HomeMy WebLinkAboutMINUTES - 12172002 - SD.2 TO: BOARD OF SUPERVISO s .. _... .. Contra
FROM: John Cullen, Directorta
Employment and Human Services Department ',. : G Cos
DATE; November 27, 2002 °�`'rA-�,�-����
County
SUBJECT: CalWORKs 60-MONTH TIME LIMIT
SPECIFIC REQUEST(S)OR RECOMMENDATION(S)&BACKGROUND AND JUSTIFICATION
RECOMMENDATION:
ACCEPT the Employment and Human Services Department's status report on the
CaIWORKs adults who will begin reaching their 60-month CalWORKs time limit
starting December 31, 2002.
BACKGROUND:
In January 2002, we submitted a report to you on the TANF (Temporary
Assistance to Needy Families) and CaIWORKs (California Work Opportunities
and Responsibility to Kids) 60-month time limits. In that report we estimated,
670 CaIWORKs adults would time out in December 31, 2002.
Since that report, we have continued to monitor and analyze the timing out
adults (TOA). The attached status report contains the most recent data on the
number of adults who will reach their CalWORKs time limit on December 31,
2002.
As of November 1, 2002, a considerably lower number of adults, 276, are
expected to reach their CalWORKs time limit. The attached report describes the
reasons for the lower estimate; the adults and their families who are timing out;
and the safety net services that will be available to these families.
CONTINUED ON ATTACHMENT: X YES SIGNATURE:
.___.._------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ---- .i��'��_ --------------------------
RECOMMENDATION OF COUNTY ADMINISTRATOR RECOMMENDATION OF BOARD COMMITTEE
- - APPROVE OTHER
SIGNATURE(S):
--____---------------r_----_-----------------------------______- -_--.--------—------------_-_.------------------------------____-------------------------._---..---_-_
ACTION OF BOARD ON2=2M'j 7.,Z= APPROVE AS RECOMMENDED X OTHER X
W"ADt RZUq AT'PAG" .
VOTE OF SUPERVISORS i HEREBY CERTIFY THAT THIS IS A TRUE
AND CORRECT COPY OF AN ACTION TAKEN
X UNANIMOUS(ABSENT ) AND ENTERED ON THE MINUTES OF THE
BOARD OF SUPERVISORS ON THE DATE
AYES: NOES: SHOWN.
ABSENT: ABSTAIN:
ATTESTED ham( 17� 2002
CONTACT: JOHN SWEETEN,CLERK OF THE
BOARD OF SUPERVISORS AND
COUNTY ADMINISTRATOR
CC: Jahn Cullen-EHSD
BY ° _ - t,. .. uf - DEPUTY
ADDENDUM
SD.2
December 17, 2002
On this date the Board accepted the report from.the Employment and Human Services
Director regarding the status of the Cal WORKS adults who will begin reaching their 60-
month CalWORKS time limit starting December 1, 2002. After conclusion of further
discussions,the Board took the following actions:
■ REQUESTED a letter to be developed from the Board of Supervisors' expressing
concern to Federal and State representatives that those CALWORKS recipients
who have cooperated with the program and obtained jobs,but who are in low
paying jobs and still need cash assistance, should not be penalized when the clock
stops.
Cl'ontra Costa County
1--turnan, Services
CaIWORKs 60-MONTH TIME LIMIT
Status Report
November 2002
Employment & Human Services Department
CnlWORKs DfhTlFMe Limit Status Report' November 2002
oOVERVIEW..'..~^`-----'^..^^.^.^^~'-^~^'~^~'^^~`~``~`^~^^'~------~`'^--^'~^^^^^~-^'~^~^~^--~-`^~^^^^^~---^-~^^~-1
CASE REVIEWS AND NOTICES n3T/muvQOUT o`oULr8 '
.'.'''''''''.^''.'''''.''''''''' '.'..''''''''''..'........................................l
EST{MA TIED NUMBER 0pADULTS WHO WILL TIME OUT EACH MONTH BEGINNING cuDECEMBER 20O2......................1
CHILDSUPPORT Buy BACK....... .............................................. ...............................................................................2
ESTIMATED GRANT AND COST SAVINGS.................... ....... ............... ............................... ..................... ---.--3
ESTIMATED LOSS OPCASH BENEFITS 7OTIMING OUT FAMILIES.................................................................................3
SAFETYNET SERVICES................... ..........................................................................................................................3
How OUR NUMBERS COMPARE WITH OTHER COUNTIES.............................................................................................4
OVERVIEW O*THE DATA ANALYSIS SOURCES AND TIMEFRAMES...............................................................................3
2 EMPLOYMENT STATUS..........,~.~,~.~~~^^-^~-~^~..~~~^~^,,'^,,,^,^,^^,,,^^.^^^^^,^,,,~,_,,^^,^^^^^______,^^^^^^~_6
FAMILY STATUS BREAKDOWN BYCURRENT JOB STATUS................... .....................................................................d
� EARNINGS AND HOURS WORKED.............................................................................................................7
FAMILY STATUS BREAKDOWN avCURRENT HOURLY WAGE........................................................... .......................7
FAMILY STATUS BREAKDOWN avHOURS WORKING PER WEEK.............................................................. ................7
4 FAMILY SIZE AND DEMOGRAPHICS........................................................................................................8
FAMILY STATUS BREAKDOWN oYETHNIC GROUPS.................................. ................................................................8
FAMILY STATUS BREAKDOWN aYPRIMARY LANGUAGE..........................................................................................8
Fxw/cY STATUS BREAKDOWN BYAGE 0FCLIENT................................... ....................................... ........... ----9
FAMILY STATUS BREAKDOWN yvNUMBER npCHILDREN............ .........................................................................l8
FAMILY STATUS BREAKDOWN eYYEARS 0mAFDC AND C^LWURKm....................................... .........................lO
5 CLOCK STOPPERS AND EXTENDERS.....................................................................................................88
Employment & Human Services Department
CaIWORKs 60-Month Time Limit Status Report, November 20102
OVERVIEW
California Work Opportunities and Responsibility to Kids
(CalWORKs), implemented in January 1998, is California's version
of the 1996 Federal Welfare Reform TANF (Temporary Assistance
to Needy Families) legislation. In compliance with the federal
legislation, CalWORKs includes a 60-month life time limit of federally
funded cash benefits. California opted to impose time limits on
adults only and continue to pay cash benefits for children through
state-only funds.
As of December 31, 2002, the first wave of CaIWORKs adults will begin
reaching their 60-month time limit. January 2003 will be the first month
that the adult is excluded from the cash grant. This report provides
data on the timing out adults and their families from several internal
reviews.
Case Reviews and Notices to Timing Out Adults
State regulations require that adults be notified of their time on aid
when they reach their 54th month of aid and their 58th month of aid. In
addition, notice of time on aid is required at intake, at the annual
reinvestigation of eligibility, and at client request.
In June 2002, the Department began an intensive and
comprehensive review of all potentially timing out cases to validate
time on aid. As a result of the review, which is on going, clients' time
clocks were adjusted. Situations that require adjusting a time clock
include. the client was exempt because of a disability, was
sanctioned and not receiving cash aid, or for any of the other "clock
stoppers" listed under section 5 of this report.
Estimated number of adults who will time out each month beginning
in December 2002
In our report to you in January 2002, we estimated that 670 adults
would reach their CalWORKs time limit on december 31, 2002. We
expected that in the course of the year, cases would be
discontinued, transferred to other counties, or that time clocks
would be adjusted thereby reducing the number of adults who
would reach their CalWORKs time limit. The statewide Tracking
Recipients Across California Information System (TRAC) report for
November 27, 2002 1
Employment & Human Services Department
CalWORKs 60-Month Time Limit Status Report, November 2002
Contra Costa County provides an estimate of the number of
adults who will reach the CaIWORKs 60-month time limit in the
next six months.
Based on information as of November 1 , 2002, we now estimate
that approximately 276 CalWORKs adults will reach their CaIWORKs
lifetime limit as of December 31, 2002. This represents 3.7% of our
total CaIWORKs caseload.
However, this number could change. The TRAC system is a
statewide system and counties are continually correcting time on
aid as they review cases. If a family is currently receiving cash aid in
Contra Costa and has received aid in another county at any time
since January 1998, the other county can still adjust the time clock
for the period of time the family received aid in their county. We
too are correcting time clocks that may affect cases that are no
longer in our county. In Contra Costa, approximately 5,417 families
received aid in other counties since January 1998. Statewide
262,532 families received aid in more than one county since
January 1998.
Assuming cases are not discontinued for other reasons or time
clocks adjusted, the monthly total of CalWORKs timed out adults
for the next six months is projected to be:
Dec-02 I Jan-03 Feb-03 Mar-03 A r-63 May-03
Adults who will reach I
CalWORKs time limit in 276 101 79 72 70 66
the month
Cumulative number of 276 377 456 528 598 664
timed out adults
Child Support Buy Back
State regulations provide for "buying back" time when child support
collected since January 1998 is sufficient to reimburse months on
cash aid. In addition to the case reviews to validate time on aid,
we will also review cases on a month-by-month basis to calculate
how many months can be "bought back" because of collected
child support.
November 27, 2002 2
Employment & Human Services department
CaIWORKs 60-Month Time Limit Status Report, November 2002
In collaboration with the department of Child Support Services, we
are obtaining child support collection data for the past five years.
Before any action is taken to discontinue the 276 adults, the case
will be reviewed for child support.
At this time we do not have a realistic estimate of the number of
adults who will benefit from the child support review.
Estimated grant and cast savings
• In our report to you in January 2002, we expected the county's
share of cash assistance for the TANS timed out cases and the
CaIWORKs timed out cases to increase from 2.5% to 5%. In
County Fiscal Letter 02/03-29 issued by the California Department
of Social Services on October 2, 2002, the county share will remain
at 2.5%.
• Based on analysis of cases that are expected to have a timed out
adult through fiscal year 2002/03, the net county cost is negligible.
• There is no county fiscal impact for the timed-out adult's Food
Stamps and Medi-Cal.
Estimated loss of cash benefits to timing out families
• The average CaIWORKs family size is three aided persons.
• The total cash grant for three is $679 per month. The total cash
grant for two is $548 per month.
• The average family will lose $131 in cash benefits when the
timing out adult is removed from aid.
• There may be an increase in the Food Stamp allocation because
the CaIWORKs cash grant will be reduced when the adult is
removed from the grant.
Safety Net Services
• Under current county policy, timed out CaIWORKs adults are not
eligible for General Assistance.
Novembel-27, 2002 3
Employment & Human Services department
CalWORKs 60-Month Time Limit Status Report, November 2002
• Timed out CalWORKs adults will be eligible for employment and
support services under the Workforce Investment Act at the One-
Stop Centers.
• Timed out CaIWORKs adults who are employed at the time of
discontinuance, are eligible to 12 months of job retention services
including supportive services such as transportation. They also will
continue to be eligible for child care for 24 months.
• Timed out CaIWORKs adults will continue to be eligible for Food
Stamps and Medi-Cal if the children continue to receive cash aid
or are otherwise eligible.
• In collaboration with our faith-based partners, we are
developing a family mentoring program for the timing out
families to link them with families who have previously left aid.
Wow our numbers compare with ether counties
The CA 237 CalWORKs Cash Grant Caseload Movement Report for
July 2002 (the most recent available state data) identified 29,290
CaIWORKs cases that will time out in the next 12 months. This
number represents all cases that will eventually be reaching their
CaIWORKs time limit.
CaIWORKs Cases Active in July 2002 who will time out in
neat 12 months
Total statewide: 29,290
County Number of cases % of Statewide cases
Alameda 2,563 8.72%
Contra Costa 676 2.31%
Marin 37 0.13%
Napa 19 0.06%
San Benito 14 0.05%
San Francisco 659 2.25%
San Mateo 99 0.34%
Santa Clara 1,081 3.69%
'Santa Cruz 223 0.76%
Solano 239 a 0.82%
Sonoma 150 0.51%
Stanislaus 600 2.06%
November 27, 2002 4
Employment & Human Services Department
CalWORKs 60-Month Time Limit Status Report, November 2002
Overview of the data analysis sources and timeframes
The following sections (2 through 4) contain statistics based on a
review of the families that are expected to time out December 31,
2002. The analysis was completed in September 2002 and was
based on cases active to CalWORKs in April 2002.
As mentioned earlier in this section, the number of adults and
consequently the families that will be affected is constantly being
revised. The data should be considered as a "point in time"
snapshot of the timing out adults.
November 27, 2002 5
Employment & Human Services Department
CaIWORKs 60-Month Time Limit Status Report, November 2002
EMPLOYMENT STATUS
Family Status Breakdown by Current Job Status
The chart below shows adults who were employed in April 2002 and
the numbers of months they have been employed by family status
(single parent or two-parent household). There is a higher percentage
of employed Timing Out adults as compared to the total CaIWORKs
caseload. In April 2002, 20% of all CaIWORKs families reported earned
income.
65% of single parents were employed while 71% of two parent
families were employed.
40% 77
35% ��;414ONi 10.1121012 too M21110 101
30% 7
25%
20% 1B
15°l01°
0%
None 1 to 3 mos 4 to 6 mos 7 to 11 mos 1 to 3 yrs 3+yrs
Single wJ dependent ■Two Parents ,
+ 52% of the two-parent families were employed at least 1 year as
compared to 23% of the single parent families.
■ Employed single parents were in their current job an average of
14 months.
■ Employed two parent families were in their current job an
average of 28 months
November 27, 2002 6
Employment & Human Services Department
CalWORKs 60-Month Time Limit Status Report, November 2002
EARNINGS and HOURS WORKED
Family Status Breakdown by Current Hourly Wage
Although there is a significantly higher percentage of timing out
adults who are employed compared to the total CalWORKs
caseload, the average hourly wage is lower than the total
CalWORKs caseload average.
For the April - June 2002 Quarter, the average hourly wage for the
total CalWORKs caseload was $9.25. The chart below shows the
average for the employed timing our adults at $7.44 per hour.
i Family-status <$6.75 $6.75- 7 $7,01 - 8.01 - 4 s9.01 - 10 10.01 + Avera eW e
Single w/
dependent 7% 34% 31% 10% 11% 7% $7.86
Two Parents 41% 37% 6% 10% 4% 2% 6.94
Total 22% 1 36% 20% 10% 8% 4% 7.44
• 78% of currently employed two parent families show a current
hourly wage of $7.00 or less compared to 41% of currently
employed single parents with dependents show a current hourly
wage of $7.00 or less.
• Currently working single parents with dependents make an
average of 92 cents per hour more than currently working two
parent families.
Family Status Breakdown by Hours Working per Week
j Average
Family Status 1 - 19 20 - 29 30 - 39 40 + Hours
Single w/
dependent 8% 26% 1 26% 39% 31
Two Parents 23% 27% 1 25% 25% ! 28
I Total 15% 27% 26% 33% 29.7
65% of currently employed single parents with dependents work
30 or more hours per week compared to 50% of two-parent
families work 30 or more hours per week.
November 27, 2002 7
Employment & Human Services Department
CalWORKs 60-Month Time Limit Status Report, November 2002
FAMILY SIZE and DEMOGRAPHICS
Family Status Breakdown by Ethnic groups
50 v_,. 43 ..---- -----. _ ....
45
i
40 i
3a
35 4,11-1.11.111-1
30 2d11.1111.
3
25
20 14
15 13 12 10
10 7, 5 4
5 1
3 2 3
0
®Singh wl dependent ■T°wa Parents
■ 93% of black clients and 71% of white clients, the two largest
ethnic groups timing out in December, have a family status of
"single with dependents)".
■ 88% of Vietnamese, Laotian, and Amerasian clients timing out in
December have a family status of "two parents."
■ 72% of Hispanics have a family status of "single with
dependents)".
Family Status Breakdown by Primary Language
The over representation of Vietnamese speaking clients and ether Asian
groups in our county's timing out population is not unique. Bay Area
counties report a similar trend.
Russian,
Parsi,
Family Status English Spanish Vietnamese Laotian Mien Hmong Total
Single w/ 87 4 5 2 1 1 144
dependent
Two Parents 23 2 33 4 8 5 75
Total 114 6 38 6 9 6 175
November 27, 2002 8
Employment & Human Services Department
CalWORKs 60-Month Time Limit Status Report, November 2002
■ 80% of non-English speaking clients have a family status of "two
parents," while only 21% of English speaking clients have a family
status of "two parents".
Vietnamese speaking clients comprise 22% of the timing out
clients.
Family Status Breakdown by Age of Client
90% ...... -----------
..........
.. .. . ......... .......... . ..............
...... ......... ....
80% . ... . .. .. ........ . .. ...............
*Zgod
.. . ........
70% ........
60%
... ......... .......... ............ ...
.. .. ........-... ........ . .........
...........
..... .....
.. ........ .......................
50%
.....................
. . ........ .....
40% ����
x30% ..............
............ ... .......... .......
..... ..........-.......................
20% ......
...........
.... ..................... .............. .........
..................
............. ... .. ... .. ..............
10%
.... ............. ..... ......
............. ...........
............... ........... ....... ............-..............
..................I
. .. ..............
... .......... ............... ...........................
0% ... . .............................................
20-29 30-39 40-49 50-59
--t--Single w/dependent --*-Two Parrtsj
■ As age increases, the percentage of clients "single with
dependents" decreases, from a high of 78% of clients 20-29 years
old to a low of 32% of clients 50-59 years old.
70% of clients "single with dependents)"are under the age of 40.
* 49% of clients with a family status of "two parents" are under age
40.
* The average age of clients "single with dependent(s)" is 35.6
years old while the average age of clients with a family status of
"two parents" is 40.7 years old.
* A total of 70 clients (40%) are between the ages of 30 - 39, a
total of 49 clients (28%) are between the ages of 40 - 49, and a
total of 37 clients (21%) are between the ages of 20- 2.
* A total of 19 clients (I I%) are the age 50 or older.
November 27, 2002 9
Employment & Human Services Department
CalWORKs 60-Month Time Limit Status Report, November 2002
Family Status Breakdown by Number of Children
30
z5 -a -- --- z�
20 21 1
10 6
5 .
{ 3
1 2 3 4 5 8 . 7+;.
Single w/dependent 24 24 21 16 8 8 3
—46—Two Parents 3 18 4 21 - 15 — — 8---- —6--
Single w/dependent ^" `Two Parents
■ Single parents with dependents have an average of 2.9
dependents while two parent families have an average of 4.0
dependents.
• 48% of single parents with dependents have either 1 or 2
dependents while 28% of two parent families have either 1 or 2
dependents.
Family Status Breakdown by Years on AFDC and CalWORKs
A significant percentage of the first wave of timing out families have
received aid prior to Welfare Reform.
60%
# !
40°/a 39°la
30%
26°la
20°la 23°/a 16°la
"""" 14°1°
10% .10°la
4
0% 'M
> " °l° h
4 or less 5 to S J to 12 13 to 16 17+ f
Years on AFDC and CatWORKa
—'►—Sinyle w/dependent — Two Parents
November 27, 2002 10
Employment & Human Services department
CalWORKs 60-Month Time Limit Status Report, November 2002
► CLOCK STOPPERS and EXTENDERS
■ Clock Stoppers refers to situations when the 60-month clock is stopped or
an aided month is un-ticked while the adult is receiving cash aid. Clock
Stoppers include:
- Disabled (with medical proof of a disability) for at least 30 days.
- Age 60 years or older.
- Caring for an ill or incapacitated person living in your home,
which stops the adult form working or participating in welfare-to-
work activities.
- A victim of domestic abuse and the county has waived the 60-
month time limit.
- Eligible for, or participating in, or exempt from Cal-Learn or
another teen parent program approved by the California
Department of Social Services. Living in Indian Country, as
defined by federal law, or an Alaskan native village, in which at
least 50 percent of the adults are unemployed.
- Any month the family did not receive CalWORKs cash aid
because the cash grant was less than $10.
- Any month that the adult was sanctioned and not part of the
cash aid grant.
- Any month that the cash grant was fully repaid by child support
collection.
- Any month in which the adult only received supportive services
such as child care, transportation, and case management.
■ Clock Extenders allow adults to continue to receive cash aid after they
have reached their 60-month time limit and remain in effect as long as the
situation applies. Clock Extenders include:
- Age 60 years or older.
November 27, 2002 11
Employment & Human Services Department
CalWORKs 60-Month Time Limit Status Report, November 2002
- Caring for an ill or incapacitated person living in your home,
which stops the adult form working or participating in welfare-to-
work activities.
- Caring for a dependent child of the court, or a child at risk of
placement in foster care, which stops the adult from working or
participating in welfare-to-work activities.
- Evaluated by the county and are found to be unable to work or
take part in welfare-to-work activities.
- Disabled and receiving certain types of disability benefits (State
Disability insurance, Workers Compensation Temporary Disability
Insurance, In-Home Supportive Services, or State Supplementary
Program benefits). This extender only applies when the disability
stops the adult from working or participating in welfare-to-work
activities.
November 27, 2002 12
Employment & Human Services Department
CaIWORKs 60-Month Time Limit Status Report, November 2002
SUMMARY
In summary, we estimate that 276 adults will reach their 60-month CaIWORKs
time limit on December 31, 2002. If the family remains otherwise eligible to
CaIWORKs, the children will continue to receive cash assistance. If the family
continues to receive cash assistance, the timed out adults will be eligible for
Medi-Cal and Food Stamps. The timed out adults will also be eligible for
employment services through the One-stop Centers. For those adults who are
employed as of December 315#, they will be eligible to 12 months of job
retention services through our Department.
The data highlights presented in this report are:
• Two-parent families are over represented in the Timing Out cases. In the
total CaIWORKs caseload, two-parent families represent 6% of all
CaIWORKs cases. For the timing out families, they comprise 42% of the
cases.
• Timing Out Adults are employed at a higher rate than the CaIWORKs
caseload as a whole but earn less per hour than the average for all
employed CaIWORKs adults.
• Language is an issue. Vietnamese speaking clients comprise 22% of the
timing out families. For the CaIWORKs Welfare-to-Work papulation as a
whole, clients whose primary language is Vietnamese represent
approximately 3.3%.
• A significant percentage of the first wave of timing out adults have been
long time recipients of cash aid under AFDC and CaIWORKs. 49% of the
timing out adults have been on cash aid for nine years and longer.
By december 19, 2002, workers will have sent the mandatory 10-Notice of a
negative case action to the 276 clients timing out on December 31, 2002.
This final notice entitles the timed out adult to file a request for a Fair Hearing
on whether or not they have reached their time limit and should be
discontinued from CaIWORKs. The Fair Hearing request will most likely involve
another review of the adult's time clock including an evaluation of the
appropriateness of any clock stoppers or extenders.
By mid-January 2003, we should have a final count of the number of adults
who actually timed out and the potential impact to their families.
November 27, 2002 13