CHAPTER 1.3. County Plans for CalWORKs [10530. - 10535.]

Cal. Welfare and Institutions Code - WIC 1.3.

in effect

Cal. Welfare and Institutions Code - WIC § 10530. Section 10530.

It is the intent of the Legislature that, in developing the plan required by this chapter, counties shall make an effort not to duplicate planning processes that have already occurred within the county, but rather to build upon, and incorporate where appropriate, existing local plans that provide for a collaborative approach to employment services, economic development, and family and children’s services. These shall include, but are not limited to, county GAIN plans developed prior to CalWORKs implementation, county plans developed pursuant to Section 18987.3, economic development plans, employment development plans, and plans intended to guide any other local efforts relevant to CalWORKs implementation.

Cal. Welfare and Institutions Code - WIC § 10531. Section 10531.

Each county shall develop a plan consistent with state law that describes how the county intends to deliver the full range of activities and services necessary to move CalWORKs recipients from welfare to work. The plan shall be updated as needed. The plan shall describe: (a) How the county will collaborate with other public and private agencies to provide for all necessary training, and support services. (b) The county’s partnerships with the private sector, including employers and employer associations, and how those partnerships will identify jobs for CalWORKs program recipients. (c) Other means the county will use to identify local labor market needs. (d) The range of welfare-to-work activities the county will offer recipients and the identification of any allowable activities that will not be offered. (e) The process the county will use to provide for the availability of substance abuse and mental health treatment services. (f) The process the county will use to provide for child care and transportation services. (g) The county’s community service plan. (h) How the county will provide training of county workers responsible for working with CalWORKs recipients who are victims of domestic violence. (i) The performance outcomes identified during the local planning process that the county or other local agencies will track in order to measure the extent to which the county’s program meets locally established objectives. (j) The means the county used to provide broad public input to the development of the county’s plan. (k) A budget that specifies the source and expenditures of funds for the program. ( l ) How the county will assist families that are transitioning off aid. (m) All necessary components of the job creation plan required by Section 15365.55 of the Government Code in counties that choose to implement the program described in Chapter 1.12 (commencing with Section 15365.50) of Part 6.7 of Division 3 of Title 2 of the Government Code. (n) Other elements identified by the director, in consultation with the steering committee under Section 10544.5, including elements related to the performance outcomes listed in Sections 10540 and 10541. (o) How the county will comply with federal requirements of the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program (Part A (commencing with Section 601) of Subchapter 4 of Chapter 7 of Title 42 of the United States Code). (p) How the county will coordinate welfare-to-work activities with the local private industry councils or alternate administrative entities designated by the Governor to administer local welfare-to-work programs, including the expenditure of state or other matching funds provided to the county welfare department for welfare-to-work activities. No later than September 1, 1998, and each year thereafter, subject to continued welfare-to-work funding, each county shall submit an addendum to its plan required under this section that describes its coordination efforts.

Cal. Welfare and Institutions Code - WIC § 10532. Section 10532.

The department and the counties shall implement the provisions of the CalWORKs program in the following manner: (a) The department shall issue a planning allocation letter and county plan instructions to the counties within 30 days of the enactment of the CalWORKs program. (b) (1) Each county shall submit a plan for implementation of the CalWORKs program within four months of the issuance of the planning allocation letter by the department. A county may begin implementation of its plan upon submission of the plan to the department or the effective date of the CalWORKs program, whichever is later. (2) Within 30 days of receipt of a county plan, the department shall either certify that the plan includes the description of the elements required by Section 10531 and that the descriptions are consistent with the requirements of state law and, to the extent applicable, federal law or notify the county that the plan is not complete or consistent stating the reasons therefor. (3) If a county is notified that its plan is not complete or consistent, the county shall, within 30 days, resubmit a revised plan to the department for certification. (c) A county shall begin enrolling all new applicants for aid under this chapter in the county’s welfare-to-work program no later than six months from the date of issuance of the planning allocation letter references in subdivision (a) or two months after the certification of the county plan, whichever is later. (d) Funds remaining at the end of the 1997–98 fiscal year or the 1998–99 fiscal year from the funds provided to a county in those years pursuant to Section 15204.2 shall be available to a county until July 1, 2000, and may be expended only for the purposes set forth in Section 15204.2.

Cal. Welfare and Institutions Code - WIC § 10533. Section 10533.

Commencing July 1, 2013, the department shall establish a CalWORKs county peer review process, which shall be implemented on a statewide basis no later than July 1, 2014. The peer review process shall include individual CalWORKs data reviews of counties, based on existing data. Counties shall receive programmatic technical assistance from teams made up of state and peer-county administrators to assist with implementing best practices to improve their performance and make progress toward meeting established state performance goals, as specified in Chapter 1.5 (commencing with Section 10540) and Section 15204.6.

Cal. Welfare and Institutions Code - WIC § 10534. Section 10534.

(a) Each county shall perform a comprehensive review of its existing CalWORKs plan developed pursuant to Section 10531, and shall prepare and submit to the department a plan addendum detailing how the county will meet the goals defined in Section 10540, while taking into consideration the work participation requirements of the federal Deficit Reduction Act of 2005 (P.L.109-171). The plan shall include immediate and long-range actions that the county will take to improve work participation rates among CalWORKs applicants and recipients. The plan addendum, at a minimum, shall include all of the following: (1) How the county will address increased participation in the following areas: (A) Providing upfront engagement activities. (B) Reengaging noncompliant or sanctioned individuals. (C) Providing activities to encourage participation and to prevent families from going into sanction status. (D) Achieving full engagement by individuals who are required to participate, and who are partially participating, not participating, or are between activities. (E) Other activities designed to increase the county’s federal work participation rate. (2) A description of how the county will utilize the single allocation and other funding that will be committed to the county’s CalWORKs program. (3) A description of anticipated outcomes, including the number of families affected, that will result in county program improvements, and the projected impact on the county’s federal work participation rate. (4) A proposed plan to measure progress in achieving the anticipated outcomes pursuant to paragraph (3) on a quarterly basis. (5) A description of how the county will collaborate with local agencies, including, but not limited to, local workforce investment boards, community colleges, and adult education and regional occupational programs that provide activities that meet federal work participation requirements and provide participants with skills that will help them achieve long-term self-sufficiency. (b) Each county shall submit its plan addendum to the department no later than 90 days after the department issues guidance for the addendum by all-county letter. Each addendum shall include a certification that the county board of supervisors has been briefed regarding the contents of the plan. (c) Within 30 days of receipt of a county plan addendum, the department shall either certify that the plan includes the elements required by subdivision (a) and that the descriptions are consistent with state, and to the extent applicable, federal law, or notify the county that the addendum is not complete or consistent, stating the reasons therefor. (d) Pending certification of the plan addendum, a county shall continue to operate its program according to its existing plan, and may implement changes consistent with the goals of the activities to be described by the addendum as specified in subdivision (a). (e) A county shall submit an addendum to the county plan, as required by this chapter once every three years, as required by the department.

Cal. Welfare and Institutions Code - WIC § 10534.5. Section 10534.5.

(a) The department shall review the county plans developed pursuant to Section 10534 in order to identify promising practices in the areas of upfront engagement and reengagement of sanctioned families, and shall work with the County Welfare Directors Association (CWDA) and county welfare directors to gather information on implementation and results of these practices, that can inform future efforts to increase participation in welfare-to-work activities. (b) The department, in conjunction with the CWDA, shall review the county plans and work with county welfare directors and the CWDA to determine what activities and strategies that counties are using to encourage participation among time-limited families, and gather information about the characteristics of the time-limited population. (c) The department shall provide a written update to the Legislature on March 1, 2008, of the information required by subdivisions (a) and (b) that is gathered by that date. The department shall provide the final report of the information required by subdivisions (a) and (b) to the Legislature and county welfare directors, on or before September 1, 2008.

Cal. Welfare and Institutions Code - WIC § 10535. Section 10535.

Notwithstanding any other provision of law, of the amount appropriated in Item 5180-101-0890 in the Budget Act of 2006, ninety million dollars ($90,000,000) in federal Temporary Assistance for Needy Families block grant funds for the CalWORKs program shall remain eligible for expenditure until June 30, 2008.

Source: CA Legislative Counsel Bulk DataURL: https://downloads.leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/pubinfo_2025.zipFetched: 6/27/2026