Committee backs MOU joining Cal ACES development work toward a single statewide welfare eligibility system

The Government Audit and Oversight Committee reviewed a memorandum of understanding to participate in the Cal ACES consortium’s shared development work toward a single statewide automated welfare eligibility system (CalSAWS).

Dan Kaplan, deputy director for finance and administration at the Human Services Agency, told the committee the MOU covers a limited shared-development period before the planned formation of a 58-county joint powers authority. He said the MOU would allow the Cal ACES project to procure and contract for development work on two initial projects: a revision to the online CalWORKs appraisal tool (OCAT) and a foster eligibility subsystem. Kaplan said the initiative aims to standardize eligibility calculations and reduce the costs of maintaining multiple systems.

Kaplan said the work would be overseen by CalSAWS leadership and that the state would likely direct the bulk of initial project costs to the Cal ACES project so costs would not necessarily hit county budgets; he noted the possibility the MOU leaves open a county contribution but said they did not anticipate one for these first projects.

Bernadette Casino, San Francisco’s CalWIN manager, told the committee that maintaining three separate systems currently makes county-to-county transfers difficult for recipients and involves manual work such as faxing documents; she said a single statewide system should make transfers easier. “Having three systems actually does make it difficult for our participants to move from county to county,” Casino said.

Supervisors asked whether San Francisco could lose local policy levers by joining a statewide system; staff said governance will use regional representation and that Bay Area counties will have a voice in the new structure. The committee moved the MOU forward with a positive recommendation to the full Board without recorded objection.