ARTICLE 5. CalWORKs Recipients Education Program [79200. - 79209.]

Cal. Education Code - EDC 5.

in effect

Cal. Education Code - EDC § 79200. Section 79200.

(a) There is in the California Community Colleges the CalWORKs Recipients Education Program. (b) As used in this article, “CalWORKs recipient” means a recipient of aid under Chapter 2 (commencing with Section 11200) of Part 3 of Division 9 of the Welfare and Institutions Code or any successor program.

Cal. Education Code - EDC § 79201. Section 79201.

It is the intent of the Legislature in enacting this article to assist CalWORKs recipients prepare for employment.

Cal. Education Code - EDC § 79202. Section 79202.

To the extent that funding is provided in the annual Budget Act, a community college shall receive funding for educational services provided to CalWORKs recipients based on the number of CalWORKs recipients that are enrolled at the community college and the scope and number of programs that the college plans to offer to assist CalWORKs recipients obtain employment. Prior to receiving funding, a community college shall submit to the chancellor a Request for Application which contains a plan for curriculum development or redesign. The plan shall include all of the following: (a) Evidence that the curriculum will prepare students for an occupation that is in demand in the local labor market or that is in an emerging field that has documented employment potential. (b) Participation by the county welfare department to establish that the programs being developed or redesigned will provide CalWORKs recipients with the training and experience necessary to secure employment, including intensive English language proficiency. (c) Evidence of collaboration with local partners, such as employers, private industry councils, regional occupational programs, adult education providers, and affected counties in the development and design of the curriculum. (d) Procedures to monitor CalWORKs recipients who complete the new curricula and transition into employment. (e) A description of new courses for CalWORKs recipients that are designed to aid recipients with job-related advancement.

Cal. Education Code - EDC § 79203. Section 79203.

To the extent that funding is provided in the annual Budget Act, funds received by a community college for curriculum development or redesign for CalWORKs recipients may be expended for all of the following purposes: (a) To develop or redesign vocational curricula for CalWORKs recipients so that courses may be offered as part of a short-term intensive program, including Open Entry and Open Exit programs, and including intensive English language immersion. (b) To link CalWORKs courses to job placement through work experience and internships. (c) To redesign basic education and ESL classes so that they may be integrated with vocational training programs. (d) To expand the use of telecommunications in providing the new curricula to CalWORKs recipients.

Cal. Education Code - EDC § 79204. Section 79204.

(a) In addition to the funding received pursuant to Section 79202, and to the extent that funding is provided in the annual Budget Act, a community college district shall receive funding for purposes of providing special services for CalWORKs recipients. (b) Special services for CalWORKs recipients shall assist CalWORKs recipient students and those students transitioning off of CalWORKs in achieving long-term self-sufficiency through coordinated student services offered at a community college. Special services may include any of the services funded in accordance with subdivision (e). (c) Services funded pursuant to this section shall be provided only to the following: (1) Current CalWORKs recipients until their initial educational objectives are met. (2) Former CalWORKs recipients for a period of not more than two years, subject to the conditions of Section 79208. (d) Funds received for purposes of this section shall be used to supplement, and not supplant, existing funds and services provided for CalWORKs recipients attending a community college. (e) The chancellor shall develop an equitable method for allocating these funds to all community college districts based on the relative number of CalWORKs recipients in attendance in each district and shall allocate funds for the following purposes: (1) Job placement. (2) Coordination with county welfare offices and other local agencies, including, but not limited to, local workforce investment boards. (3) Child care and workstudy. (4) Instruction. (5) Postemployment skills training and related skills training. (6) Campus-based case management, limited to on-campus assistance and services not provided by county caseworkers that do not supplant other counseling and academic support services funded through existing California Community Colleges categorical programs.

Cal. Education Code - EDC § 79205. Section 79205.

(a) Funds allocated pursuant to Section 79204 for the purposes of subsidized child care shall be utilized only for children of CalWORKs recipients through campus-based centers or parental choice vouchers subject to rules consistent with those applied to related programs operated by the State Department of Education, including those rules relating to eligibility, reimbursement rates, and parental contribution schedules. (b) Subsidized campus child care shall be provided to CalWORKs recipients only if they are engaged in welfare-to-work activities pursuant to Section 11320.1 of the Welfare and Institutions Code, through the completion of their initial education and training plan and for up to three months thereafter or until the end of the academic year, whichever period of time is greater. (c) Funds allocated pursuant to Section 79204 for workstudy shall be used for payments to those employers that currently participate in campus-based workstudy programs or are providing work experiences that are directly related to and in furtherance of student educational programs and work participation requirements. Those payments shall not exceed 75 percent of the wage for the workstudy positions, and the employers shall pay at least 25 percent of the wage for the workstudy positions. These funds may be expended on behalf of a CalWORKs recipient only if the recipient’s total hours of education, employment, and workstudy meet the recipient’s obligations as specified in Section 11322.8 of the Welfare and Institutions Code.

Cal. Education Code - EDC § 79206. Section 79206.

(a) Funds allocated pursuant to Section 79204 may be used to provide additional sections of credit or noncredit classes for CalWORKs recipient students if the chancellor determines that a community college district is otherwise unable to offer the additional instructional services to meet the demand for CalWORKs students. (b) The determination described in subdivision (a) shall be based on fall enrollment information and community college districts shall submit applications to the Chancellor of the California Community Colleges by December 1 of each year. (c) If the chancellor approves the use of funds for direct instructional workload pursuant to subdivision (a), the Chancellor of the California Community Colleges shall submit a report to the Department of Finance and the Joint Legislative Budget Committee by February 15 of each year that includes at least all of the following information: (1) The enrollment of new CalWORKs recipient students. (2) An explanation of why additional classes were needed to accommodate the needs of CalWORKs recipient students. (3) An expenditure plan for the balance of these funds.

Cal. Education Code - EDC § 79207. Section 79207.

(a) As a condition of continued receipt of the funds allocated pursuant to Section 79204, by the fourth week following the end of the semester or quarter term commencing in January of each year, community college districts and colleges shall submit to the Chancellor of the California Community Colleges a report, in the format specified by the chancellor, in consultation with the State Department of Social Services, that includes, but is not limited to, all of the following information: (1) How the moneys received for the funded components of special services, as specified in subdivision (e) of Section 79204, were spent. (2) The number of hours of child care services provided. (3) The average monthly enrollment of CalWORKs recipient dependents served in child care. (4) The number of workstudy hours provided. (5) The hourly salaries and type of jobs in which CalWORKs recipients were placed. (6) The number of students receiving case management. (7) The student participation rates, and other outcome data. (b) It is the intent of the Legislature that, to the extent practicable, reporting from colleges utilize data gathered for federal reporting requirements at the state and local level. (c) The Chancellor of the California Community Colleges shall compile the information received pursuant to subdivision (a) for annual reports to the Legislature, Governor, the Legislative Analyst, the Department of Finance, and the State Department of Social Services, notwithstanding Section 10231.5 of the Government Code, by February 15 of each year. (d) A report to the Legislature pursuant to subdivision (c) shall be submitted pursuant to Section 9795 of the Government Code.

Cal. Education Code - EDC § 79208. Section 79208.

(a) First priority for expenditures of any funds allocated in Section 79204 shall be for the support of current CalWORKs recipients. (b) If the needs of current CalWORKs recipients are insufficient to fully utilize all of the funding allocated pursuant to Section 79204 in a cost-effective way, the chancellor, in consultation with the State Department of Social Services, may allocate a portion of the funds allocated pursuant to Section 79204 for the purpose of providing postemployment services to former CalWORKs recipients. (c) Prior to an allocation of funds for postemployment services pursuant to subdivision (b), the chancellor shall secure the approval of the Department of Finance for the allocations, complete a cumulative report on the outcomes, activities, and cost-effectiveness of the program of funding specified in Section 79204 no later than February 15 of each year, and provide the rationale and justification for the proposed allocation of funds for postemployment services by community college districts for former CalWORKs recipients. (d) Funds allocated pursuant to subdivision (b) shall be used only for former CalWORKs recipients who have been off of cash assistance for not longer than two years to assist them in upgrading skills, job retention, and advancement, by means of one or more of the following: (1) Direct instruction that cannot be funded by other means. (2) Child care to support attendance in classes consistent with this article for periods commensurate with a student’s need for postemployment training within the two-year period. (3) Job development and placement services. (4) Career counseling and assessment activities that cannot be funded through other programs.

Cal. Education Code - EDC § 79209. Section 79209.

(a) If a community college district is unable to fully expend its share of funds allocated for child care pursuant to Section 79204, it may request that the chancellor approve a reallocation to other CalWORKs purposes authorized by this article, subject to all pertinent limitations and any district match required for those purposes. (b) Funds allocated pursuant to Section 79204 shall be budgeted to meet the state’s Temporary Assistance for Needy Families maintenance of effort requirement pursuant to the federal Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 (Public Law 104-193) and may not be expended in any way that would cause their disqualification as a federally allowable maintenance of effort expenditure.

Source: CA Legislative Counsel Bulk DataURL: https://downloads.leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/pubinfo_2025.zipFetched: 6/27/2026