BILL ANALYSIS SB 1639 Page 1 SENATE THIRD READING SB 1639 (Alarcon) As Amended August 16, 2004 Majority vote SENATE VOTE :22-13 HIGHER EDUCATION 6-0 HUMAN SERVICES 4-1 ----------------------------------------------------------------- |Ayes:|Liu, Shirley Horton, |Ayes:|Wolk, Dutra, Longville, | | |Jackson, Lowenthal, | |Mullin | | |Matthews, | | | | |Negrete McLeod | | | | | | | | |-----+--------------------------+-----+--------------------------| | | |Nays:|Haynes | | | | | | ----------------------------------------------------------------- APPROPRIATIONS 14-5 ----------------------------------------------------------------- |Ayes:|Chu, Berg, Laird, | | | | |Firebaugh, Goldberg, | | | | |Leno, Nation, | | | | |Negrete McLeod, Oropeza, | | | | |Pavley, Ridley-Thomas, | | | | |Wesson, Wiggins, Yee | | | | | | | | |-----+--------------------------+-----+--------------------------| |Nays:|Runner, Bates, Daucher, | | | | |Haynes, Keene | | | | | | | | ----------------------------------------------------------------- SUMMARY : Gives greater emphasis in CalWORKs to education and training, promotes postsecondary education for foster children, and authorizes the Student Aid Commission to apply for federal funds to develop a supplemental grant for Cal Grant recipients who are single parents. Specifically, this bill : 1)Makes legislative findings and declarations that: a) Education is an effective avenue to break the cycle of poverty for the California Work Opportunity and SB 1639 Page 2 Responsibility to Kids program (CalWORKs) and immigrant parents; b) CalWORKs parents completing postsecondary education and training programs are twice as likely to get jobs than those enrolling in work-first programs, at nearly double the hourly wage; and, c) Foster youth enroll in college at less than half the rate of high school graduates generally, and this leads to disproportionate homelessness, unemployment and poverty. 2)Encourages county welfare departments to use the California Self-Sufficiency Standard or an equivalent tool for client counseling to enable participants to move toward self-sufficiency. 3)Encourages the California institutions of higher education to disseminate information to foster care agencies regarding admissions requirements and financial aid, and requests university administrators to explore methods of using the admissions-by-exemption category to assist foster youth make the transition to four-year colleges. 4)Authorizes the Student Aid Commission to apply for and administer federal funding to develop a supplemental grant for Cal Grant recipients who are single parents. 5)Counts two hours of study time for each unit of study toward the 32-hour weekly CalWORKs participation requirement. 6)Allows mental health, substance treatment and domestic violence services to be combined with approved educational or vocational training to count toward the required 32 hours of weekly work participation. 7)Adds educational attainment among the factors to be included in the participant's CalWORKs appraisal, and identification of career paths, education and training necessary to achieve self-sufficiency to the elements of the assessment. 8)Defines "self-sufficiency" to mean the level of income needed for a family to adequately meet its basic needs, including costs for housing, child care, food, transportation and health care. SB 1639 Page 3 9)Requires counties to inform each participant in writing of options for education and training prior to the appraisal, and allows counties to do this by modifying existing written information. 10)Adds access to information regarding educational options to the foster children's bill of rights. 11)Encourages the state Department of Social Services (DSS), county welfare departments and foster home services to work with the Student Aid Commission, the University of California, California State University and California community colleges regarding educational options for foster youth. EXISTING LAW : 1)Provides for CalWORKs under which each county provides cash assistance and other benefits and services to qualified low-income families and individuals. 2)Requires that non-exempt CalWORKs recipients participate in 32 hours of welfare-to-work activities weekly, of which 20 hours are to be in defined "core work activities." Vocational training and education are considered core activities for up to 12 months of participation and education leading to employment may count toward the core work activity when they cannot be performed in the non-core hours of participation. 3)Establishes the Student Aid Commission as the primary state agency for the administration of state-authorized student financial aid programs, including the Cal Grant program, available to students attending all segments of postsecondary education. 4)Declares that it is the policy of the state that all children in foster care have prescribed rights. FISCAL EFFECT : According to the Assembly Appropriations Committee Analysis, the cost of this bill is less than $100,000 for the Department of Social Services to establish regulations regarding countable work activities under the CalWORKs program. COMMENTS : This bill seeks to promote education and training as a means of improving skills and educational qualifications for SB 1639 Page 4 low-income parents, especially CalWORKs participants in welfare-to-work programs and for foster youth facing adulthood. CalWORKs was enacted in 1997, implementing the federal Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996. It adopts a "work-first" approach, requiring most participants to seek immediate employment, and offering education or training after an assessment and creation of a welfare-to-work plan if a participant is unsuccessful in finding a job. CalWORKs allows persons already enrolled in an education or training program at the time of the CalWORKs appraisal to continue in their program in "self-initiated programs (SIPs)." Supporters of SB 1639 cite various reports and studies in support of enhanced emphasis on education and training. The Center for Law and Social Policy observed in a 2003 report, "1999 Census data show women with an associate degree earn more than twice as much as those without a high school diploma (about $24,000 annually compared to about $11,000) and 37% more than those with only a high school diploma (who earn about $17,000)." In May 2004, a report issued by the California Community College Chancellor's Office and the Center for Law and Social Policy (CCCCO/CLASP) concluded students who completed a vocational program had higher earnings and better employment rates than those completing non-vocational programs, and the longer the vocational program, the greater the economic pay-off. Counting of study time hours: SB 1639 allows CalWORKs participants in education programs to count two hours for every enrolled unit toward the 32-hour (or 35-hour for two-parent families) weekly work participation requirement. State law and DSS regulations currently do not authorize the counting of these hours for participants in self-initiated programs, limiting approved hours to those "required for classroom, laboratory or internship activities." Supporters argue that failing to count this time for self-initiated participants places added pressures on the family and inhibits successful completion of educational programs. The two-hour standard is recognized by California community colleges, and derives from recommendations of the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching. Information about self-initiated programs: SB 1639 requires counties to inform each participant in writing of options for SB 1639 Page 5 education and training, including self-initiated programs, before the participant is appraised. To be able to continue in an education or training program already begun, a person must be enrolled at the time of the appraisal. The mandated provision of information is designed to put CalWORKs applicants on notice that they need to enroll before the appraisal interview with the CalWORKs program occurs. This bill allows counties to satisfy this provision by modifying existing written information provided to participants prior to appraisal. The self-sufficiency standard: SB 1639 encourages counties to use the California Self-Sufficiency Standard or an equally specific tool in client counseling to enable participants to move toward economic self-sufficiency. The Self-Sufficiency Standard to which reference is made was developed by the Californians for Family Economic Self-Sufficiency. The standard for 2003 evaluated basic costs of living for working families, including expenses for housing, child care, food, transportation, health care, taxes and miscellaneous items. The standard varies based on family size and geographic area. In Los Angeles, it is $35,977 annually for a family of an adult and preschooler (a wage of $17.03 per hour), and $48,590 for a two-adult family with two children, one of whom is a preschooler ($11.50 per hour per adult). Analysis Prepared by : Casey McKeever / HUM. S. / (916) 319-2089 FN: 0007823