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
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|Ayes:|Liu, Shirley Horton, |Ayes:|Wolk, Dutra, Longville, |
| |Jackson, Lowenthal, | |Mullin |
| |Matthews, | | |
| |Negrete McLeod | | |
| | | | |
|-----+--------------------------+-----+--------------------------|
| | |Nays:|Haynes |
| | | | |
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APPROPRIATIONS 14-5
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|Ayes:|Chu, Berg, Laird, | | |
| |Firebaugh, Goldberg, | | |
| |Leno, Nation, | | |
| |Negrete McLeod, Oropeza, | | |
| |Pavley, Ridley-Thomas, | | |
| |Wesson, Wiggins, Yee | | |
| | | | |
|-----+--------------------------+-----+--------------------------|
|Nays:|Runner, Bates, Daucher, | | |
| |Haynes, Keene | | |
| | | | |
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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
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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.
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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
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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
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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