5180 Department of Social Services
Major Program Changes
  • The Governor's Budget includes an increase of $9.9 million in 2014-15 to begin implementing a six-county, three-year $115.4 million Parent/Child Engagement Demonstration Pilot Project to improve outcomes for 2,000 CalWORKs families. Beginning January 1, 2015, participating counties will target the neediest and hardest to serve CalWORKs families with children between the ages of 18 months and 5 years utilizing early interventions, including parenting skills, home visitation, job preparation tools, licensed subsidized child care, and child development activities.

  • The Governor's Budget includes $9.8 million ($1.3 million General Fund) and 63 two-year limited-term positions beginning in 2014-15 to address the anticipated workload impact on the State Hearings Division resulting from implementation of the Affordable Care Act. The additional resources will provide timely hearing decisions to address disputes between applicants and recipients of public assistance benefits and county welfare departments.

  • The Governor's Budget includes an increase of $209 million ($99.1 million General Fund) for the IHSS program to address changes made to the Fair Labor Standards Act concerning overtime and compensation for domestic workers. The proposal pays IHSS providers for activities that were not previously eligible for compensation, such as wait time for medical accompaniment, travel time between recipients, and mandatory provider training. Additionally, the proposal restricts overtime to documented emergency circumstances only and creates an emergency back-up system for recipients to request a provider under specified conditions.

  • The Governor's Budget includes an increase of $7.5 million ($5.8 million General Fund) and 71.5 positions beginning in 2014-15 to improve the business processes of the Community Care Licensing Division. The additional resources will allow the division to meet its statutory requirement to inspect a licensed residential facility at least once every five years and reduce the number of negative health and safety outcomes for children and adults residing in facilities.