Adults in a CalWORKs assistant unit are required to participate in Welfare to Work (WtW) activities. (MPP § 42-701.) When an adult fails to comply with a mandatory WtW program requirement without good cause, the county is required to check that necessary supportive services are available to the adult. Under current law (WIC § 11323.3) a sanction can only be imposed if the county verifies that the family had childcare when they were asked to participate in a WtW activity. Advocates for WtW sanctioned families report that counties have cases where an adult was sanction without childcare being available before imposing the sanction. When the county determines that no good cause exists for a failure to comply and a compliance plan for curing the sanction is not completed, the adult is sanctioned by being removed from the assistanceunit. (MPP § 42-721.43.)
Welfare-to-Work (WtW) sanctions have asignificant and often harmful impact on families, pushing them into deeper poverty and increasing material hardship. The April 2023 CaliforniaBudget & Policy Center Reforming CalWORKs Sanctions Can Better SupportChildren and Families report by Sara Kimberlin and Monica Saucedo noted that the families most likely to be sanctioned are those facing the most barriers to employment, such as mental and physical health problems,disabilities and limited education. (Citing Rachel Kirzner, TANFSanctions: Their Impact on Earnings, Employment, and Health [Centerfor Hunger-Free Communities, Drexel University, March 23, 2015].) Asingle-parent assistance unit can lose up to $235 per month or $2,820 on anannualized basis. (Id.)
Considering that the average CalWORKs family grant (disregarding the number of eligible members of the assistance unit and income) today is $1,002 a month or about 46% of the federal poverty level,sanctions remove or reduce a family’s cash aid, which can lead to homelessness,food insecurity, and health crises. (Citing LegislativeAnalyst’s Office (LAO) 2025‑26Budget CalWORKs Report [February 19, 2025].)
The WtW 25 and the WtW 25A data for June 2025 ispublished by CDSS using CalSAWS reports. The WtW 25A tracks the number of Two-Parent Families who are enrolled inmandatory WtW employment activities while the WtW 25 tracks the number of All(Other) Families who are enrolled in mandatory WtW employment activities.
The table below from the WtW25 and WtW25A from CDSS reports, reveals that the California Welfare-to-Work (WTW) program has a statewide 36% sanction rate. Contra Costa County reported 734 families being sanctioned while 559 families actively participate in the WtW program. Alameda County had 1323 families being sanctioned while 1251 families actively participate inthe WtW program. San Bernardino County reported 6932 families being sanctioned while 6115 families actively participate in the WtW program.
Definitions for terms used in WtW 25 Report:
Unduplicated Participants – total number of individuals who were countedin Welfare to Work activities 6-29 during the report month.
Non-Compliance– total number of individuals who were sent a notice of noncompliance and have not yet returned to participation or have not yetbeen sanctioned during the report month.
Counties need to seriously reexamine the purpose of the WtW program and determine if they are actually putting families first. Having more sanctions applied than participants in the program is an obvious and bright red warning light that the program is failing families