Pursuant to the emergency coronavirus budget augmentation bill
the Legislature passed in March, the Department of Finance this
week announced increases to a variety of state and county safety
net programs, all of which should be approved “not sooner than 72
hours” from March 31. CSAC, the County Welfare Directors
Association, and counties had been advocating for increased
funding for county administration costs associated with the surge
in applications for safety net programs. This announcement
outlines increased funding for CalFresh, CalWORKs, and Medi-Cal
administrative workload. Below is the complete list of funding
announcements, which totals $111 million in State General Fund.
$41 million to CDSS for the temporary COVID-19 related
relocation of residents of adult and senior care facilities.
$20 million for CDSS to contract with various food providers
to mitigate increases in food needs among low-income and
food-insecure populations.
$5.04 million (plus expected federal match) for counties to
conduct wellness check calls and visits for IHSS recipients and
other older Californians.
$24.29 million to counties for increased CalFresh
administrative workload.
$7.98 million to counties for increased CalWORKs
administrative workload.
$12.73 million (plus expected federal match) to counties for
increased Medi-Cal eligibility workload, including processing new
applications and access to care issues.
