(a) (1) No later than September 1, 2022, the department shall issue an all-county letter containing recommendations and suggested methods for county human services agencies to partner with the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation and county jails to enroll otherwise eligible applicants for the CalFresh program to ensure that an applicant’s benefits may begin as soon as possible upon reentry of the applicant into the community from the state prison or a county jail.

(2) The all-county letter shall include, but not be limited to, all of the following:

(A) Information on the benefits of enrolling formerly incarcerated individuals into the CalFresh program.

(B) Information on acceptable forms of identification necessary to complete an application for CalFresh benefits, including information on how to verify an applicant’s eligibility for expedited service, as defined in Section 273.2(i)(1) of Title 7 of the Code of Federal Regulations.

(C) Information on how to connect individuals released from the state prison with employment or employment opportunities, including how counties may work with the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation to connect individuals to employment opportunities related to any experience, training, and education that the individual has obtained, including experience, training, and education obtained while in state prison.

(D) Encourage counties to require county eligibility workers to regularly enter any state prison or county jail within the county to conduct interviews and assist individuals that are within 45 days of release from state prison or county jail with completing applications for CalFresh benefits. This assistance shall be for the purpose of establishing eligibility for CalFresh benefits prior to release from the institution.

(b) If the department deems it necessary to maximize CalFresh enrollment outcomes or employment placement success rates for individuals reentering the community from the state prison or a county jail, the department shall submit to the United States Department of Agriculture’s Food and Nutrition Service a request to waive Section 273.1(b)(7)(vi) of Title 7 of the Code of Federal Regulations to allow for preenrollment of applicants prior to their release from the state prison or a county jail.

(Added by Stats. 2020, Ch. 225, Sec. 1. (AB 3073) Effective January 1, 2021.)