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The
California Department of Social Services (CDSS) provides quarterly updates on the ways they deliver and
support critical programs for California’s most vulnerable residents. We hope you will find this update from them educational.
In addition to the many achievements listed below, the newly enacted state budget includes
additional support to help those most in need. Please stay tuned for a budget
update, which is coming soon.
Key CDSS second-quarter achievements include:
Support for Older Adults and Persons +with Disabilities
- COVID-19 Test to Treat Initiative: Those operating
licensed adult and senior care programs are encouraged to share information about a new federal
effort that gives individuals an important way to rapidly access free
treatment for COVID-19 through nationwide pharmacy-based clinics,
federally funded health centers, and long-term care facilities. This is
part of a broader strategy to quickly connect eligible individuals who
are at high risk of getting very sick from COVID-19 to appropriate
treatments that have shown improved results.
- Community Care Expansion (CCE) Program: The Department
continued efforts to launch the CCE Program, a significant investment
in supporting seniors and adults with disabilities to live safely in the
community. On June 10, the Department released a Notice of Funding Availability
announcing $195 million available in non-competitive allocations to
immediately preserve existing licensed adult and senior care facilities
serving applicants or recipients of Supplemental Security Income/State
Supplementary Payment (SSI/SSP) or Cash Assistance Program for
Immigrants (CAPI), including those who are experiencing or at risk of
homelessness.
Support for Children and Families
- COVID-19 Vaccinations for Young Children: The Department
continues to support efforts to curb COVID-19 and is spreading the word
that vaccines are available for everyone age 6 months and older. The
California Department of Public Health, Child Care Resource &
Referral agencies, and other early learning programs are hosting
vaccination pop-up sites around California. These vaccine pop-up clinics
will begin this month and information for child care providers and their
families will be shared about specific dates, times, and locations. To
find a vaccine, visit the MyTurn website or call 1-833-422-4255.
Parents may also talk to their child's health care provider, or visit
the Vaccinate All 58 website to learn more
about the safe and effective vaccines available.
- CalWORKs Expansion: The time limit for CalWORKs participants moved from 48
months to 60 months, allowing families to access critical benefits and
services for up to an additional 12 months. Additionally, changes to
pregnancy eligibility allow for program access as soon as a family
becomes pregnant along with an increase to a pregnancy special needs
payment, providing an additional $100 monthly to families.
- Easier Head Start Enrollment: The U.S. Department of
Agriculture in May announced a new policy enabling families to use
their CalFresh/SNAP eligibility to enroll in Head Start’s early
education and child care programs.
- CalFresh Emergency Allotments (EAs): CalFresh EAs continue to be issued,
raising each eligible household’s regular monthly allotment to the
maximum based on household size. The most recent EA issuance was for the
May 2022 benefit month. A total of $8.5 billion in EA allotments have
been issued, supporting an average of 1.9 million CalFresh households
with critical food assistance, since March 2020.
- Pandemic EBT: Two rounds of Pandemic EBT food benefits totaling
approximately $6 billion have been delivered to about five million
children around the California, and soon a third round of benefits will
be issued. The second round of P-EBT benefits went to families with
children under age 6 who received CalFresh food benefits between October
2020 and August 2021 and school-age children who were eligible for free
or reduced-price school meals and distance learning during the 2020–21
school year. The third round of P-EBT, known as P-EBT 3.0, has been
authorized for school year 2021-22. Pending approval by the U.S.
Department of Agriculture Food and Nutrition Service, schoolchildren and
children under age 6 will be eligible to receive P-EBT benefits for
school year 2021-22. To be eligible for the third round, schoolchildren
must be eligible for free and reduced-price meals, attended a school
participating in the National School Lunch or School Breakfast Program,
and have attended school virtually or had five or more excused
COVID-19-related absences in a month. Benefits will be based on the
number of days the child was attending school virtually or the number of
COVID-19-related excused absences over five per month. Children under
age 6 are eligible for P-EBT 3.0 for each month they were receiving
CalFresh benefits. For children under 6, a single statewide monthly
benefit will be provided, and will be based on the statewide reduction
in meals provided at daycare homes and child care centers. For more
information on P-EBT 3.0, visit https://capandemic-ebt.org/.
- Caregiver Pandemic Assistance Payments: The Department has
been issuing one-time pandemic-related relief payments
of up to $5,000 to caregivers of foster youth for their increased
responsibilities during the initial stages of the COVID-19 emergency as
it relates to the home-based care and supervision of children and youth
under the jurisdiction of county child welfare agencies or probation
departments.
- Guaranteed Income: As part of last
year’s state budget, the Department is administering the $35 million Guaranteed Income Pilot Program. Pilot
programs will provide unconditional, individual, regular cash payments
intended to support the basic needs of the recipients. The Department is
currently engaged with stakeholders in developing a Request for
Applications (RFA), which will be released this month. Once released,
local jurisdictions including counties, cities, non-profits, and Tribal
governments may apply for funding.
- Valuable Tax Credits and Payments: The Department has
been encouraging CalWORKs clients and CalFresh recipients to file tax returns to claim the Child Tax
Credit and stimulus payments.
- Supplemental Rate Payments for Child Care Providers: In April, the CDSS
announced one-time supplemental rate payments
that were distributed to eligible family child care providers. This was part
of the agreement between Governor Gavin Newsom, the Legislature, and
Child Care Providers United. These first payments, totaling $144.5
million, were part of a $289 million investment that will provide direct
funding to family child care providers. Approximately 27,000 family
child care providers received supplemental rate payments ranging from
$1,500 to $10,000. This support follows multiple COVID-19 financial relief stipends that
went to many in the child care and development workforce last year.
- Direct Deposit for Child Care and Development
Contractors: In
May, the CDSS Child Care and Development Division executed a contract
with Foundation for California Community Colleges to provide direct
deposit payment to child care and development contractors for child care
programs and services. These electronic payments will alleviate any
potential payment delays associated with paper checks. Participation in direct deposit is
optional.
- Low Income Investment Fund (LIIF): In May, the CDSS
executed a contract with LIIF, an expert in the child care
infrastructure industry, to ensure the successful execution of the Infrastructure Grant Program (IGP), an
investment by the state to improve and expand child care facilities
across California. Under the contract, the CDSS and LIIF continue to
work collaboratively to distribute $100 million in IGP grants to the
field for minor renovations and repairs. Additionally, the CDSS and LIIF
will distribute a second round of IGP grants in the amount of $150
million to the field for major construction of child care facilities.
- Cradle-to-Career Data Agreements: The CDSS and many
other education and workforce entities signed landmark legal agreements with the
Office of Cradle-to-Career Data to allow for the creation of data sets
on student progress from pre-K through college and employment. This is
an important move toward creating a transformative statewide data system
that will link together existing data on education, workforce, financial
aid, and social services to create tools for use by students, families,
policy makers, researchers, and the public.
Advancing a California for All
- Golden Bear Passes: In support of
California’s Outdoors for All initiative, CDSS partnered with the
California State Parks and the First Partner’s Office to make it easier
for all CalWORKs families to receive a free Golden Bear Pass and enjoy the benefits
of the outdoors. The pass provides free entry at more than 200 state
parks and beaches, ensuring more Californians will have access to the
outdoors. As of June 30, 2022, more than 15,000 passes have already been
approved for families receiving CalWORKs.
- Housing for the Harvest: Up until this program
ended on April 30, 2022, a total of 9,057 individuals (5,165 adults,
3,892 children) had utilized the Housing for the Harvest Expansion
program and received approximately $2,333,959 in financial assistance.
The program, which was launched in July 2020, was designed to provide
temporary hotel housing options for essential farm and food processing
employees who were either COVID-19-positive or had been exposed. It was
later expanded to also provide cash assistance.
- Afghan Integration and Resettlement Services (AIRS)
Funding: The
CDSS Immigrant Integration Branch announced $9.9 million in total
funding to 13 qualified nonprofit organizations. Priority was given to
organizations operating in counties most impacted, including Alameda,
Contra Costa, Fresno, Los Angeles, Orange, Sacramento, San Diego, Santa
Clara, and Stanislaus. The AIRS Project will increase culturally
and linguistically responsive case management services for Afghan
newcomers by supporting a staffing increase at qualified non-profit
organizations that are serving this population. Services will include,
but are not limited to, navigation of public benefits and social
services, school enrollment, housing identification and placement,
donation coordination, and other activities needed to ensure Afghan
newcomers are supported and integrated into their communities.
- Afghan Communities Support Program (ACS) Funding: The CDSS Immigrant
Integration Branch announced an RFA for $10 million in available
funding to support an initiative to increase organizational capacity,
improve case management, and expand education and outreach to support
Afghan newcomers in California. The Department will award funding to
qualified non-profit organizations located in refugee impacted counties,
including Alameda, Contra Costa, Fresno, Los Angeles, Orange,
Sacramento, San Diego, Santa Clara, and Stanislaus.
- Afghan Arrival Job Readiness (AAJR) Project: The CDSS Immigrant
Integration Branch announced a grant agreement with Upwardly Global to
provide specialized employment services for qualifying Afghan newcomers
in California. The $700,000 grant will provide recent Afghan arrivals
who arrived pursuant to the Operation Allies Welcome (OAW) mission with
workforce assistance under the Jobversity platform. AAJR will provide
300 participants with hands-on job readiness training, career pathways
coaching, employer connections, opportunities to re/upskill, and also
support the attainment of skill-aligned and higher-wage employment.
- Help for Those Granted Asylum and Deemed Vulnerable
Noncitizens: The
CDSS Immigrant Integration Branch announced an RFA for $300,000 in
federal funds to qualified organizations as part of the Statewide Asylee Orientation (SAO) Project,
which is intended to provide individuals who have been recently granted
asylum with informational awareness of existing resources and benefits
available to them. The CDSS will use the funding to partner with
community-based organizations to create an online orientation consisting
of accessible, self-paced learning modules, on a virtual platform in
various languages. In addition, the CDSS Immigrant Integration Branch
announced $8 million in state general funds to 10 qualified nonprofit
organizations as part of the Enhanced Services for Asylees and Vulnerable
Noncitizens Program. This program provides culturally
appropriate and linguistically responsive case management services for
asylees and vulnerable noncitizens for up to 90 days within their first
year following the grant of asylum or after having been deemed
vulnerable noncitizens eligible for service. The program will focus on
state-level outreach, intake and eligibility determination, assessment and
individualized case management, and cultural orientation.
Stay up to date by visiting the Stakeholder Resources webpage,
which contains information on key upcoming meetings with CDSS. For more
developments, please visit www.cdss.ca.gov and follow us on Facebook and Twitter.
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