inquiry by the department, if such inquiry is demanded. 11210. The department shall make such reports, in such form and containing such information, as the United States Department of Health and Human Services from time to time requires, and shall comply with such provisions as that department from time to time finds necessary to assure correctness and verification of such reports. County welfare departments and any public or private agency receiving aid on behalf of children under their placement and care in accordance with the provisions of this chapter shall provide the department with all information and statistics required to compile the reports. 11211. Rehabilitation or employment training or job placement made pursuant to any program of rehabilitation or job development and placement operated by a county welfare department or by any state agency shall not be considered completed, and the recipient shall be considered to remain unemployed, until such time as the recipient receives from his earnings an income equivalent to the amount of income which he and his family are entitled to receive pursuant to provisions of this chapter. This section shall be operative only on a demonstration project basis in a single, urban county selected by the department, and only during such time as the Secretary of Health, Education and Welfare has waived compliance with Section 402 of the Social Security Act as permitted by Section 1115 of that act. 11212. (a) The state, through the county welfare department, shall reimburse the foster parent or foster parents for the cost of the burial plot and funeral expenses incurred for any child who, at the time of death, is receiving foster care, as defined in Section 11251, to the extent that the foster parent or foster parents are not otherwise reimbursed for costs incurred for those purposes. (b) The state, through the county welfare department, shall pay the burial costs and funeral expenses directly to the funeral home and the burial plot owner when either one of the following conditions exists: (1) The foster parent or foster parents request the direct payment. (2) The child's death is due to alleged criminal negligence or other alleged criminal action on the part of the foster parent or foster parents. (c) The foster parent, or the funeral home and burial plot provider, shall file a claim for reimbursement of costs with the county welfare department at the time and in the manner specified by the department. The county welfare department shall pay the claims in an amount not to exceed the level of reimbursement allowed by the California Victim Compensation and Government Claims Board for burial costs and funeral expenses under its Victims of Violent Crimes program, which is contained in Article 1 (commencing with Section 13959) of Chapter 5 of Part 4 of Division 3 of Title 2 of the Government Code. Claims for the burial costs and funeral expenses for a foster child shall be paid out of funds appropriated annually to the department for those purposes. 11213. For the purpose of developing a more efficient, effective, and equitable Aid to Families With Dependent Children-Foster Care program, the department shall develop: (a) A management information database providing expenditure and caseload characteristics information, such as method of entry into AFDC-FC, average cost of placement, type of facility used for placement, and average length of stay in placement. (b) A quality control system for AFDC-FC, and recommendations to the Legislature regarding resources required for implementation of the system by October 1, 1980. (c) Recommendations to the Legislature regarding the following: (1) A system or systems for establishing payment levels for children eligible to the AFDC-FC program. (2) Plans and resources required for implementation of the selected system or systems by July 1, 1981. (d) Recommendations to the Legislature regarding defining that segment of the population to be served by the AFDC-FC program, and impact of such definition on the current AFDC-FC population. 11214. (a) The department, with the advice and assistance of the counties, shall develop performance standards for the AFDC-FC program for submission to the Joint Legislative Budget Committee by January 1, 1981. The Joint Legislative Budget Committee shall review and comment on the performance standards by February 15, 1981. After considering the committee's comment and review, the department shall adopt performance standards by regulation no later than April 15, 1981. The performance standards shall be measurable objectives for the AFDC-FC program. Any county which does not meet the performance standards shall be liable for up to the total amount of nonfederal expenditures for aid payments pursuant to subdivision (b) of Section 15200 as determined by the director. (b) No county shall be reimbursed for any percentage increases in the payments to any group home which exceed the percentage cost-of-living increase provided in any fiscal year beginning on or after July 1, 1979, to persons eligible for aid under this chapter and who meet the conditions of this subdivision. This subdivision shall remain in effect until July 1, 1983. 11215. (a) The department, with the advice and assistance of the County Welfare Directors' Association, the Chief Probation Officers' Association, the California Conference of Local Mental Health Directors, and foster care providers, shall develop performance standards and outcome measures for determining the appropriateness of out-of-home care placements made under the AFDC-Foster Care program and for the effective and efficient administration of the AFDC-Foster Care program. These performance standards shall link county administration of the AFDC-Foster Care program to the state funding of the AFDC-Foster Care program as specified in subdivision (c) of Section 15200. (b) (1) The performance standards required by this section shall be developed by July 1, 1993, and shall use the Child Welfare Services Case Management System as the database by which to collect county specific information. The performance standards shall be designed to measure each county's performance in all of the areas over which the county has some degree of influence and other areas of measurable program performance that the department can demonstrate as areas over which county welfare and probation departments have adequate resources and can demonstrate meaningful managerial or administrative influence. These areas may include accuracy of eligibility determination, stability of foster care placement, appropriateness of level of care provided, compliance with statutory timeliness, and compliance with data reporting requirements. The performance standards system shall include, but not be limited to, outcome measures reflective of county placing agencies' use of the Level of Care Assessment Instrument specified in Section 11467. (2) The performance standards system shall be implemented in conjunction with the implementation of the Child Welfare Services Case Management System. If the Child Welfare Services Case Management System is not implemented by July 1, 1993, as specified in Section 16501.5, the implementation of the performance standards system, as specified in paragraphs (4) and (5), shall be moved to a date two years after the date of implementation of the Child Welfare Services Case Management System. (3) Regulations regarding the implementation of the performance standards system shall be adopted no later than July 1, 1994. These regulations shall specify both the performance standards system and the manner by which the percentage of state reimbursement to each county for the AFDC-Foster Care program shall be determined. (4) Effective July 1, 1995, any county that does not meet the performance standards shall be liable for a decrease in the percentage of state reimbursement for the AFDC-Foster Care program to the amounts specified in paragraph (2) of subdivision (c) of Section 15200. This amount will be determined by the department at the start of each fiscal year, beginning with fiscal year 1995-96, pursuant to regulations developed as specified in paragraph (4). 11216. (a) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, federal Temporary Assistance for Needy Families block grant funds or state maintenance of effort funds may only be expended outside of the CalWORKs program if the expenditure does not result in additional caseload to be included in the calculation of the state's Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program caseload reduction credit. (b) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the amount of federal Temporary Assistance for Needy Families block grant funds authorized for any program except the CalWORKs program shall not be increased above the amount appropriated in the annual Budget Act. 11217. (a) The Director of Social Services shall execute a declaration stating that increased federal financial participation in the Emergency Contingency Fund for State Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) Programs is no longer available pursuant to the federal American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA) (Public Law 111-5) or subsequent federal legislation, including an amendment to the ARRA, that maintains or extends increased federal financial participation. (b) The director shall provide a copy of the declaration to the appropriate policy and fiscal committees of the Legislature.