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State officials outline barriers and modest gains in automatic enrollment for safety-net benefits
Summary
State social services and health officials described progress toward automated cross‑enrollment across Medi‑Cal, CalFresh and CalWORKs, reported a small causal effect from a text outreach pilot, and identified legal, data quality and technology barriers that limit scale.
Assembly Budget Subcommittee 2 on Human Services heard officials from the California Department of Social Services, the Department of Health Care Services and state technology staff describe ongoing work to make enrollment and renewals for Medi‑Cal, CalFresh and CalWORKs easier and more person‑centered.
"Our vision at the California Department of Social Services is to make application and renewal processes more accessible, straightforward, and integrated across the safety net in a manner that centers client voice and choice," said Ryan Gillette, chief data officer and deputy director, Research, Automation and Data Division, California Department of Social Services. Gillette summarized the state's analysis of overlapping caseloads and early pilot results testing outreach to likely‑eligible families.
Why it matters: Officials said better cross‑enrollment could reduce poverty and administrative burden for households that are eligible for multiple programs but are not enrolled. Gillette cited a 2022 PPIC estimate that safety‑net programs administered by CDSS reduced deep poverty and near‑poverty rates and…
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