Report 2021-613 Recommendation 2 Responses

Report 2021-613: Pandemic Food Assistance Programs: The California Department of Social Services Has Struggled to Deliver Timely Food Assistance Because of Unclear Federal Expectations and Other Factors Beyond Its Control (Release Date: October 2021)

Recommendation #2 To: Social Services, Department of

To ensure that all eligible families are aware of and have the opportunity to participate in P-EBT, CDSS should—in coordination with CDE as necessary—by no later than February 2022, begin requesting that the applicable schools contact those families who have not yet received or used their P-EBT cards to inform them of their eligibility for payments and to provide them with both general information about P-EBT and contact information for CDSS.

CDSS provided CDE with a list of unused P-EBT 2.0 schoolchild cares, with unique identifiers included, on April 6, 2022. Additionally, on June 1, 2022, CDSS provided CDE an outreach toolkit consisting of the following:

- Postcard informing families of available benefits

- P-EBT factsheet

- P-EBT flyer

- P-EBT frequently asked questions (FAQ)

- Sample letter to accompany P-EBT card

The CDE will send out a communication to Local Education Agencies (LEAs) once they have completed their internal process in creating a way for LEAs to securely download the toolkit.

California State Auditor's Assessment of Status: Fully Implemented

CDSS provided evidence that it created key P-EBT information and coordinated as necessary with CDE to send that information to applicable schools to inform those families that have not yet received or used their P-EBT cards of their eligibility for payments and to provide them with both general information about P-EBT and CDSS P-EBT contact information. CDSS also provided evidence that it sent this information to CDE and that CDE sent this information to applicable schools.

Once the final list of students with unused P-EBT cards has been created, CDSS will provide the list with the StuKeys to CDE. CDE will use this list to identify schools of impacted children and families who have not yet used their P-EBT cards. CDE will provide client education materials to schools and request for the schools to conduct targeted outreach to children who are named on the list. P-EBT outreach materials are currently readily available for use and will be made available to schools.

California State Auditor's Assessment of Status: Pending

All Recommendations in 2021-613

Agency responses received are posted verbatim.