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(a) The Legislature finds and declares all of the following:
(1) The Legislature has taken numerous steps in recent years to improve the CalWORKs program for the families who rely on it. These changes have moved California towards a more modern and compassionate approach to alleviating family poverty, and are grounded in awareness of the social determinants of health, adverse childhood experiences, and the neurotoxicity and trauma of intergenerational poverty.
(2) County human services departments have led a redesign of the welfare-to-work program, known as CalWORKs 2.0, over the past five years. CalWORKs 2.0 is based on input gathered from program participants, employment services staff, and other stakeholders, as well as recent behavioral science research. The redesigned approach to welfare-to-work engagement focuses on mutual engagement between county staff and clients, that helps families set and achieve personalized goals directly relevant to their lives. This approach requires more individualized case management, tailored to families’ and individuals’ needs and strengths.
(3) The Legislature adopted a new CalWORKs Outcome and Accountability Review (Cal-OAR) system in 2017. Cal-OAR establishes a locally focused, data-driven program management system that facilitates continuous improvement of county CalWORKs programs by collecting, analyzing, and disseminating outcomes and best practices. Cal-OAR has the potential to transform the CalWORKs program from one which focuses on work participation as the primary measure of success to one which measures a wide variety of real-life, participant-centered outcomes.
(4) The COVID-19 pandemic and the disproportionate health and economic impacts of the pandemic on low-income persons, exacerbated within communities of color, make it even more clear how urgent and necessary implementation of CalWORKs 2.0 and Cal-OAR principles are in helping impoverished families and people of color, who are disproportionately represented in the program.
(5) Cal-OAR implementation efforts were delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and the state is now entering a phase that will allow reengagement in employment services activities as well as a renewed focus on the CalWORKs 2.0 and Cal-OAR structures.
(b) It is the intent of the Legislature that all of the following are accomplished:
(1) To restart robust conversations around CalWORKs 2.0 and Cal-OAR and set an implementation timeline, including consideration of recommendations made in February 2020 by a legislatively mandated Cal-OAR workgroup. This effort should include development of training and resources for county CalWORKs staff in order to implement the necessary culture change within CalWORKs.
(2) To assist counties in developing and implementing training and resources for county CalWORKs staff, to reflect the racial, ethnic and cultural diversity of our families and communities in California and to promote equity and inclusion in CalWORKs policy and practice. Understanding and building on the steps counties have already taken in this regard is important to further building on that work statewide.
(3) To further the implementation of CalWORKs 2.0 and Cal-OAR statewide, it is the intent of the Legislature that the following steps will occur:
(A) Funding for intensive case management.
(B) Development of resources and training to assist counties in implementing program changes.
(C) Development of trauma-informed, anti-racist, and anti-stigma training for CalWORKs staff geared towards child and family well-being.