(a) The department shall make an annual allocation of funds appropriated for the purpose of this subdivision to all eligible federally recognized American Indian tribes with reservation lands or rancherias located in this state that administer a program pursuant to the federal Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 (P.L. 104-193).
(b) The department shall collect and maintain specific available data for each tribe in this state for federal fiscal year 1994 for the purpose of the implementation and administration of the federal program.
(c) The department shall submit requests on behalf of tribes, for all applicable federal waivers and exemptions for all eligible federally recognized American Indian tribes located on reservations and rancherias, or for consortia of tribes, for the administration of the CalWORKs program, whether or not tribes administer an approved Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) plan, independent of any county participation, demographics, or circumstances.
(d) Each county, in the administration of the CalWORKs program, shall consult with all eligible federally recognized tribes within any portion of the county, for the purpose of providing American Indian recipients with equitable access to assistance under the state program or an approved tribal TANF program if implemented in the county, and for the consideration of transfers of administration responsibilities to those entities.
(e) Beginning July 1, 2006, state funding for tribal TANF programs provided pursuant to this section shall be based on the caseload used to develop the Tribal Family Assistance Grant negotiated with the Administration for Children and Families and the state. Tribal TANF programs shall do both of the following:
(1) Report to the department, on a quarterly basis, the aggregated data, as reported by tribal TANF programs to the federal Department of Health and Human Services pursuant to paragraph (2) of subdivision (b) of Part 286.255 of Title 45 of the Code of Federal Regulations, and any additional federal data required to meet the state maintenance of effort (MOE) reporting requirements.
(2) Provide the department, on an annual basis, corresponding with the program’s fiscal year, a certified audit in accordance with the requirements of the federal Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Circular A-133.
(f) In no case shall the state match under subdivision (e) exceed the original state share designated for the tribal TANF program in the original negotiation of 1994 caseload counts.
(g) The department shall amend the state TANF plan to reflect that the state adopts by reference the federally approved financial eligibility criteria established by each tribal TANF program as the state’s financial eligibility criteria when determining eligibility for state funded services provided by tribal TANF programs.
(h) Beginning July 1, 2005, the department shall not reduce county single allocations to offset funding provided for tribal TANF programs. The department may adjust county single allocations to reflect the actual caseload declines associated with the number of Native American cases transferring from the counties to the tribal TANF programs.
(Amended by Stats. 2006, Ch. 75, Sec. 28. Effective July 12, 2006.)