(a) Contingent upon a Budget Act appropriation, a Pay for Performance Program shall provide additional funding for counties that meet the standards developed according to subdivision (c) in their welfare-to-work programs under Article 3.2 (commencing with Section 11320) of Chapter 2. The state shall have no obligation to pay incentives earned that exceed the funds appropriated for the year in which the incentives were earned.
(b) To the extent that funds are appropriated, the maximum total funds available to each county each year under the Pay for Performance Program shall be 5 percent of the funds the county receives that year, less the amount for child care, from the single allocation under Section 15204.2. If funds appropriated for this section are less than the incentives earned under this subdivision, each county’s allocation under this section shall be prorated based on the amount of funds appropriated for that year.
(c) The funds available to each county under the Pay for Performance Program shall be divided each year into as many equal parts as there are measures established for the year under this subdivision. A county shall earn payment of one equal part for each improvement standard that it achieves for the year or by ranking in the top 20 percent of all counties in a measure identified in paragraphs (1), (2), (3), (4), and (5), except as provided in subparagraph (B) of paragraph (4). Counties may receive a pro rata share of incentive funds for each improvement standard. The department shall consult with the County Welfare Directors Association, legislative staff, and other stakeholders, when developing improvement standards and the methodology for earning and distributing incentives for each of the following measures:
(1) The employment rate of county CalWORKs cases.
(2) The federal participation rates of county CalWORKs cases, calculated in accordance with Section 607 of Title 42 of the United States Code, but excluding individuals who are exempt in accordance with Section 11320.3 and including sanctioned cases and cases participating in activities described in subdivision (q) of Section 11322.6. If valid data does not exist to measure this outcome, the funds for this measure shall be made available for the Pay for Performance Program in the following fiscal year.
(3) The percentage of county CalWORKs cases that have earned income three months after ceasing to receive assistance under Section 11450.
(4) (A) The percentage of county CalWORKs cases, including cases that have ceased receiving assistance in the previous two quarters, with earned income that equals or exceeds the income level for the maximum EITC amount available to a household, as determined under Section 22 of the Internal Revenue Code.
(B) This paragraph shall only become operative if the department, in consultation with the County Welfare Directors Association, legislative staff, and other stakeholders, determines that implementing its provisions will not create a substantial risk of California failing to meet federal welfare-to-work participation goals, and shall remain operative for so long as the department does not reverse that determination.
(5) Any additional measures that the department may establish in consultation with the County Welfare Directors Association, legislative staff, and other stakeholders.
(d) Performance measures, standards, outcomes, and payments to counties under subdivisions (a), (b), and (c) shall be based on the following schedule:
(1) For the performance measure described in paragraph (2) of subdivision (c), payments in fiscal year 2007–08 shall be based on outcomes for the period of July 1, 2006, through December 31, 2006, compared to outcomes for the period of January 1, 2007, through June 30, 2007, and payments in each subsequent fiscal year shall be based on outcomes for the fiscal year prior to payment, compared to outcomes for the fiscal year two years prior to payment.
(2) For all other performance measures, payments shall be based on outcomes for the fiscal year prior to payment, compared to outcomes for the fiscal year two years prior to payment.
(e) The department may make further adjustments to any of the performance measures listed under subdivision (c), in consultation with the County Welfare Directors Association, legislative staff, and other stakeholders. The act that both amends subdivision (c) and enacts this sentence in the 2007–08 Regular Session of the Legislature shall not limit the department’s authority under this subdivision.
(f) The funds paid in accordance with this section may only be used in accordance with subdivisions (f) and (g) of Section 10544.1 and only for the purpose of enhancing family self-sufficiency. Funds earned by a county in accordance with this section shall be available for expenditure in the fiscal year that they are received and the following two fiscal years. Following the period of availability, and notwithstanding any provisions of subdivision (f) of Section 10544.1 to the contrary, any unspent balance shall revert to the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) block grant.
(g) Any funds appropriated by the Legislature for the Pay for Performance Program, but not earned by a county, shall revert to the TANF block grant at the end of the fiscal year for which the funds were appropriated.
(h) The department shall periodically publish the outcomes measured by the Pay for Performance Program, identified by county.
(i) Notwithstanding the rulemaking provisions of Chapter 3.5 (commencing with Section 11340) of Part 1 of Division 3 of Title 2 of the Government Code, the department may implement this section through all-county letters throughout the duration of the Pay for Performance Program.
(Amended by Stats. 2007, Ch. 622, Sec. 6. Effective January 1, 2008.)