(a) The department shall convene a task force including, but not limited to, district attorney domestic violence units, county departments of social services, the County Welfare Directors Association of California, the California State Association of Counties, statewide domestic violence prevention groups, local domestic violence prevention advocates, and service providers, the State Department of Health Care Services, the State Department of Public Health, and the California Emergency Management Agency. The department shall develop, in consultation with the task force, protocols on handling cases in which recipients are past or present victims of abuse. The protocols shall define domestic abuse, and shall address training standards and curricula, individual case assessments, confidentiality procedures, notice procedures and counseling or other appropriate participation requirements as part of an overall plan to transition from welfare-to-work. The protocol shall specify how counties shall do the following:
(1) Identify applicants and recipients of assistance under this chapter who have been or are victims of abuse, including those who self-identify, while protecting confidentiality.
(2) Refer these individuals to supportive services.
(3) Waive, on a case-by-case basis, for so long as necessary, pursuant to a determination of good cause under paragraph (2) of subdivision (f) of Section 11320.3, any program requirements that would make it more difficult for these individuals or their children to escape abuse, and that would be detrimental or unfairly penalize past or present victims of abuse. Requirements that may be waived include, but are not limited to, time limits on receipt of assistance, work requirements, educational requirements, paternity establishment and child support cooperation requirements.
(b) The department shall issue regulations describing the protocol identified in subdivision (a) no later than January 1, 1999.
(c) Waivers of time limits granted pursuant to this section shall not be implemented if federal statutes or regulations clarify that abuse victims are included in the 20 percent hardship exemptions and that no good cause waivers of the 20 percent limit will be granted to the state for victims of abuse, thereby incurring a penalty to the state.
(d) Waivers of the work requirements granted pursuant to this section shall not be implemented if federal statutes or regulations clarify that the state will be penalized for failing to meet work participation requirements due to granting waivers to abuse victims.
(Amended by Stats. 2012, Ch. 34, Sec. 220. (SB 1009) Effective June 27, 2012.)