TO: Board of Supervisors
FROM: Jennifer Yasumoto, Director of Health and Human Services Agency
REPORT BY: Summer Isham, Contracts Supervisor
SUBJECT: California Work Opportunity and Responsibility to Kids (CalWORKs) System Improvement Plan (Cal-SIP) Report
RECOMMENDATION
title
Approve the CalWORKs System Improvement Plan (Cal-SIP) Report for implementation as mandated by the State. (No Fiscal Impact; Mandatory).
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BACKGROUND
The State of California requires county CalWORKs programs to have an Outcomes and Accountability Review (Cal-OAR). Cal-OAR is a local, data-driven program management system that facilitates continued improvement of county CalWORKs programs by collecting, analyzing, and disseminating outcomes and best practices. Cal-OAR functions in a five-year cycle where Health and Human Services Agency's (HHSA) Self Sufficiency Services Division (SSSD) follows steps to evaluate the CalWORKs program and the areas where improvement is needed. Known as the Continuous Quality Improvement (CQI) process, this cycle requires all counties to perform a CalWORKs Self-Assessment (Cal-CSA) which identifies the current standing of the program and areas which need to be improved. Based on this, SSSD selects specific Cal-OAR performance measures to improve, and details the methods, strategies, and action steps for improvement. Additionally, Peer County reviews are conducted to gain additional insight and technical assistance from other counties. This information is then compiled into the Cal-SIP Report and submitted to the California Department of Social Services (CDSS).
Cal-OAR consists of three core components: 1) performance indicators (26 individual indicators that vary from topics such as how engaged an individual is in the Welfare-to-Work program, to access to barrier removal and supportive services, to reentry rates); 2) a county CalWORKs Cal-CSA, our County's Cal-CSA showed that our program is performing at or above state average, however, there were t...
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