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AB 2510

CalWORKs.

2025-2026 Regular Session Introduced by Joaquin Arambula

CalWORKs expands eligibility and support for families in reunification, allowing aid and services during out-of-home care and aligning benefits with reunification plans once SAWS a

From committee: Do pass and re-refer to Com. on APPR. (Ayes 4. Noes 0.) (June 29). Re-referred to Com. on APPR.
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Bill Summary · AB 2510

Summary of AB 2510 (CalWORKs) – 2025-2026 California Legislature

Purpose and intent

  • Aims to modify CalWORKs provisions to reflect reunification-focused pathways for families with children removed into out-of-home care, adjust immunization requirements, and recalibrate certain welfare-to-work mechanics in the context of reunification.
  • Establishes phased operative dates tied to automation readiness of the Statewide Automated Welfare System (SAWS) and directs implementation accordingly, with safeguards to avoid retroactive payments.

Key provisions and changes

1) CalWORKs eligibility and reunification framework
- Expands eligibility rules for families where a child has been removed and placed in out-of-home care, clarifying that:
- The parent(s) may continue to receive CalWORKs aid and childcare services for up to six months (or longer as determined by the department) even while the child is in out-of-home care.
- The requirement that all children must be removed or reunified is removed; the law will not mandate complete removal of all children or a staged reunification as a prerequisite for aid.
- Creates operative provisions for aid and services to be necessary for reunification, with counties determining the necessity and, if applicable, deeming aid and services necessary for reunification when a reunification plan is in place.
- Adds operative dates (July 1, 2027 or later, when SAWS automation is ready) and prohibits retroactive payments or underpayments prior to implementation.

2) Immunization requirements
- Exempts families participating in a reunification case plan from specified immunization requirements (11265.8), aligning immunization compliance with reunification workflows.

3) Immunization and school enrollment exemptions
- Maintains immunization documentation requirements for CalWORKs applicants/recipients but provides reunification-related exemptions as noted above.

4) Child support and income treatment
- Modifies treatment of child support:
- For fully state-funded CalWORKs recipients not eligible for federal assistance, rights to support may be waived, and child support payments received by such recipients would not count as income for CalWORKs eligibility purposes.
- Adds Section 11251 establishing that child support payments received by a CalWORKs applicant/recipient shall not constitute income for eligibility calculations.

5) Welfare-to-work and reunification plan options
- Reforms welfare-to-work planning for individuals in the reunification pathway:
- Allows either a CalWORKs family reunification plan (case plan) or a jointly developed child welfare services and CalWORKs welfare-to-work plan to serve as the CalWORKs family reunification plan.
- Requires that participants cooperating in the development or participating in a reunification plan be exempt from the standard welfare-to-work participation requirement.
- Requires plans to be clear, readable, and to include description of rights, duties, exemptions, plan components, and progress criteria.
- Provides an approximate sunset for these provisions (operative July 1, 2027 or SAWS readiness), after which the current system could be adjusted or repealed.

6) State-mandated local program and local costs
- The bill contemplates expansion of county responsibilities under CalWORKs; to the extent of expanded duties, it would constitute a state-mmandated local program.

7) Financial and procedural notes
- Continuous general fund appropriation for CalWORKs costs would not automatically apply to implementing the bill.
- If the Commission on State Mandates finds new state-mandated costs, local reimbursements would proceed under existing state-mandated costs reimbursement rules.

Who would be affected

  • CalWORKs applicants and recipients, particularly families with child removals into out-of-home care and those in reunification efforts.
  • County welfare departments and child welfare services agencies, which would have expanded roles in planning and delivering reunification-focused services.
  • Families subject to child support enforcement and those with state-funded (not federally funded) aid, due to changes in income and support-rights treatment.

Procedural/timeline aspects

  • Operative dates tied to SAWS automation readiness:
    • Main provisions become operative on July 1, 2027, or when SAWS can implement the required automation (whichever is later).
    • Prior to full automation, the Department may issue policy guidance via all-county letters.
  • Some sections are designed to sunset or become inoperative on July 1, 2027 unless automation is in place, with a sunset repeal mechanism (and potential one-year continuation if necessary to wrap up transitional rules).

Overall impact

  • The bill seeks to streamline and bolster CalWORKs support for families undergoing reunification, reduce rigid interpretations around removal/unification, and align immunization and work-required activities with reunification planning. It emphasizes state-local collaboration while preparing for future automation-driven administration.

Compiled from official sources — confirm details with the bill’s official record.

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