Directing the secretary for children and families to review and compare data for public assistance program eligibility.
Impact
If enacted, SB85 will result in significant changes to how eligibility is verified for households receiving food assistance in Kansas. It mandates regular data reviews from state agencies like the Department of Labor and the Department of Revenue, ensuring that any changes in circumstances, such as employment or income fluctuations, are promptly captured and assessed. This continuous monitoring is intended to serve both compliance purposes and the integrity of public assistance funds, thereby influencing state laws related to public welfare and data sharing between agencies.
Summary
Senate Bill No. 85, as introduced, directs the Secretary for Children and Families in Kansas to enter into data-matching agreements with various state agencies to facilitate the review and comparison of data for public assistance eligibility, particularly for the food assistance program. The objective of the bill is to enhance the verification processes used to determine ongoing eligibility for such programs by utilizing data from multiple state and federal sources. This legislative measure aims to increase efficiency in managing public assistance programs and reduce fraudulent claims.
Contention
There could potentially be points of contention surrounding SB85, especially in relation to privacy concerns and the sharing of sensitive personal information. Critics may argue that the bill's requirements for frequent data dissemination and monitoring could infringe on individual privacy rights. Furthermore, the bill raises questions about technological capabilities and the resources required to implement such a comprehensive data-matching system. Ensuring that these processes do not inadvertently create barriers for eligible families in accessing food assistance will be crucial in the discussions surrounding this bill.
Directing the secretary for children and families to request a waiver from supplemental nutrition assistance program rules and prohibit the purchase of candy and soft drinks with food assistance.
Requiring job search instead of a 20-hour work week for child care subsidy eligibility, allowing food assistance funds for advertising food assistance programs and modifying penalties for non-cooperation for all assistance programs.
Requiring work registrants ages 50-59 to complete an employment and training program to receive food assistance, establishing periods of ineligibility for child care subsidy based on cooperation with child support services and requiring the secretary to conduct reviews of cooperation with child support.
Requiring custodial and non-custodial parents to cooperate with child support enforcement programs for food assistance eligibility and disqualifying such parents from food assistance for being delinquent in support payments.
Establishing periods of ineligibility for child care subsidy based on cooperation with child support services and requiring the secretary to conduct reviews of cooperation with child support.
Requiring the secretary for children and families to assess certain children and the secretary of corrections to provide certain services to juveniles in detention, changing the criteria used to refer and admit juveniles to a juvenile crisis intervention center, allowing evidence-based program account money to be used on certain children, requiring the department of corrections to build data systems and allowing for overall case length limit extensions for certain juvenile offenders.
Establishing procedures for law enforcement agencies and the secretary for children and families to follow and use when a child in custody of the secretary is reported missing and requiring the secretary to obtain a nondrivers' identification card for such reports.