2020 Federal Priorities

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The CWDA Board of Directors adopted the following 2020 priorities at its annual directors workshop in December 2019.

2020 CWDA Federal Priorities

HEALTH

Medicaid

  • Oppose efforts to reduce or block grant federal funding for Medicaid administration or benefits, including efforts to place a per-capita cap on funding or limiting the ability of states to leverage funds through assessments on providers.
  • Oppose federal efforts mandating states to require work as a condition for receiving Medicaid benefits.
  • Oppose other eligibility changes, including but not limited to elimination of retroactive benefits or grace periods for eligibility pending verifications.

    

HUMAN SERVICES

Child Welfare

  • Support amendments to the Family First Prevention Services Act to better align the FFPSA with California’s Continuum of Care Reform initiatives and prevention services provided in the state.
  • Support efforts to reform child welfare financing, including expanding the types of prevention activities eligible for the IV-E foster care financial match.
  • Support a provision allowing for “skyping” with non-minor youth in the extended foster care program when the youth is attending college or living in another state or out of country as an alternative to monthly, in-person visits.
  • Support increased federal funding for services and income support needed by parents seeking to reunify with their children in foster care.
  • Support increased federal financial support for programs that assist foster youth in the transition to self-sufficiency, including post-emancipation assistance such as secondary education, job training, and access to health care.
  • Support a change to federal law limiting extended guardianship and adoption under Fostering Connections only for youth whose adoption or guardianship was established at age 16 or older in order since it is a disincentive for permanency for these children.
  • Support retaining the entitlement nature of the Title IV-E Foster Care and Adoption Assistance programs and eliminate outdated rules that base the child’s eligibility for funds on parental income and circumstances.
  • Support legislation that would provide tax credits to companies that hire current or former foster youth.
  • Support increased federal funding to respond to the service needs of youth who are victims of commercial sexual exploitation. 

Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP)

  • Oppose proposed rules to limit eligibility, reduce benefits and/or limit state and county flexibility in administering the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP/CalFresh).
  • Oppose efforts to block grant or otherwise limit the federal contribution to SNAP/CalFresh.
  • Oppose federal mandates to require states to increase SNAP/CalFresh work requirements.
  • Support increased federal funding for SNAP Employment and Training (E&T) initiatives.
  • Oppose lifetime bans on SNAP/CalFresh assistance for ex-felons who have served their prison sentence.
  • Support extending Able Bodied Adults Without Dependents work requirement waivers for as many counties and sub-county regions as possible.
  • Support further collaboration with the federal government and national partners to increase outreach and enrollment for SNAP/CalFresh, especially in underserved populations such as students, former foster youth, non-English-speaking populations and seniors.
  • Support provisions to further streamline and simplify federal requirements for SNAP/CalFresh recipients to enhance enrollment and retention.
  • Support additional flexibility for states to align SNAP/CalFresh eligibility and processes with state TANF/CalWORKS programs.
  • Support efforts to improve timeliness of data provided by the Food and Nutrition Services (FNS) to states for use in administering SNAP/CalFresh.

Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) Reauthorization

  • Support increased federal support for TANF/CalWORKS subsidized employment programs.
  • Support more flexible work participation requirement measures to give credit for client engagement and for work activities not meeting the current thresholds.
  • Support the ability of states to provide and receive federal support for vocational education and career technical training for longer than 12 months.
  • Support new federal measures demonstrating success in meeting outcomes rather than processes that would align with the CalWORKs Outcomes and Accountability Review (CalOAR) process underway in the state.
  • Support federal efforts aligning with the goals and vision of the CalWORKs 2.0 Strategic Initiative to better meet the needs of individual families and support families in a more holistic way.

Adult and Disability Services

  • Support full appropriations of $100 million authorized under the Elder Justice Act to support state and county adult protective services programs.
  • Oppose the termination of the Social Services Block Grant, which in California is used primarily to augment county and state funded in-home supportive services for elderly and disabled persons, and to coordinate services to children with disabilities.

Legal Immigrant Benefits

  • Oppose the Administration’s regulatory efforts to include non-cash benefits in the definition of ‘public charge’.
  • Oppose federal efforts to further restrict legal immigrants’ access to federal benefits.

Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA)

  • Support increased federal funding for out-of-school youth, including foster youth and those who have aged out of the foster care system.

Homelessness Services

  • Support federal homelessness legislation funding an array of services to individuals and families at risk of or who are experiencing homelessness.

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