(a) (1) The Lifting Children and Families Out of Poverty Task Force is hereby established for the purpose of recommending future comprehensive strategies aimed at addressing deep child poverty and reducing child poverty in California.
(2) The task force shall be invited and convened by the State Department of Social Services. The task force shall consist of stakeholders that focus on family and child well-being, from birth to adulthood, in furtherance of the goals of reducing child poverty and alleviating family crises, including, but not limited to, representatives from among the state agencies responsible for health and human services, workforce, education, and housing programs, counties, justice agencies, state and local community organizations that work with and advocate for children and families, and researchers with subject-matter expertise.
(b) The State Department of Social Services shall assist the task force in carrying out its duties to the extent that funding is available. The department may use its existing resources to absorb its costs for implementing this division. Notwithstanding any other law, the department may accept and expend funds from nongovernment sources for its work with the task force.
(c) The task force shall submit a report to the executive branch administration and the Legislature. The report shall be completed by no later than November 1, 2018, and shall include the following:
(1) The success achieved over the eight-year period prior to completion of the report, for each program and service determined by the task force to be of the highest importance in reducing both childhood poverty and the number of children in deep poverty, and recommendations that may build on that success.
(2) An analysis of unmet needs among children in deep poverty and poverty, if any, for each of the programs and services determined by the task force to be of the highest importance in reducing childhood poverty.
(3) A specific set of near-term, intermediate term, and long-term benchmarks that can be used to measure the state’s progress toward the goal of addressing child poverty.
(4) The task force shall consider the needs and priorities for services, and make recommendations intended to address deep poverty among children and reduce the number of children living in poverty.
(d) A report submitted to the Legislature pursuant to this section shall be submitted in compliance with Section 9795 of the Government Code.
(Added by Stats. 2017, Ch. 415, Sec. 2. (AB 1520) Effective January 1, 2018. Repealed as of January 1, 2020, pursuant to Section 20060.)
Last modified: October 25, 2018