(a)  The Legislature finds and declares all of the following:

(1)  That there are more than 600,000 families in California who face the enormous challenge of moving rapidly from welfare to work in order to meet federal and state deadlines.

(2)  That a significant number of these families face substantial obstacles in meeting these deadlines inasmuch as a vast percentage of these families pay 50 to 80 percent of their welfare checks for housing, live in counties with unemployment rates that are as high as 30 percent, cannot locate infant or child care because of no availability or long waiting lists, and lack personal or public transportation.

(3)  That approximately 1,500,000 children receiving Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) will require child care when their mothers begin private or public employment and that only four out of every 100 slots in licensed child care centers are open to infants.

(4)  That most of the 600,000 parents who will be required to work lack training, and a high percentage lack a high school diploma, job experience, and job retention skills in order to earn the income necessary to sustain themselves and their children without welfare assistance. Studies demonstrate that a welfare mother in Los Angeles with one toddler will need to find a job earning thirteen dollars and seven cents ($13.07) per hour in order to provide housing, and the basic necessities and health care. A mother of two needs seventeen dollars and ten cents ($17.10) per hour.

(5)  That in response to this complex problem facing so many endangered families, assistance to families moving to work shall be provided under the “Families Moving to Work Program” which shall be operated as a component of the Multifamily Housing Program established by Chapter 6.7 (commencing with Section 50675), through which the Department of Housing and Community Development shall test innovative strategies of providing affordable housing combined with child care and a job training program. The housing shall be located on a main transportation system.

(b)  The Legislature intends that the funds included in Item 2240-106-0001 of the Budget Act of 1999 be used as an integral part of a county’s welfare plan as a means of assisting families qualifying for CalWORKs benefits and experiencing the greatest difficulty moving from welfare to work. The Legislature further intends for this to be a transitional program that will provide focused, enriched resources to CalWORKs households during the period of moving from welfare to work, and that upon the completion of the program, the household’s assistance will be terminated and then a new CalWORKs household will be provided assistance in the Families Moving to Work Program. The Legislature intends that the department may establish goals and timelines for moving from welfare to work, and that broad criteria for this transition shall be applied to households on an individual basis.

(c)  The Legislature finds and declares that the legislative findings and declarations set forth in Sections 1 to 5, inclusive, of both Chapters 1042 and 1043 of the Statutes of 1979, remain valid and are applicable to the program enacted by this chapter. The Legislature finds and declares that there is an urgent need to establish a program to design new living environments, part of which will include social and economic programs, so that working parents, jobseeking parents, and homeless parents can build productive lives for themselves and their children.

(Amended by Stats. 1999, Ch. 637, Sec. 3. Effective January 1, 2000.)