CalWORKs Summary Program Services & Utilization

Program Services & Utilization

This graphic shows the proportion and total number of CalWORKs cases that exclude the adult portion of aid, including Safety Net, Fleeing Felon, Long-term Sanction, and Child-Only cases inclusive of non-needy caretakers, as compared to fully aided cases (e.g., One-Parent/All (Other) Families), Two-Parent, and Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) timed out cases.

As a reminder, individuals who have exhausted their federal 60-month time limit but have months remaining in CalWORKs receive a full grant amount if they are participating in CalWORKs.  Families with cases subject to a CalWORKs penalty (for example, parent does not provide a child’s proof of immunization) or Welfare to Work (WTW) sanction (for example, parent does not attend assigned WTW activity) receive a reduction of the adult portion of the CalWORKs grant and do not have the whole adult grant removed and are therefore not contemplated in the above.

Safety Net, Fleeing Felon, and Long-term Sanction: These case types were created in 2014 and are state funded only.  Individuals with these case types receive the Child-Only portion of the grant and have either the K1 or 3F aid codes, as described in ACL 15-46.

Child-Only: These are cases in which only the children in the family are aided because the parents are ineligible due to reasons including, but not limited to: immigration status, being a recipient of Supplemental Security Income (SSI), or when a non-parental non-needy caretaker is caring for the children.

Adults are eligible to receive aid for 60 months under CalWORKs. However, CalWORKs provides a state-funded Safety Net program that continues the child portion of a grant even after the adult in question reaches the lifetime limit. This visualization shows the number of families that rely on CalWORKs aid despite the loss of adult aid. In 2021, while the national percent of children in poverty receiving TANF was only 14.4 percent, California served 48.3 percent of children in poverty – more than three times the national share. CalWORKs policies that strengthen supports for children include providing aid up to age 18 and continuing to provide aid when a parent’s portion of aid has ended.

This graphic identifies the caseload without an adult portion of aid, which decreased significantly effective May 1, 2022, with the implementation of the CalWORKs Time on Aid (TOA) Clock from 48 months to 60 months, moving from approximately 20% CalWORKs families in the Safety Net prior to quarter 3 of State Fiscal Year (SFY) 2021-2022, decreasing progressively down to less than 10% in quarter 4 of SFY 2021-22 through to quarter 2 of SFY 2022-23. The percent of CalWORKs families in the Safety Net is expected to increase, reflective of families using the additional 12 months of TOA (the difference between the 48-to-60-month time on aid clock).

Although CalWORKs families have gone back into the Safety Net, following exhausting their 60 months of time on aid, the increase in aid amounts covered below resulted in an increase in the Safety Net month aid payment, along with all CalWORKs Assistance Units. 

Increase of the CalWORKs Time Limit to 60 Months

The CalWORKs Time-on-Aid (TOA) limit was increased from 48 months to 60 months in May 2022. Safety Net cases in which the parent or caretaker relative was excluded from the assistance unit (AU) for reaching their 48-month TOA limit were re-evaluated, and the parent/caretaker relative was added back to the AU for an additional 12 months of aid.  This likely resulted in a decrease of safety-net cases which is reflected above starting in Q2/Q3 of SFY 2021-2022. Additionally, these families received a higher grant amount because of the increase in the AU size, and the parent/caretaker relative became eligible for WTW supportive services.

Once a parent/caretaker relative that was added back to the AU exhausts the additional 12 months of aid, the case would once again transition to a safety-net case, resulting in an increase in safety-net cases which is reflected in Q2/Q3 of SFY 2022-2023 above. 

Increase in Aid Amounts

Effective October 1, 2023, the CalWORKs maximum aid payment (MAP) was increased by 3.6 percent. With the new increase, the MAP levels for a CalWORKs family of three is 57 percent of the federal poverty level, effectively ending deep poverty as measured by the federal poverty level for program recipients.

This figure reflects individuals and families whose cases are newly entering the safety net over time. Case types include Safety Net, Fleeing Felons, and Long-Term Sanction cases.

CalWORKs has two types of time limits: the TANF 60-month time limit and the CalWORKs 60-month time limit. State law allows adults to receive cash aid for a lifetime limit of 60 countable months in CalWORKs; however, children of adults who exhaust the 60-month time limit may continue to receive cash aid up to age 18. During the COVID-19 pandemic, many time limits associated with aid and services were paused (the time on aid clock was stopped), but time limits were reinstated when the time on aid limit increased from 48 months to 60 months effective May 1, 2022.

The CalWORKs Safety Net provides a reduced amount of cash assistance for families who have lost their regular program eligibility. The goal of the program is to help families who are in crisis and prevent them from becoming homeless or experiencing other types of instability. To be eligible for CalWORKs Safety Net, families must continue to meet CalWORKs eligibility after exhausting their 60 months of lifetime aid.

The CalWORKs Safety Net is incredibly important because it provides assistance to some of California’s most vulnerable families. The Safety Net portion of the program provides cash assistance to families with children who are experiencing hardship, are unable to work, or who have disabilities. The Safety Net continues to provide the child-portion of the CalWORKs grant. TANF Timed-Out cases are not included in this count, as they still receive the full CalWORKs grant for as long as they have months available on their CalWORKs time on aid clock.

Without the Safety Net, many families would be at risk of homelessness, hunger, and other types of hardship. The program helps ensure that families have the support they need to keep their children healthy, safe, and secure. It is an essential resource for many families in California who are struggling to make ends meet.

This graphic extrapolates on the information presented in the SRL item, CalWORKs Cases Without the Adult Portion of Aid, by highlighting the impact of the increase of the CalWORKs Time Limit from 48 to 60 months where there is a marked decrease of families entering the Safety Net in May 2022, followed by a marked increase in May 2023, reflective of the 12 months of additional time on aid where CalWORKs families might otherwise have been in the CalWORKs Safety Net but instead received the full CalWORKs grant, along with WTW supportive services.

Not evident in this graphic but anticipated following implementation after automation is completed, certain Safety-Net and Child-Only cases will have child support arrears passthrough and all child support income will be exempt when determining eligibility and the calculation of the CalWORKs grant.

Increase of the CalWORKs Time Limit to 60 Months

The CalWORKs Time-on-Aid (TOA) limit was increased from 48 months to 60 months in May 2022. Safety Net cases in which the parent or caretaker relative was excluded from the assistance unit (AU) for reaching their 48-month TOA limit were re-evaluated, and the parent/caretaker relative was added back to the AU for an additional 12 months of aid. This likely resulted in a decrease of safety-net cases which is reflected above starting in Q2/Q3 of SFY 2021-2022. Additionally, these families received a higher grant amount because of the increase in the AU size, and the parent/caretaker relative became eligible for WTW supportive services.

Once a parent/caretaker relative that was added back to the AU exhausts the additional 12 months of aid, the case would once again transition to a safety-net case, resulting in an increase in safety-net cases which is reflected in Q2/Q3 of SFY 2022-2023 above.

Increase in Aid Amounts

Effective October 1, 2023, the CalWORKs maximum aid payment (MAP) was increased by 3.6 percent.With the new increase, the MAP levels for a CalWORKs family of three is at 57 percent of the federal poverty level, effectively ending deep poverty for program recipients.

Child Support Arrears Passthrough & Full Disregard

Federal TANF rules (Title 42 of USC Section 608(a)(3)) and State statutes (WIC Section 11477) require families to assign their child support rights to the State as a condition of eligibility for CalWORKs. This means that in order to receive aid under TANF and CalWORKs, families must redirect their child support income to the State to cover the federal, state, and county costs of CalWORKs aid for that family. The State uses the child support collected to repay months of CalWORKs assistance that the family received, and the repaid months are added back to the family’s CalWORKs time-on-aid clock. However, CalWORKs families in which all adults are unaided due to exceeding the time on aid limits, in WTW sanction status for 12 consecutive months or longer (long-term WTW sanction) or fleeing felon status are not required to assign child support rights per state law. This means that any current child support payments are passed through to the family because current support is not assigned to the state, but only up to $200 is disregarded from consideration in the eligibility determination and grant calculation. Effective April 1, 2024, child support “arrears” will be passed through to certain Child-Only and safety-net families. In addition, all child support will be disregarded for these families.

The term child support “passthrough” refers to the assigned support collection that the State collects and forwards to the family, rather than utilizing the child support to reimburse itself and the federal government for the cost of providing cash assistance paid to the family. Under existing law, past due child support owed, known as “arrears,” are collected by the State to repay CalWORKs assistance that current and former recipients received. Arrears that accrued during periods of time a family received CalWORKs benefits are held by the state for all CalWORKs case types.

The term “disregard” refers to the amount of child support passthrough that is not considered when determining eligibility for CalWORKs and the amount of cash assistance a family will receive. Any remaining child support paid to the family above the allowable disregard amount is counted dollar-for-dollar against the aided family members’ grant. For a family with one child, up to $100 is disregarded, and for a family with two or more children, up to $200 is disregarded. 

A WTW sanction is a reduction in an individual’s CalWORKs cash assistance due to failure to comply with a WTW program requirement without good cause and when engagement efforts have failed.

This data has been collected since June 2021 through the Cal-OAR re-launch in July 2021.

WTW Sanctions are intended to incentivize individuals to meet their Welfare-to-Work participation requirements and fulfill federal work requirements. However, sanctions remove cash assistance from families in need and further interfere with the CalWORKs program’s efforts to interrupt poverty and support family stability. Monitoring sanction rate data may be a correlative of the program’s success as an intervention model.

The gradual decrease in the number of WTW sanctioned individuals in the line graph is due to the COVID-19 Universal Good Cause policies that resulted in significant portions of the WTW caseload being assigned a Good Cause status for non-participation in the program. These policies were introduced due to business shut-downs and shelter-in-place policies during the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency (PHE). The gradual increase in WTW sanctions, following the lifting of the PHE, is reflective of client non-participation in the program. Efforts to better engage CalWORKs families are a part of the Cal-OAR System Improvement Plan (Cal-SIP) for many counties.

Note that this SRL item sources data directly from the Statewide Automated Welfare System (SAWS) for Cal-OAR Performance Measure reporting, which differs from the SRL item illustrating all WTW program statuses, including WTW Sanction and Good Cause. As such, the two SRL items differ slightly in appearance and presented timeframe and may apply slightly different parameters and data definitions.

See the “What’s New” section for the SRL item illustrating all WTW program statuses, including WTW Sanction and Good Cause below for an in-depth look at recent policy changes which may have impacts on WTW sanction and Good Cause rates. 

The above bar chart displays the status type of WTW cases. Each status is represented by a different color. The statuses consist of WTW Active, Good cause, Exempt, Non-compliance, and WTW Sanction. The data is from 2018-2019 Quarter 1 to 2023-2024 Quarter 1.

WTW Active:  Aided individuals who are required to participate in WTW activities.

Good Cause:  An individual in good cause status is excused from WTW participation when it has been determined that there is a condition or circumstance that temporarily prevents, or significantly impairs, the individual’s ability to be regularly employed, or to participate in WTW activities.

Exempt:  Individuals who are not required to participate in WTW due to an exemption.

Non-Compliance:  Includes individuals who have been sent a notice of non-compliance with WTW participation requirements but have not yet returned to participation or been sanctioned.

Sanction:  Cases in which the aided family has a reduction in an individual’s CalWORKs cash assistance due to failure to comply with WTW program requirements without good cause and for whom compliance efforts have failed.

The COVID-19 Universal Good Cause policies that resulted in significant portions of the WTW caseload being assigned a Good Cause status for non-participation in the program helped families keep their benefits during a time of unprecedented social disruption. There has been a slight increase in sanctions and non-compliance since the COVID-19 restrictions have been lifted. This data can help create discussions on how to better support and engage families and give insight into how current policy can have an effect on the different program statuses.

This data shows that there was an increase of good cause from 2019 through 2020 Quarter 3 due to the Covid-19 pandemic which simultaneously caused a decline in non-compliance and sanctions.

Multiple recent policy changes will have varying degrees of impact on CalWORKs WTW exemption, good cause, non-compliance, and sanction rates. The following policy changes represent important factors in any effort to analyze and understand recent trends related to those data sets.

Senate Bill 65 passed on October 4, 2021, and was implemented on January 1, 2022, via ACL 22-55. It granted exemptions to all pregnant recipients, removing the requirement to either provide proof that the pregnancy impaired them from participating in WTW activities or obtain a CWD determination that the WTW activities were not appropriate or would not readily lead to employment. Pregnant recipients now are granted a 30-day automatic exemption upon verbal attestation that they are pregnant and are only required to provide proof of pregnancy to continue their exemption throughout their pregnancy. Passage of SB 65 should result in a direct increase in WTW exemption rates.

As of May 1, 2022, CDSS adopted a new set of CalWORKs hourly participation requirements in compliance with Assembly Bill 79 as described in ACL 20-120. That policy change made it easier for CalWORKs participants to fulfill their participation requirements. It is possible that, as a result, fewer WTW participants have subsequently been found noncompliant and subject to sanction.

Assembly Bill 2300 passed on September 27, 2022, and became effective January 1, 2023. It expanded WTW good cause reasons to include an array of worker’s rights protections and was implemented via ACL 23-30. AB 2300 established that any WTW participant who states they experienced a worker’s rights violation must be granted good cause.

The most significant recent policy change was the May 11, 2023, expiration of the “blanket” good cause COVID-19 flexibility. Up until May 11, 2023, counties could apply “blanket” good cause to WTW participants for as long as the Governor’s Declared State of Emergency remained in effect to mitigate the impacts of COVID-19 on clients and CWDs during the pandemic. All County Information Notice I-21-23 announced the expiration of blanket good cause, after which, any subsequent decrease in application of good cause, as well as any corresponding increase in both WTW noncompliance and sanction rates during the period immediately following May 11, 2023, could be largely attributed to the expiration of blanket good cause.

Additionally, WTW written and verbal guidance to counties has increasingly emphasized use of incentives, good cause, and any other administrative flexibilities to effectively engage WTW participants. At the same time, WTW guidance has encouraged counties to reduce reliance upon non-compliance and sanctions to incentivize clients to meet participation requirements. (See All County Welfare Director’s Letter dated December 30, 2022.) This shift towards effective client engagement may also help explain recent and ongoing reductions in non-compliance and sanction rates and/or increase in application of good cause.

Family Stabilization (FS) provides intensive case management and services to families participating in WTW to address immediate needs (Annual Summary, 2023). This bar chart illustrates a variety of FS services, first broken out, via horizontal bar chart, by services provided to adults or children, and then by a count of services received, overall. Note that one case may receive one or more services. The line graph illustrates the number of FS cases, trended over time.

CalWORKs Family Stabilization was implemented beginning January 1, 2014, to provide intensive case management and services to CalWORKs participants who are experiencing a crisis or identified situation that is destabilizing their family and would interfere with an adult participant’s ability to participate in WTW activities, such as domestic violence, substance abuse, mental health issues, and risk of homelessness.

Services can include more intensive case management, transitional housing, emergency shelter, rehabilitative services, counseling, and other services. The most utilized category in FS is "other", which encompasses family stabilization items, often for children, such as car seats and clothing.

While participating in FS, families are not subject to sanctions or hourly work requirements. The FS stabilization services attempt to resolve various crises that may result in interference with CalWORKs WTW activities, services, and status. Such crises include domestic abuse, substance abuse, homelessness, and mental health needs. By assisting CalWORKs families in crisis, the program is able to keep thousands of families enrolled and engaged, continuing to receive their full family grant while receiving services that help to stabilize and improve well-being of their family.

The trends in the graph above show FS increasing significantly from 2017 to 2018, with utilization sharply decreasing during the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency (PHE). Utilization has rebounded since the PHE drop, but not to the levels seen prior to the PHE.

This measure shows the total number of families receiving Stage One Child Care in the CalWORKs program on an annual basis. Stage One begins with a family's entry into the CalWORKs program. Clients leave Stage One after the county has deemed them stable, based on each county’s definition of stable and when there is space available in the next stage: Stage Two or Three.

Since child care is often one of the largest barriers to engagement in barrier removal, education, and work activities, this data can show us the uptake of Stage One Child Care as a proxy for growing family stability.

Interpretation of this data illustrates the substantial increase in 2019 due to the immediate and continuous child care policy, discussed below in greater detail. The drop in 2020-2021 is likely due to the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency, and the subsequent increase in 2021-2022 is likely due to the reengagement practice "post-COVID". The final decrease is likely a recalibration following the COVID-19 turbulence where the number of families to be reengaged naturally decreased.

Interpretation of this data illustrates the substantial increase in 2019 due to the immediate and continuous child care policy, discussed below in greater detail. The drop in 2020-2021 is likely due to the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency, and the subsequent increase in 2021-2022 is likely due to the reengagement practice "post-COVID." The final decrease is likely a recalibration following the COVID-19 turbulence where the number of families to be reengaged naturally decreased.

Several recent policies within the Stage One Child Care program have contributed to the substantial increase in families receiving these services, including:

Immediate and Continuous Child Care: The purpose of ACL 19-99 is to provide direction to County Welfare Departments (CWDs) on the implementation of Senate Bill (SB) 80 (Chapter 27, Statutes of 2019), signed by the Governor on June 27, 2019, pending forthcoming regulations. SB 80 increases access to child care services for CalWORKs participants by authorizing CalWORKs Stage One Child Care immediately upon CalWORKs cash aid approval and continuously for 12 months or until the participants are transferred to Stage Two.

Family Fee Changes: The purpose of Child Care Bulletin (CCB) 23-22 is to provide guidance to counties and child care and development contractors regarding the implementation of the provisions of AB 116 relevant to family fees. Specifically, AB 116 authorizes a restructured Family Fee Schedule that will become effective October 1, 2023. Specifically, commencing October 1, 2023, both of the following apply:

    • A) Family fees shall not exceed 1 percent of the family’s adjusted monthly income, and
    • B) A family with an adjusted monthly family income below 75 percent of the state median income shall not be charged or assessed a family fee.

It also allows for family fees that were accrued but uncollected prior to October 1, 2023, to be forgiven and not collected. This includes all family fees that were accrued and uncollected prior to the family fee waiver.

Extension of Child Care Reimbursement Based on Enrollment Rather than Attendance for Child Care and Development Program administered by CDSS: The purpose of CCB 23-26 is to provide guidance to counties and child care and development contractors regarding the continuation of voucher reimbursements to be based on enrollment rather than attendance, and center-based reimbursements to be based on 100% of the contract maximum reimbursable amount or net reimbursable program costs, whichever is less, through September 30, 2023, pursuant to AB 116.

Changes to Child Care Provider Rates: The purpose of CCB 23-28 is to provide guidance to counties and child care and development contractors regarding changes to policies related to child care provider rate sheets, rate category requirements, and the calculation of fluctuating income pursuant to Assembly Bill (AB) 116 (Chapter 41, Statutes of 2023).

Transitional One-time Payments to Child Care Providers: The purpose of CCB 23-32 is to provide guidance to counties and child care and development contractors regarding the distribution of transitional one-time payments to child care providers pursuant to SB 140 (Chapter 193, Statutes of 2023). These one-time, per provider payments were due to be issued by November 30, 2023.

Pertaining to Child Care Provider Payments: The purpose of CCB 23-34 is to provide guidance to counties and child care and development contractors regarding implementation of the provisions of SB 140 pertaining to child care provider payment policies and procedures.  Specifically, SB 140 makes changes to parent signature requirements, redefines part-time and full-time care, and requires counties and contractors to develop, implement, and publish a plan for timely payments to providers.  Parent signature requirements were effective, immediately. Both the part-time and full-time care definitions, and the plan for timely payment to providers requirements go into effect on or before March 1, 2024.

Cost of Care Plus Rate Payments to Child Care Providers: The purpose of CCB 23-37 is to notify counties and child care and development contractors of the distribution of per-child, monthly payments to family child care providers and centers, also pursuant to the MOU between the State and CCPU, ratified by CCPU members on July 31, 2023, and to SB 140 (Chapter 193, Statutes of 2023), signed by the Governor on September 13, 2023, which fully ratified the Agreement, and extended payments under it to centers, which are not represented by CCPU.

The California Work Opportunity and Responsibility to Kids (CalWORKs) Home Visiting Program (HVP) is a voluntary program supervised by the California Department of Social Services (CDSS) and administered by participating California counties.

CalWORKs HVP aims to support positive health development and well-being outcomes for pregnant and parenting people, families, and infants born into poverty, expand their future educational, economic, and financial capability opportunities, and improve the likelihood that they will exit poverty.

This chart displays the Statewide number of new enrollments into the CalWORKs Home Visiting Program (HVP), by quarter and year as reported on the HVP-19.

The CalWORKs HVP launched on January 1, 2019, and counties implementing the program had to adapt to challenges and policy changes that impacted the programs. The data shows that programs have continued to enroll new participants despite challenges that have been encountered.

COVID-19 caused significant challenges for delivery of HVP programming. With services becoming primarily remote, the nature of the home visiting model was fundamentally changed. The major areas of challenge were pertaining to the implications of remote services and the additional stress posed on clients and home visitors. The local and statewide stay-at-home orders and disruption of health and social services in response to the COVID-19 pandemic occurred just as many counties were reaching full implementation. Staff re-assignments limited the ability to serve as well as recruit clients to the program.

Although the COVID-19 pandemic brought many challenges, it has also opened windows of opportunity for local teams to develop creative new ways to provide services and maintain the central home visitor-client relationship. Technology played a large role, through adaptation of in-person to remote engagement.

Please note: Data for 2023 Q2 is incomplete due to county reports still being submitted. Once all counties have submitted data reports, this number is expected to increase.

Building on the CalWORKs HVP evaluation, CDSS hosted five Continuous Quality Improvement (CQI) workgroup meetings (in December 2020, and March, May, July, and September 2022). The workgroup’s activities drew on evaluation findings on CalWORKs HVP outcomes, strengths, and areas for improvement. Workgroup participants engaged in brainstorming meetings to discuss key challenges, potential strategies to address those challenges, and necessary steps to implement those strategies, resulting in the following grouping of recommendations. More information on these recommendations is available in the CalWORKs HVP CQI Report. 

  1. Communication and outreach. The CalWORKs HVP CQI workgroup proposed strategies to improve families’ engagement in CalWORKs HVP. This includes developing a comprehensive and clear communications approach for engaging families in ways that are culturally responsive, empathetic, and trauma informed.
  2. Tools to facilitate coordination. Workgroup participants reported the need to improve coordination between CalWORKs HVP staff, counties, and partners. Stronger and centralized infrastructure, tools, and resources to support coordination would enable families to seamlessly access and navigate services.
  3. Professional development and communities of practice. The workgroup highlighted a need to implement streamlined trainings for CalWORKs HVP staff, partners, and providers. Other suggestions included establishing learning collaboratives, communities of practice, or coalitions to share best practices, successes, and challenges among staff and partners.
  4. Building trust and enhancing equity. The workgroup stressed the importance of enacting practices that enhance equity within the CalWORKs HVP and building trust between families participating in the CalWORKs HVP and the program. Practices to build trust and equity include meaningfully engaging families and community members in designing and implementing program improvements. Workgroup participants also suggested conducting equity trainings and monitoring equity in the CalWORKs HVP.

CaliforniaWork Opportunity and Responsibility to Kids (CalWORKs) Housing Support Program (HSP)

This chart shows the trends in HSP program applications. The HSP program launched in state fiscal year (FY) 2014-15. Referrals grew in FY 2015-16 and 2016-17 after the number of grantees for the program more than doubled. Usage of the HSP program declined during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic (FY 2020-21). Demand has increased again over the past two years, which is likely a result of expanded eligibility and increased funding as well as the rising underlying housing need amongst families receiving CalWORKs.

Homelessness is a pervasive, multifaceted problem that is a barrier to self-sufficiency.  It affects the health and economic opportunities of families throughout the nation.  Research shows housing instability and homelessness contribute to children experiencing higher rates of mental, emotional, and behavioral impairments and interferes with learning and the ability to develop social relationships.  In recognition that housing is a critical component of self-sufficiency, the California Legislature created the CalWORKs HSP in 2014. HSP has continued to grow since program launch in 2014 and provides an array of housing support services including but not limited to rental assistance, housing navigation, and housing case management service to families in the CalWORKs program.  HSP assists families to stabilize as they move into permanent housing and work toward self-sufficiency while also improving overall child well-being.

These charts show the trends in the Homeless Assistance (HA) program for temporary assistance and permanent assistance, including HA benefits provided as an exception to the once-every-twelve-month rule.

Usage of Temporary and Permanent HA declined sharply during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic (FY 2020-21), detailed in the 2023 CalWORKs Annual Summary Report. As the impact of the pandemic lessened, many COVID-19-related resources and policies, including the eviction moratorium, ended and as such, the data shows that the need for services has rebounded to surpass pre-COVID-19 proportions. In FY 22-23, over 59,400 families were approved for Temporary HA and over 6,100 were approved for Permanent HA. This represents a 93% increase in Temporary HA approvals and a 266% increase in Permanent HA approvals when compared to FY 2020-21.

The increased demand for HA is likely indicative of the rising underlying housing need amongst families receiving CalWORKs, although the increase in demand may be due to other factors such as changes in policy.

Homelessness is a pervasive, multifaceted problem that is a barrier to self-sufficiency. It affects the health and economic opportunities of families throughout the nation. Research shows housing instability and homelessness contribute to children experiencing higher rates of mental, emotional, and behavioral impairments and interferes with learning and the ability to develop social relationships. The CalWORKs HA program serves eligible CalWORKs recipients, or apparently eligible CalWORKs applicants, who are homeless or at risk of homelessness with immediate homeless assistance.  

To better understand the actual cost of nightly shelter for families eligible for the the CalWORKs Homeless Assistance program (HA), per WIC section 11450(i), in late 2023, CDSS surveyed counties on the average cost of nightly shelter for an eligible family with at most four members and the average cost of nightly shelter for an eligible family with more than four members for the past fiscal year. Thirty-three of the fifty-eight counties responded. 

The results are presented in the charts above. 

Average Nightly Cost

According to the results, the most frequently cited average actual cost for an eligible family of at most four members is between $101 and $125, while the most frequently cited average actual cost of temporary nightly shelter for an eligible family of more than four members was between $125 to $150 or greater. According to the respondents, the true costs may be much higher since larger families may require more than two rooms.

Shelter Type 

Eleven of the 33 counties (33%) that responded to the survey reported motel/hotel was the only temporary shelter type used by eligible families in receipt of HA. All other counties reported eligible families they serve use more than one type of shelter in addition to hotels/motels for temporary shelter. These included shared housing, emergency shelter, and “other” types, which included temporary transitional shelters, and campgrounds. The distribution of types of shelter eligible families use is shown in the bar graph “Shelter Type.”

Counties that reported costs at or lower than the maximum amount ($85 for families of four or under and $145 for families of five or greater), indicated eligible families utilized short term shared housing agreements, emergency shelters and other types of shelter, including campgrounds. Ten counties reported that the current allowable amounts were not sufficient to house families in their communities.

When comparing shelter costs for families up to four people to fair market rent (FMR) for a one-bedroom apartment in the same county, there was wide variation between housing costs and nightly shelter costs. The most expensive housing markets were not always in the counties that reported the highest nightly shelter costs, suggesting that other factors like the type of temporary shelter used and hotel/motel supply might be affecting nightly shelter costs. 

To better understand best practices for transitioning from temporary shelter to permanent housing per WIC 11450(i), counties were asked to complete a survey in late 2023.

The distribution of promising practices reported by counties can be seen in the chart “Promising Practices”. 

  • Just over half (52%, n=17) of the 33 respondents reported that the most promising practice to transition families from temporary to permanent housing was by linking temporary housing assistance recipients with the CalWORKs Housing Support Program (HSP). This helps families with rent and move-in assistance, in line with rapid rehousing (RRH) best practices.  
  • Five counties identified using intensive case management to help families in receipt of temporary HA achieve permanent housing goals. Intensive case management focuses on stabilizing housing by navigating common barriers to housing retention and helping create community support systems. This is based on active, trauma-informed engagement of participants so that supports are effective in line with RRH best practices.
  • Three counties cited linking families in receipt of temporary HA with the local Coordinated Entry System to access more expansive permanent housing resources through community partners as a best practice. These linkages assist with housing identification, identifying family needs and preferences, facilitating applications, and providing tenant rights/landlord responsibilities resources and align with RRH best practices.
  • Two counties reported developing linkages to local community partners as a best practice. These linkages assist with many RRH best practices, depending on the partner and what services they offer. 
  • Two counties reported the use of landlord incentives as a best practice, which also align with the housing identification best practices recommended by RRH best practices.