February 12, 2021 - Analyzes the Governor’s 2021-22 budget proposals related to the child support program, provides background on recent program developments and state review process of child support guidelines, and provides issues for the Legislature to consider.
February 18, 2022 - This brief describes the Governor's 2022-23 budget proposals for the child support program and provides comments and recommendations to the Legislature.
July 29, 2020 - The Supplemental Report of the 2020-21 Budget Act contains statements of legislative intent that were adopted during deliberations on the 2020-21 budget package.
February 27, 2024 - This post provides a general overview of the Governor’s budget for the Department of Child Support Services (DCSS), then turns to focus on a few key DCSS budget areas, providing background, implementation updates, and some comments for the Legislature to consider. Specifically, the budget areas we focus on in this post are: (1) the passthrough of child support collections to former California Work Opportunity and Responsibility to Kids families, (2) foster care referrals and enforcement, (3) local child support agency funding methodology, and (4) proposed budget language related to overpayments disbursed from the Child Support Trust Fund.
March 26, 2019 - In this report, we provide background on the current child support program. We then describe and assess the Governor’s 2019 20 proposal to create a new budgeting methodology that would increase funding for certain LCSAs by nearly $60 million General Fund. We recommend that the Legislature withhold action on the funding proposal until the administration submits the statutorily required report identifying potential state and local operational efficiencies.
September 6, 2017 - Currently, performance measurement in the California Work Opportunity and Responsibility to Kids (CalWORKs) program is relatively limited and largely focuses on processes involved with the program's operation—particular emphasis is given to a federal performance measure known as the "work participation rate" (WPR)—rather than on the program's end results, or outcomes. As part of the 2017-18 budget package, the Legislature adopted a new framework for performance measurement in CalWORKs that will be known as the CalWORKs Outcomes and Accountability Review (Cal-OAR). In this report, we outline the rationales for measuring program performance and outline why, ideally, performance measurement should focus on outcomes. We then raise several issues to be considered as the Cal-OAR system is further developed and implemented in the coming years.
March 13, 2013 - Presented to Assembly Budget Subcommittee No. 1 on Health and Human Services, Hon. Holly J. Mitchell, Chair
June 16, 2025 - This report is the first of a three-part series focused on trends in the California Work Opportunity and Responsibility to Kids (CalWORKs) program. Each part of the series focuses on an area of the program, beginning with this report on participant characteristics. The series provides an overview of the major changes to CalWORKs in recent decades and highlights key issues for Legislators to consider when making CalWORKs policy and budget decisions.
January 22, 2009 - At a cost of approximately $10.2 billion in 2008-09, California’s major social services provide a wide array of benefits to its citizens. The Governor proposes $3 billion in budget reductions for social services programs in 2009-10, mostly in grant payments to the aged, blind and disabled or low-income families. We present alternative approaches to reducing costs which tend to have less savings and less adverse impacts on recipients and clients. We also present approaches to drawing down more federal funds pursuant to recently enacted federal legislation.
February 15, 2023 - In this brief, we provide some basic background on the Department of Developmental Services and a high-level overview of its proposed 2023-24 budget. We then raise oversight issues for legislative consideration.
January 20, 2006 - If enacted by Congress, the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005 would have a significant fiscal impact on California. We project, based on the provisions which we can estimate at this time, that the fiscal impact of this legislation on California would be $3.1 billion--$1.7 billion in reduced federal funds and $1.4 billion in increased state costs-during federal fiscal years 2006 through 2010. These amounts are preliminary estimates and do not reflect potentially significant secondary effects. In this report, we review the major provisions of this legislation, estimate the fiscal impact on federal funds and state funds based on current law, and identify key issues for legislative consideration.