In summary
State lawmakers want to loosen CalWORKs job requirements so people keep cash benefits. Congress’ debt limit deal could curb that.
Just as Republicans in Congress are moving to beef up work requirements for people who receive welfare, California lawmakers are moving to do the opposite.
Included in a recent state Assembly budget proposal, and in a bill the Assembly passed on Wednesday, is a plan to remake CalWORKs, the state’s federally funded cash welfare program that requires recipients to work or search for jobs using a list of approved activities.
Under the proposed state changes, recipients would gain greater flexibility to participate in activities such as going to school, domestic violence counseling, addiction treatment or mental health care. The proposal, estimated to cost $100 million, also would lessen financial penalties if recipients violate work rules.
That would make it likely that fewer recipients would get jobs and more likely California would miss a key federal work standard, for which it could be fined.
The goals of the proposed changes are to address practical barriers to employment that CalWORKs recipients – some 340,000 of the poorest families in California – experience, and make it easier for more families to qualify for cash assistance.
And, to prod California’s 58 county social service agencies to carry out the plan, the proposal also would shield counties from potential federal fines.
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