The Child Abuse Prevention Center & California Family Resource Association 

Bill List Highlights 

 

December 13, 2024 

 

Concrete/Material Needs 

 

AB 274 (Bryan) – CalWORKs: CalFresh: Eligibility & Income Exclusions 

This bill provides that any grant, award, scholarship, loan, or fellowship benefit for education is exempt from consideration as income for purposes of determining eligibility for CalWORKs benefits or calculating grant amounts. 

Sponsor(s): Coalition of California Welfare Rights Organizations 

Governor’s Action: VETOED 

Veto Message: SFresno_Biz24092919340 

 

AB 310 (Arambula) – CalWORKs 

This bill makes numerous and substantial changes to the California Work Opportunity and Responsibility to Kids (CalWORKs) Act and welfare-to-work (WTW) requirements with the intent to refocus the program away from prescriptive work requirements and toward family assistance activities. 

Sponsor(s): GRACE Institute - End Child Poverty in CA, John Burton Advocates for Youth, Parent Voices California, Western Center on Law & Poverty (Co-Sponsors) 

Governor’s Action: SIGNED 

 

AB 1786 (Rodriguez) – CA Individual Assistance Act: California Local Assistance Act 

This bill enacts two grant programs, the California Individual Assistance Act and the California Local Assistance Act, to provide funds for specified costs related to a disaster.  Among other provisions, the bill would establish the California Individual Assistance Act grant program to provide funds to community-based organizations (CBOs) for certain disaster-related costs, such as personnel and equipment costs incurred during disaster response activities and the provision of individual and family grants for housing or other needs assistance. 

Status: Died in Senate 

 

AB 2141 (Gipson) – Cash Assistance Programs: Direct Deposit 

Requires the application for cash assistance programs, including, but not limited to Cash Assistance Program for Aged, Blind, and Disabled Legal Immigrants (CAPI), the California Work Opportunity and Responsibility to Kids (CalWORKs) program, and general assistance aid, to include information regarding the applicant’s right to have their funds directly deposited; and requires counties during annual cash assistance redeterminations to inform the recipient of the right to direct deposit of their cash assistance benefits.  

Sponsor(s): Coalition of California Welfare Rights Organizations 

Status: Died in Assembly 

 

 

 

AB 2343 (Schiavo) – CalWORKs: Childcare Programs 

This bill authorizes an agency administering a California Work Opportunity and Responsibility for Kids (CalWORKs) Stage 1 and Stage 2 childcare program to provide, as part of case management, additional support and navigation services to recipients experiencing homelessness or escaping domestic violence (DV). The bill authorizes these services to be provided in partnership with homeless service agencies, DV agencies, or other supportive housing. 

Sponsor(s): Child Care Resource Center 

Governor’s Action: SIGNED 

 

SB 242 (Skinner) – California Hope, Opportunity, Perseverance, and Empowerment (HOPE) for Children Trust Account Program 

This bill prohibits funds in California HOPE Children Trust Fund Account Program from being considered income or assets when determining eligibility and benefit amounts for any means-tested program. 

Sponsor(s): Grace Institute - End Child Poverty in California 

Governor’s Action: SIGNED 

 

SB 260 (Menjivar) – CalWORKs: Aid Payments 

Provides that, commencing on April 1, 2025, eligible menstruating California Work Opportunity and Responsibility to Kids (CalWORKs) recipients between 10 and 55 years of age are entitled to $20 per month for menstrual products.  

Sponsor(s): Generation Ratify CA 

Status: Died in Assembly 

 

SB 1254 (Becker) – CalFresh: Enrollment of Incarcerated Individuals 

This bill requires: (1) the California Department of Social Services (CDSS) to submit applicable waivers to the federal government to allow for pre-enrollment of incarcerated individuals prior to their release from state prison or county jail: CDSS to partner with the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR), state prisons, and county jails to pre-enroll otherwise eligible applicants for the CalFresh program; and (3) CDSS to create a workgroup and recommendations for a state reentry process incorporating resources for transition from state prison or county jail to reentry into the community. 

Sponsor(s): Legal Services for Prisoners with Children, Nourish California (co-sponsors) 

Governor’s Action: SIGNED 

 

 

Childcare 

 

AB 596 (Reyes) – Early Learning and Care: Rate Reform 

Would require the California Department of Social Services (CDSS), in collaboration with the California Department of Education (CDE), to develop and implement an alternative methodology for calculating subsidy payment rates for child care services and state preschool program services; require CDSS, in consultation with CDE, to develop an equitable sliding scale for the payment of family fees and prohibit family fees from being collected until the new equitable sliding scale is implemented; and increase reimbursements to state preschool and child care providers, as specified. 

Sponsor(s): Child Care Resource Center, Children Now, EveryChild California, Parent Voices California (Co-Sponsors) 

Status: Died in Senate 

 

AB 1808 (Nguyen, Stephanie) – Childcare and Development Services: Eligibility 

Aligns the California Work Opportunity and Responsibility to Kids (CalWORKs) eligibility period for families with other subsidized childcare programs at 24 months. 

Sponsor(s): California Alternative Payment Program Association  

Governor’s Action: SIGNED 

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Safety & Healing 

 

2024 Budget Cuts Averted:  

Family Urgent Response System 

Supported Independent Living Program 

 

AB 1799 (Jackson) Child Abuse Reporting 

Would have authorized a mandated reporter to refer general neglect of a child to one or more community-based agencies or service providers in addition to, or in lieu of, a specified law enforcement agency or county welfare department. 

Status: Held in Assembly Public Safety Committee 

 

AB 1970 (Jackson) – Mental Health: Black Mental Health Navigator Certification 

Requires the Department of Health Care Access and Information (HCAI) to develop, as a component of an existing Community Health Worker (CHW) certificate program, criteria for a specialty certificate program and specialized training requirements for a Black Mental Health Navigator Certification, and report related program data. 

Status: Died in Senate 

 

AB 2110 (Arambula) – Medi-Cal: Adverse Childhood Experiences Trauma Screenings: Providers 

Allows doulas, as well as community-based organizations (CBOs) and local health jurisdictions (LHJs) that provide health services through community health workers (CHWs), to provide Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) screenings and makes them eligible for Medi-Cal reimbursement for the screening. 

Status: Died in Assembly 

 

AB 2319 (Wilson) – California Dignity in Pregnancy & Childbirth Act 

Expands the types of health care providers who must participate in implicit bias training pursuant to the California Dignity in Pregnancy and Childbirth Act (the Act.) Requires initial basic training on implicit bias to be completed by June 1, 2025 for current health care providers, and within six months of their start date for new health care providers. Requires facilities subject to the provisions of the Act, commencing in 2026, to provide the Attorney General (AG) with proof of compliance by February 1 of each year. 

Governor’s Action: SIGNED 

 

AB 3079 (Ting) – In-Home Supportive Services Program: Undocumented Related Providers 

This bill requires the California Department of Social Services (CDSS) to develop and issue guidance to ensure undocumented immigrants are afforded access to become in-home supportive services (IHSS) providers for family members of the fifth-degree. Requires these providers be exempt from criminal background checks otherwise required for IHSS providers. 

Sponsor(s): City and County of San Francisco 

Status: Died in Assembly 

 

 

Support for CBOs 

 

AB 860 (Valencia) – Grant Programs: Administration 

This bill streamlines the process of applying for and receiving small state grants, particularly those not exceeding $20,000 and with a duration of less than 12 months, and requires the creation of a more accessible and equitable grant application process, as specified. 

Sponsor(s): California Association of Nonprofits 

Status: Died in Senate 

 

AB 1321 (Bonta) – CA Coordinated Neighborhood & Community Services Grant Program 

This bill, the It Takes a Village Act of 2023, establishes the California Coordinated Neighborhood and Community Services Grant Program to be administered by the California Department of Social Services (CDSS) or another department within the California Health and Human Services Agency (CalHHS). Requires CDSS to grant awards, on a competitive basis, to eligible neighborhood or community-based networks to implement or support infrastructure of cradle-to-career networks and solutions. Requires CDSS, in consultation with the California Department of Education (CDE), to develop an application process and establish performance standards to measure progress. Requires grant recipients to contribute matching funds and prepare and submit an annual report to CDSS. 

Sponsor(s): California Association of Nonprofits 

Status: Died in Senate 

 

 

**These bills were but a few that the Child Abuse Prevention Center and California Family Resource Association were tracking and engaged in during the 2024 Legislative Session.  If you have questions regarding any bills not mentioned in this update, please contact us.  Thank you.