(a) Upon application by a county board of supervisors, the department may approve up to three demonstration projects to test models of child support assurance. The projects shall either test different models of child support assurance or may test the same model if counties in which the same model is tested involve counties with different demographics.
(b) The department may approve joint projects by two or more counties if both of the following apply:
(1) The equity of access to the project and its related services is ensured to all participants.
(2) The project includes appropriate operational and fiscal arrangements between the counties submitting the joint project.
(c) If the department approves a joint project by two or more counties, that joint project shall constitute one of the projects authorized by subdivision (a).
(d) It is the intent of the Legislature that the purpose of the demonstration projects authorized by this article is to test child support assurance models as alternatives to welfare under which families with earnings and a child support order receive a guaranteed child support payment, in lieu of a grant under the CalWORKs program, from funds continuously appropriated for the CalWORKs program.
(e) A county may limit the number of families that will be permitted to enroll in its child support assurance demonstration program.
(Amended by Stats. 1999, Ch. 803, Sec. 7. Effective January 1, 2000.)