AB 371 CalWORKs Family Unity Act PURPOSE The CalWORKs Family Unity Act of 2015 will support family unity among low-income families with children by repealing current law that penalizes two-parent families in the California Work Opportunity and Responsibility for Kids (CalWORKs) program who work for low wages and clarifying exceptions to the CalWORKs work requirement for relative caregivers. SUMMARY Today, nearly 1 in 4 children live in poverty in California. The California Work Opportunity and Responsibility to Kids (CalWORKs) program was established over 15 years ago to protect children living in poverty and provide assistance to families so that children can be cared for by their own family while supporting parents to prepare for, secure or maintain work. The CalWORKs program requires eligible adults in the household to be employed or participate in employment training (welfare-to-work) while offering limited supports, including child care and transportation. After a decade of cuts, in addition to significant reductions in funding for caseworkers and childcare, the program’s capacity to offer permanent solutions to poverty for our poorest kids is limited. As a result, many families are experiencing the real and dangerous consequences of deep poverty. As of January 2015, the maximum grant for a family of three is $638 a month, which is less than 42% of the federal poverty level, but many families receive less. In fact, on average, cash grants under the program are less than what a family received in 1988. Maintaining family unity is not always in the best interest of children, especially when abuse, violence or drug abuse is involved. However, for many children familial relationships can act as an important tool to prevent or ameliorate the toxic stress of deep poverty. This is why it is more important than ever that, in addition to working toward long and short-term solutions to deep poverty among children, we need to change current laws that are discouraging family unity for children supported through the CalWORKs system and that reflect the realities of today’s economy. CURRENT LAW The current CalWORKs program maintains provisions that are outdated holdovers from the old Aid to Family with Dependent Children Program (AFDC), known as deprivation tests. The deprivation test requires a family to show absence of parental support in addition to proving that they have met income and asset tests in order to receive assistance through the program. This rules most harmful impact is that it results in a denial of aid to two-parent families when parents are employed, regardless of whether or not their income and assets qualify them for aid. California is one of only 9 states that maintain the deprivation tests. SOLUTION AB 371 will remove the deprivation test in CalWORKs which will not only even the rules for two-parent households but also simplify the CalWORKs program eligibility requirements and align them with CalFresh and Medi-Cal. SUPPORT Western Center on Law & Poverty The Coalition of California Welfare Rights Organizations STAFF CONTACT Elena Santamaria [email protected] 916.319.2022
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