Cal. WIC § 11495.16 — California Code / Code wic / Division 9 / Part 3 / Chapter 2 / Article 7.5 / Section 11495.16
Section 11495.16
Status: in_force

[Amended by Stats. 2025, Ch. 386, Sec. 5.   (AB 969)   Effective January 1, 2026.   Conditionally inoperative on or after January 1, 2028, as prescribed by its own provisions.   Repealed as of January 1 following the inoperative date.   See later operative version added by Sec. 6 of Stats. 2025, Ch. 386.]
(a) All CalWORKs applicants and recipients shall be informed verbally and in writing, and to the extent required by law, in the language understood by the applicant or recipient, of the availability of services designed to assist individuals to identify, escape, or stop future domestic abuse as well as to overcome the effects of domestic abuse.

(b) This section shall be inoperative on January 1, 2028, or when the department notifies the Legislature that the Statewide Automated Welfare System can perform the necessary automation to implement Section 11495.15, as added by the act that added this subdivision, whichever date is later, and as of January 1 of the following year, is repealed.

[Repealed (in Sec. 5) and added by Stats. 2025, Ch. 386, Sec. 6.   (AB 969)   Effective January 1, 2026.   Conditionally operative on or after January 1, 2028, as prescribed by its own provisions.]
(a) The department, in consultation with stakeholders, including, but not limited to, federally recognized state domestic violence and sexual assault coalitions, other domestic abuse, sexual assault, and sexual harassment advocates, and public benefits advocates, shall develop both of the following:

(1) A uniform set of written materials to be used statewide that addresses all relevant information and necessary requirements designed to assist individuals to identify, escape, or stop future abuse, overcome the effects of abuse, and make informed decisions. The statewide information may be provided in one document and shall include all of the following information:

(A) Available domestic abuse, stalking, sexual assault, and sexual harassment resources and victim service providers.

(B) How the information of an applicant or recipient abuse survivor is kept confidential and when the county human services agency is legally required to disclose that information.

(C) Information on the availability of program waivers, including a specific list of program requirements that may be waived, other program requirements not listed that may be waived, the option to waive other program requirements not listed, how to request a waiver, and a waiver request form, as described in paragraph (2).

(D) Information about safety planning, including the process of identifying risks, mapping out resources, and assessing options to increase survivor safety developed by specialized workers in partnership with the abuse survivor.

(E) How the county will tailor a recipient survivor’s welfare-to-work plan and CalWORKs support services to meet their needs.

(F) Information on CalWORKs eligibility for noncitizen abuse survivors, exceptions to immigrant sponsor deeming requirements, and information on applying for legal status for noncitizen abuse survivors.

(2) A standardized waiver request form that allows an applicant or recipient to identify the specific program requirements that they need waived. The form shall include a list of program requirements that may be waived, the ability to request a waiver of a requirement that may not be specifically listed, and a way for an applicant or recipient to indicate whether they are seeking a waiver for a retroactive period of time.

(b) A county shall safely and confidentially verbally inform of, and provide, in the preferred language identified by the applicant or recipient to the extent required by law, the written materials and standardized waiver request form described in subdivision (a) to each applicant and recipient. Each county shall supplement the written materials described in subdivision (a) with the name and contact information for local service providers, local policies, and local resources.

(c) Notwithstanding the rulemaking provisions of the Administrative Procedure Act (Chapter 3.5 (commencing with Section 11340) of Part 1 of Division 3 of Title 2 of the Government Code), the department may implement, interpret, or make specific this section by means of all-county letters or similar written instructions from the department until regulations are adopted. These all-county letters or similar instructions shall have the same force and effect as regulations until the adoption of regulations.

(d) This section shall become operative on January 1, 2028, or when the department notifies the Legislature that the Statewide Automated Welfare System can perform the necessary automation to implement this section, whichever date is later.