AB 371 - CalWORKs Family Unity Act of 2015

• Effective July 1, 2016, expands CalWORKs eligibility to families with related children under 18 years of age who meet income requirements, regardless of parental employment status or absence from the home.

• Prohibits absent parents from being included in the assistance unit for eligibility determination or aid calculation purposes, even though children remain eligible.

• Clarifies welfare-to-work participation requirements so that adults in two-adult assistance units where one adult is disabled must work the same hours per week (30 hours, or 20 hours if child under 6 years old) as adults in one-adult units.

• Requires the State Department of Social Services to implement the bill through an all-county letter by July 1, 2018, and to adopt necessary regulations.

• Specifies that the continuous General Fund appropriation shall not apply to costs of implementing this act; any state-mandated local program costs shall be reimbursed per existing statutory procedures if determined by the Commission on State Mandates.