Understanding CalWORKs - California Center for Research on ...

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• The <strong>Cali<strong>for</strong>nia</strong> Employment Development Department(EDD) administers <strong>Cali<strong>for</strong>nia</strong>’s Work<strong>for</strong>ce InvestmentAct, which annually distributes federal funds toprovide employment and training services <strong>for</strong> adults.EDD also administers the Intensive Services Program,which provides intensive and individualizedemployment services to <strong>CalWORKs</strong> recipients toenhance their job readiness and help them obtainemployment and transition to the workplace.• The <strong>Cali<strong>for</strong>nia</strong> Department of Education (CDE) isdesignated in state law as the single state agency <strong>for</strong>child care and development programs. CDEadministers two stages of child care subsidies <strong>for</strong>current and <strong>for</strong>mer <strong>CalWORKs</strong> recipients. CDE alsofunds and administers adult education and vocationalprograms that provide education, training, and jobplacement services to teens and adults, including<strong>CalWORKs</strong> recipients.• The <strong>Cali<strong>for</strong>nia</strong> Community Colleges (CCC) assist<strong>CalWORKs</strong> recipients with services, includingcurriculum development to design employmentfocusedprograms, work study, job placement, childcare, post-employment skills, training, andinstructional services.<strong>CalWORKs</strong> at theCOUNTY LEVELThe primary responsibility <strong>for</strong> implementing the<strong>CalWORKs</strong> program at the local level resides with<strong>Cali<strong>for</strong>nia</strong>’s 58 counties. <strong>CalWORKs</strong> is managed througheach county welfare or social services department.<strong>Cali<strong>for</strong>nia</strong>’s 58 counties each receive a single allocation in the<strong>for</strong>m of a block grant to fund eligibility determination,employment/training services, supportive services, and childcare. Each county must develop a <strong>CalWORKs</strong> plan thatoutlines how the county intends to deliver the full range ofactivities and services aimed at moving recipients fromwelfare to work. This plan must be approved by both thecounty’s Board of Supervisors and CDSS.Services counties provide include:Eligibility/cash assistance• initial eligibility determination and annualre-determination, as well as processing quarterlyincome and participation reports; and• providing cash assistance to <strong>CalWORKs</strong> recipients.Case ManagementCase managers per<strong>for</strong>m numerous activities to help<strong>CalWORKs</strong> recipients prepare <strong>for</strong> and succeed at workactivities. They can:• track hours of participant work participationand services;• provide in<strong>for</strong>mation about parenting classes;• help the participant explore employmentopportunities;• link the participant to training;• link the participant to employment;• link the participant to substance abuse, mentalhealth and domestic abuse counseling andservices;• evaluate supportive services and ancillary needs;• help remove barriers, such as lack ofdependable transportation;• provide referrals to child care providers;• provide coaching on money management, conflictresolution, and appropriate work behaviors; and• link participants to other community services.Employment assistance• case management, assessment, and appraisals;• job placement services, including job search, paidand unpaid work experience, and community servicejob placement;• work activities that increase the capacity of participantsto obtain and hold a job, such as vocational training,GED, English as a Second Language;• supportive services, such as reimbursement <strong>for</strong>transportation and employment counseling;• services to address mental health conditions, substanceabuse, and domestic violence;• in<strong>for</strong>mation on child care;• child care payments <strong>for</strong> Stage 1 child careproviders; and• tracking and documentation of monthly attendanceof participants in WTW activities.18 www.ccrwf.org
PUBLIC AND PRIVATE AGENCIESCounties typically partner with numerous nonprofit andprivate agencies to implement their <strong>CalWORKs</strong> programs.This section provides an overview of the governmental,nonprofit, and private agencies and programs involved inproviding services to <strong>CalWORKs</strong> families at the local level.Public AgenciesCounty social services departments have primary program andadministrative responsibility <strong>for</strong> <strong>CalWORKs</strong>. Theirresponsibilities include: determining recipient eligibility;deciding the extent and manner of services provided;organizing and administering the Welfare-to-Workcomponent, including child care services; allocating<strong>CalWORKs</strong> funds to local service providers; and coordinatingwith government and private agencies. In addition, countysocial services departments have primary responsibility toadminister the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program(known as Food Stamps in <strong>Cali<strong>for</strong>nia</strong>), Medi-Cal program,Child Care program, and Refugee Services. County social<strong>CalWORKs</strong>: Organizational andCultural Shift in CountiesImplementation of <strong>CalWORKs</strong> in 1998 requiredcounty welfare departments to quickly reexamine andrestructure their welfare service systems. Within a shorttime, each county welfare department had to move fromprimarily administering a cash grant program todeciding how to design, implement, and operate acomplex and multi-faceted employment servicesprogram.Unlike its small and under-funded predecessor, theGAIN program, <strong>CalWORKs</strong> called <strong>for</strong> nearly universalparticipation of recipients in WTW activities. Given theexpanded workload and the shift in skills and expertiserequired of <strong>CalWORKs</strong> workers, counties confrontedissues of adequate staffing, staff training, contractingout, and potential conflicts with union contracts.The range of services that counties were required toprovide under <strong>CalWORKs</strong> necessitated newrelationships and coordination among countydepartments (welfare, mental health, alcohol and drugprograms), as well as with work<strong>for</strong>ce agencies,community and nonprofit agencies, educationalinstitutions, child care referral agencies and providers,and employers. In response, many counties reorganizedtheir social services agencies and, in some cases,co-located program staff from different departments(e.g., mental health and substance abuse workers).services departments also administer Child Welfare Servicesthat provide protective services, support <strong>for</strong> abused andneglected children, foster care, and adoption services.County mental health departments and county alcohol and drugdepartments receive special funds to provide mental healthand substance abuse treatment services <strong>for</strong> <strong>CalWORKs</strong>families. Counties may choose to provide these servicesthrough contracts with private providers or through acombination of county staff and private providers.County offices of education and local school districts fund andadminister an array of educational programs, including adulteducation programs and vocationally oriented programs (suchas the Regional Occupational and Career Programs), whichare available to <strong>CalWORKs</strong> recipients as well as other teensand adults. County offices of education also administerstate-funded preschool programs, which provide child care<strong>for</strong> the children of <strong>CalWORKs</strong> families and other lowincomefamilies.Local colleges and universities, including community colleges,the <strong>Cali<strong>for</strong>nia</strong> State Universities, and the University of<strong>Cali<strong>for</strong>nia</strong>, offer degree programs and other educationalcourses that can help <strong>CalWORKs</strong> recipients findemployment. The 110 local community colleges also offer anumber of targeted services to <strong>CalWORKs</strong> recipients, inaddition to training and educational opportunities. Theseservices include in<strong>for</strong>mation about available child care services(both on and off campus), work study and job placementopportunities, career counseling, and other support services.Local child support agencies provide services such as locatingabsent parents, establishing paternity, obtaining anden<strong>for</strong>cing child support orders, and collecting anddistributing payments. Child support en<strong>for</strong>cement andcollection can affect the eligibility and benefits received by<strong>CalWORKs</strong> families.Local employment agencies can provide employment assistanceservices to <strong>CalWORKs</strong> families. They may do soindependently or based on <strong>for</strong>mal arrangements with socialservices departments. Assistance provided to <strong>CalWORKs</strong>participants by local employment agencies can includethe following:• Local field offices of the <strong>Cali<strong>for</strong>nia</strong> EmploymentDevelopment Department (EDD) offer a varietyof programs to bring together qualified job seekerswith employers who have job openings, includingprograms focused on low-income and hard-to-employpopulations.• Local Work<strong>for</strong>ce Investment Boards (LWIBs)administer state and federally funded employmentprograms in <strong>Cali<strong>for</strong>nia</strong>’s 49 Local Work<strong>for</strong>ceInvestment Areas (LWIAs). LWIBs also administerwww.ccrwf.org19
Page 2: Kate Karpilow, Ph.D.Executive Direc
Page 7 and 8: Family FormationTANF includes polic
Page 9 and 10: Child-Only CasesChild-only cases ar
Page 11 and 12: THE CALIFORNIAPROGRAMTwo recent wav
Page 13 and 14: Table 2: Region 1 CountiesAlamedaCo
Page 15 and 16: Table 4: Comparison of Federal and
Page 17 and 18: • age 60 or older;• disabled;
Page 19: When a family, without good cause,*
Page 23 and 24: local One-Stop employment centers,
Page 25 and 26: Plans include:• activities and se
Page 27 and 28: CalWORKs legislati
Page 30 and 31: Congress under ARRA. In FY 2010-11,
Page 32 and 33: MENTAL HEALTH ANDSUBSTANCE ABUSE SE
Page 34 and 35: PROFILE OF CalWORKs</strong
Page 36 and 37: Other Issues Among CalWORKs
Page 38 and 39: CalWORKs Grant Cut
Page 40 and 41: CHILDREN and SERVICESIncrease in Ch
Page 42 and 43: 13 Ibid.14 Califor<
Page 44: About CCRWFThe Cali

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