To: Board of Supervisors
From: Marla Stuart, Employment and Human Services Director
Report Title: Approve the California Work Opportunity and Responsibility to Kids (CalWORKs) Outcomes and Accountability Review System Improvement Plan (Cal-SIP)
☒Recommendation of the County Administrator ☐ Recommendation of Board Committee
RECOMMENDATIONS:
CONSIDER approving the California Department of Social Services (CDSS) California Work Opportunity and Responsibility to Kids (CalWORKs) System Improvement Plan (Cal-SIP) for the period of February 2024 through June 2026, as recommended by the Employment and Human Services Director.
FISCAL IMPACT:
No fiscal impact.
BACKGROUND:
Established by Senate Bill 89 (Chapter 24, Statutes of 2017) and codified in Welfare and Institutions Code section 11523, the CalWORKs Outcomes and Accountability Review (Cal-OAR) was developed by the California Department of Social Services (CDSS) in partnership with various stakeholders to establish a local, data-driven continuous quality improvement cycle designed to deliver better participant outcomes and best practice replication in the Welfare to Work program.
The Cal-OAR consists of three main components: performance measures, a CalWORKs County Self-Assessment (Cal-CSA) process, and a county Cal-SIP. The Cal-OAR continuous quality improvement (Cal-CQI) process (which includes the Cal-CSA and Cal-SIP) takes place over five-year cycles. The first Cal-OAR cycle commenced on July 1, 2021, with the implementation of Cal-OAR. The Cal-SIP is the second component of the Cal-OAR CQI process. The Cal-SIP focuses on improving targeted performance measures and includes a goal, strategies, and action steps for each targeted measure. The CDSS has approved the plan that is now submitted for Board consideration. Board approval of the Cal-SIP is required before the implementation of the plan can begin.
CONSEQUENCE OF NEGATIVE ACTION:
Should the proposed action not be approved by the Board of Supervisors, the County’s EHSD WFS Bureau will be delayed in implementation of the outlined strategies and action steps associated with each goal to improve the targeted performance measures and may cause failure to adhere to submission deliverables and deadlines in accordance with CDSS regulations. Approval is recommended as the intent of the plan is to improve long-term stability outcomes for Contra Costa County CalWORKs recipients in alignment with the intent of Senate Bill 89, and Board approval is needed to begin implementation.
CHILDREN’S IMPACT STATEMENT:
This report supports number 3 of Contra Costa County’s community outcomes of the Children’s Report Card”,
(1) "Children Ready for and Succeeding in School";
(2) "Children and Youth Healthy and Preparing for Productive Adulthood";
(3) "Families that are Economically Self-Sufficient";
(4) "Families that are Safe, Stable and Nurturing"; and
(5) "Communities that are Safe and Provide a High Quality of Life for Children and Families”