2023 California Code › Welfare and Institutions Code - WIC › DIVISION 9 - PUBLIC SOCIAL SERVICES › PART 3 - AID AND MEDICAL ASSISTANCE › CHAPTER 5.5 - Administration of Refugee Social Services and Refugee Cash Assistance › Section 13280.

13280. (a) (1) In counties receiving federal refugee social services funding, the county welfare department shall include in its CalWORKs plan a section that specifically addresses the provision of services for refugee applicants for, and recipients of, aid pursuant to Chapter 2 (commencing with Section 11200) and the orderly transition of those applicants and recipients into the CalWORKs program.
(2) County staff responsible for the administration of CalWORKs shall work in conjunction with county staff responsible for the administration of refugee programs, as well as with representatives of local mutual assistance associations, voluntary agencies, and other organizations involved in refugee resettlement, to ensure that the section of the CalWORKs plan specified in paragraph (1) reflects the needs of the refugee applicants for, and recipients of, aid under the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program, the services are delivered in accordance with the section of the county’s CalWORKs plan specified in paragraph (1), and that this transition occurs as quickly as possible within resources available to the CalWORKs program.
(b) The department shall annually reevaluate that section of the county’s CalWORKs plan which is developed pursuant to paragraph (1) of subdivision (a). This reevaluation shall be made in conjunction with the county’s development of its annual overall CalWORKs plan update and will be subject to approval of the department.
(c) (1) A county may maintain within the CalWORKs program a supplemental services component for refugees who would otherwise be temporarily excepted from the full range of CalWORKs services. These services shall complement regular services provided through Article 3.2 (commencing with Section 11320) of Chapter 2, to prepare the refugee for self-sufficiency or eventual transition into the CalWORKs program and shall be funded through federal refugee social services funds. County boards of supervisors may determine how the services are administered, subject to federal funding requirements.
(2)  Any county that elects to implement the supplemental services component authorized by this subdivision shall fully describe the component in the section of its CalWORKs plan required by paragraph (1) of subdivision (a). The description shall specify the types of services planned to meet the special needs of refugees. Those services shall be in accordance with the department’s guidelines.
(3) The CalWORKs refugee supplemental services authorized by this subdivision for refugee TANF applicants and recipients, to the extent permitted by federal law, shall meet the requirements of the federal Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 (Public Law 104-193) and shall be subject to the approval of the department.
(4) Refugee TANF applicants and recipients who are referred for participation in the supplemental services component authorized by this subdivision shall participate in the component services as a condition of eligibility under Chapter 2 (commencing with Section 11200) and shall be subject to the sanctions specified by Section 11327.5 if the services meet the requirements of the federal Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 (Public Law 104-193), and are determined by the county to prepare a refugee for self-sufficiency.
(5) Refugee TANF recipients already participating in a CalWORKs component provided through Article 3.2 (commencing with Section 11320) of Chapter 2 shall not be removed from that component for the purpose of participating in the supplemental services component authorized by paragraph (1).
(d) Any county that elects to implement the supplemental services component authorized by paragraph (1) of subdivision (c) shall provide the supportive services described in subdivision (e) of Section 11323.2. These supportive services shall be funded with refugee social services funds. CalWORKs supportive services funds shall not be used to fund those supportive services.
(e) This section shall be implemented only in counties where federal refugee social services funds are available to the county.
(Amended by Stats. 2020, Ch. 370, Sec. 283. (SB 1371) Effective January 1, 2021.)