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Federal Work Requirements Are Changing for Some CalFresh Participants

By Tess Thorman, Caroline Danielson

Recent changes to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP)—known as CalFresh in California—alter how employment affects eligibility for some participants. We examine what these changes might mean for CalFresh participants as well as for state and local policymakers.

blog post

New Law Raises Standards for Police Officers

By Shannon McConville, Deepak Premkumar

A new state law raises the minimum age for law enforcement—from 18 to 21—and requires California’s community college system to create a new policing degree program. How might these changes affect the law enforcement workforce?

Report

CalWORKs in Transition

By Caroline Danielson

In recent years, California policymakers have made a number of cuts to major safety net programs to help balance the state budget—even as hard economic times have meant that increasing numbers of Californians are relying on government assistance. The California Work Opportunity and Responsibility to Kids program (CalWORKs) has been one of the most affected.1 Since 2009, CalWORKs has seen a number of cuts, some intended to be short-lived, and others that, arguably, are reshaping the program piece by piece. In his January 2012 budget proposal, Governor Brown advocated significant additional cuts. These recent and proposed changes raise questions about the program’s goals going forward.

Report

The Role of CalFresh in Stabilizing Family Incomes

By Caroline Danielson, Tess Thorman

CalFresh—California’s largest safety net program—helps mitigate income instability for many low-income families. But those without recent employment often do not experience this stabilizing effect. Additional efforts to automate income reporting and ensure that individuals can access CalFresh as soon as they are eligible could strengthen the program’s reach and impact.

Report

Employment Patterns for CalFresh Adults

By Tess Thorman, Caroline Danielson

CalFresh provides food assistance to about 4.5 million low-income Californians. While many adults who access CalFresh are working, their jobs may be temporary or unstable. Understanding changes in employment before, during, and after adults enroll in CalFresh can help policymakers and administrators better align the program with workers’ needs.

Occasional Paper, Report

Patterns of Work Participation in CalWORKs

By Caroline Danielson

This Occasional Paper examines data for the period 2001-2004 submitted by states as evidence of their compliance with federal requirements in order to gain insight into the portion of the CalWORKs caseload required to participate in federally-approved activities, and especially those not meeting work participation requirements. It focuses solely on the single-parent caseload.

blog post

Unemployment Benefits in the COVID-19 Pandemic

By Sarah Bohn, Marisol Cuellar Mejia, Julien Lafortune

Nearly 2 million unemployment insurance claims have been filed in California over the past three weeks. What kind of benefits can these newly unemployed workers receive?

blog post

Financial Aid Applications for College Increase after New Law

By Jacob Jackson

Under a state law that aims to ensure graduating high school seniors seek financial aid, the number of potential first-time college students applying for assistance by the UC/CSU deadline increased 12% over the prior year.

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