Public social services: state of emergency or health emergency.

Assembly Member Harabedian's legislation establishes automatic continuous eligibility protections for recipients of major public assistance programs during declared emergencies in California. The bill requires the State Departments of Social Services and Health Care Services to maintain benefits for CalWORKs, CalFresh, CFAP, IHSS, CAPI, and Medi-Cal recipients who are impacted by state emergencies or public health emergencies.

Under the measure, counties must implement automated systems to prevent benefit discontinuances for at least 90 days following an emergency declaration and through its conclusion. The provisions apply when recipients face displacement, limited mobility, or disruptions to essential services and infrastructure. Counties must immediately restore benefits for affected individuals whose eligibility was discontinued, accepting verbal attestation of impact without requiring additional documentation. The bill also directs counties to excuse missed reporting deadlines during emergencies as "good cause" to prevent termination of benefits.

For Medi-Cal specifically, the continuous eligibility provisions extend to beneficiaries affected by county welfare department capacity reductions, stay-at-home orders, or interruptions in healthcare, childcare, utilities and other vital services. The Department of Health Care Services may implement these protections region-wide when multiple beneficiaries in an area experience qualifying disruptions. Implementation requires federal approval and continued federal financial participation. While creating new county responsibilities, the measure provides for state reimbursement of associated local costs through existing statutory mechanisms rather than new General Fund appropriations.