11520-11522
WELFARE AND INSTITUTIONS CODE
SECTION 11520-11522
11520. The State Department of Social Services shall ensure that a comprehensive, independent statewide evaluation of the CalWORKs program is undertaken and that accurate evaluative information is made available to the Legislature in a timely fashion. 11520.3. The department shall develop a research design to ensure a thorough evaluation of the direct and indirect effects of the CalWORKs program. Effects shall include, but not be limited to, employment, earnings, self-sufficiency, child care, child support, child well-being, family structure, and impacts on local government. Child well-being shall include entries into foster care, at-risk births, school achievement, child abuse reports, and rates of child poverty. 11520.5. The statewide evaluation shall be conducted by an independent evaluator or evaluators. It shall represent a clear delineation of the research questions and shall, through discrete reports issued at regular intervals, provide information regarding process, impacts, and analyses of the costs and benefits of the CalWORKs program. 11520.7. The department shall ensure that county demonstration projects and other innovative county approaches to CalWORKs program implementation are independently and rigorously evaluated and that findings are reported to the Legislature in a timely fashion. The evaluation of a county-specific program shall be developed in conjunction with the county and other appropriate agencies responsible for the local program. 11521. By July 1, 1998, the department shall revise data collection procedures used for quality control and caseload characteristic studies in order to respond to the data collection requirements of Public Law 104-193 and state law. The department shall develop common data definitions to be used by the counties, design common identifiers, and, to the extent possible, standardize state and county data collection infrastructure. The department shall accomplish the requirements of this section in consultation with experts in monitoring and research, representatives of counties, the Legislature, and appropriate state agencies. 11521.3. Evaluation of CalWORKs program implementation conducted or commissioned by the department shall, to the extent practical, use or build upon existing welfare data archives, including, but not limited to, the data bases and research completed to date as part of the Work Pays Demonstration Project authorized pursuant to Chapter 97 of the Statutes of 1992. 11521.5. The department shall have access and authority to obtain for tracking, monitoring, research and evaluation purposes to data collected by counties on recipients receiving cash aid, in-kind payments, or supportive services. 11521.7. The department shall continue the evaluation of Cal-Learn and issue a final report to the Legislature by July 1, 2000. 11522. The department, in conjunction with participating representatives of counties and the Legislature, shall develop approaches to improving data collection and management information reporting in the CalWORKs program.