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                    |
          |     |                          |     |                          |
           ----------------------------------------------------------------- 

           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  








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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 



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