Effective May 1, Child Support Services will send all collections on behalf of families that previously received cash assistance through the California Work Opportunity and Responsibility to Kids program, or CalWORKs, directly to those families.
The State of California is continuing to make changes to improve equity in its child support system.
On Sunday, Assembly Bill 207 (AB 207), signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom in 2022, began to be implemented.
Collections that are received for government-assigned debt due to participation in the CalWORKs program will be passed through to those families who no longer receive CalWORKs.
This does not mean the parents paying child support to these families are paying more, but instead California is making child support a better source of income to assist vulnerable families by waiving the government practice of “paying back” the aid to the state.
“Passing through the money previously owed to government to the family once cash aid is no longer being received helps ease the burden on some of the most deeply impacted parents in our caseload,” said David Kilgore, director of the California Department of Child Support Services. “By allowing debt to be paid off while passing more money directly to families, child support is effectively helping both paying and receiving parents and their kids. I am glad to see changes like this improving the child support program in California.”
Before March 2020, intercepts of Federal tax refunds first paid back any funds due to the government for any CalWORKs payments to the family, and then went to the support recipient. Federal law requires this intercept if the taxpayer has any past due child support.
With many Californians losing employment due to the pandemic, Gov.Newsom took executive action to ensure any federal stimulus funds went to pay the families first and recoup for CalWORKs payments last.
The Legislature voted to make this permanent in 2021 and since then, each legislative session has brought more changes to the child support program, taking into account the vast demographic and income shifts among parents, and the changes in how Californians define their families.
That same month, the Legislature voted to expand the amount of child support that is passed through to families who are currently receiving CalWORKs benefits from the first $50 each month to $100 for families with one child and $200 for families with two or more children.
Child Support Services implemented this change beginning in January 2022, greatly increasing the support paid to CalWORKs families.
Under the Newsom Administration, the state has taken action to update child support statutes to better serve the current needs of children and families, ending practices that have long created inequitable results for California parents.
State officials said California is making changes to improve equity, implementing programs that assist rather than punish parents, creating efficiencies and improving outcomes that together serve as a model for the nation.
For more information, visit the Child Support Services website.
The California Assembly marked a first on Monday, when it opened a session with a prayer and land acknowledgment delivered by the first and only California Native American elected to the state Legislature.
On Monday, Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas (D-Salinas) called upon Assemblymember James C. Ramos (D-San Bernardino) to deliver the first land acknowledgment recognizing area tribes on whose lands the state Capitol stands prior to the opening of an Assembly floor session.
“I was moved by the speaker’s request to perform a land acknowledgment. Tribes have always populated this state. We had no boundaries, and we resided on our long-held homelands until Europeans and settlers immigrated to what is now known as California. To acknowledge the first stewards of the land is an important step toward healing between the state and tribes,” Ramos said.
He added, “Peter Burnett, California’s first governor, called for extermination of the Indian race. In 2019, Gov. Newsom apologized for the genocide and other atrocities committed against California Indians. Now, in 2024, our 71st speaker, Robert Rivas, stepped along the healing path with a call for the first legislative session land acknowledgment. I thank him.”
“As I reflect on California’s history, which is checkered with great wrongs to Native Americans, I cannot help but recognize the resilience of the state’s first stewards,” Rivas said. “We must never forget that past, and we begin by acknowledging those to whom the land was entrusted from Time Immemorial.”
Rivas said that In 2018, it was his honor to be sworn in with the first Ramos. “And today, as Speaker of the Assembly, I was proud to initiate the Legislature’s first land acknowledgment of the Capitol region’s First People, the Nisenan and Miwok tribes.”
Every vehicle built after 1981 has a unique vehicle identification number, or VIN. The location of this string of letters and numbers varies, but it’s located somewhere on every car, SUV, motorcycle and truck – typically on a small metal plate or a sticker.
VINs serve many purposes. They help consumers learn about a used car’s history, including whether it was stolen, or determine whether rebates for a particular electric vehicle are available. This code appears in the paperwork necessary to do everything from insuring your car to selling it.
VINs can convey at least seven pieces of information.
Origin If a VIN begins with a 1, 4 or 5, that means it’s a vehicle assembled in the U.S. Many other countries have their own unique identifier. A 2, for example, means the vehicle was made in Canada; a J stands for Japan.
Manufacturer The second and third characters indicate the manufacturer. In some cases, the code corresponds with a line of vehicles that now belongs to a larger corporation. Dodge and Jeep, now part of Stellantis, each has its own. So does Lincoln, which became a division of Ford Motor Co. in 1922.
Description The fourth through eighth characters provide several details, such as body type and engine type.
Security The ninth character is a “check digit” determined by a complex mathematical equation based on the rest of the VIN’s numbers and letters. This digit, either a number or the letter X, is used to authenticate that the VIN is not a forgery.
Year The 10th character indicates the model year. There’s only one slot for this, and not all letters and numbers are used, resulting in repetition. An R could signal either 2024 or 1994, for example.
Factory The 11th character indicates the specific plant where the vehicle was assembled.
Serial number The VIN’s final six characters compose a serial number that differentiates the vehicle from all others made in the same factory that are the identical type and model year.
Vehicle identification number locations vary but are generally found in one of four places.The Conversation U.S., CC BY-SA
Finding more information
Only experts can tell where a vehicle was assembled or what type of engine it has by looking at its VIN. But help is available.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration provides a handy VIN decoder. When I plugged my vehicle’s VIN into the decoder, the site correctly determined that my SUV is a 2011 Subaru Forester with an automatic transmission.
Of course, I already knew all that.
What I didn’t realize was that it weighs between 4,000 and 5,000 pounds, has a 2.5-liter engine and features side curtain airbags to protect the driver and passengers in the front and back seats. I also learned that this Subaru Forester was assembled in Gunma, Japan.
Those details had been invisible to me as a consumer, but they had been within easy reach ever since I bought my Forester in 2018. I had somehow driven that car well over 100,000 miles without realizing the number on the side of my driver’s seat contained some history.
Before buying the Forester, even though I didn’t know that my VIN could say so much, I did run it through a free online system to make sure it hadn’t been stolen.
To be sure, VINs won’t tell you everything you might want to know about a vehicle, such as what color it was when it rolled off the line. But if you can do a little decoding and make use of widely available online tools, they do harbor important information.
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. — The Board of Supervisors this week will consider approving a lease with the Lake County Rodeo Association for property owned by the Lake County Sanitation District.
The board will meet beginning at 9 a.m. Tuesday, May 7, in the board chambers on the first floor of the Lake County Courthouse, 255 N. Forbes St., Lakeport.
The meeting ID is 865 3354 4962, pass code 726865. The meeting also can be accessed via one tap mobile at +16694449171,,86533544962#,,,,*726865#. The meeting can also be accessed via phone at 669 900 6833.
At 11 a.m., the supervisors, sitting as the Lake County Sanitation District Board of Directors, will consider entering into a land lease agreement between the Lake County Sanitation District and the Lake County Rodeo Association for use of a portion of two properties in north Lakeport, 6253 Hill Road and 5955 Lakeshore Blvd.
The report to the board from Special Districts Administrator Scott Harter explained that his staff and rodeo association representatives began discussing the prospect of relocating the rodeo to a location at the Northwest Regional Wastewater Treatment Plant property.
Harter said the sanitation district “has approximately 1,200 acres in the north Lakeport area that the treatment plant is located on and the roughly 80-acre area being considered for a rodeo site is not currently being utilized. Prior to the Geysers Effluent Pipeline project in the early 2000s, land application of treated effluent occurred at the site. For the last 20+ years there has simply been cattle grazing on the property. Neither the application of effluent or grazing activities are happening or anticipated in the future.”
Sanitation district staff and rodeo association members made a presentation to the board earlier this year on the possible location “and received positive feedback on bringing a lease document back for Board discussion,” Harter wrote.
The lease is for a 10-year period, from May 1, 2024, to April 30, 2034, with the rodeo association to pay $100 a year for the property.
“This lease is envisioned as a transitional step toward a more permanent parcel creation and sale of surplus land. The lease will allow the Rodeo Association to formally start the use permit process with the Community Development Department and the studies required as part of that land use review,” Harter wrote.
The full agenda follows.
CONSENT AGENDA
5.1: Adopt proclamation designating May 2024 as Lake County Month of Awareness for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and People.
5.2: Adopt proclamation designating May 1 to 7, 2024, as Elks National Youth Week in Lake County.
5.3: Adopt proclamation designating May 2024 as Lupus Awareness Month and May 10, 2024, as Lupus Awareness Day.
5.4: Adopt proclamation designating May 2024 as Community Action Month and recognizing their 60th anniversary.
5.5: Adopt proclamation designating May 4, 2024, as Wildfire Community Preparedness Day in Lake County.
5.6: Adopt resolution approving Agreement No.24-7306-0256-RA with the USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection Services for July 1, 2024, through June 30, 2025, for the amount of $137,317.48.
5.7: Approve waiver of the 900-hour limitation for Animal Care and Control employee Ashley Vasquez Higuera.
5.8: a) Approve reissuance of property tax refund check from FY 20/21 in the amount of $37.78 issued to VNMSDW LLC; and b) approve reissuance of property tax refund check from FY16/17 in the amount of $483.16 issued to Barbara Ringen, Treasurer Tax Collector, FBO Rodrigo and Josephine Trustee.
5.9: Adopt proclamation designating the month of May 2024 as Mental Health Matters Month.
5.10: Approve travel of over 1,500 miles for Lake County Behavioral Health Services staff member Wendy Gattoni to attend an all-expenses-paid training in Portland, Oregon from June 3 through June 6, 2024.
5.11: Approve Board of Supervisors minutes for Feb. 6 and April 16, 2024.
5.12: Adopt resolution amending Resolution No. 2023-117, establishing position allocations for FY 2023-2024, Budget Unit 2702 (Planning), to delete one cannabis program manager, and add one senior planner allocation.
5.13: Approve request to close Health Services offices from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. on June 18, 2024, Oct. 10, 2024, and Dec. 5, 2024 for all-staff training.
5.14: Adopt resolution amending Resolution No. 2023-117 establishing position allocations for Fiscal Year 2023-2024, Budget Unit No. 4012 Health Administration.
5.15: Adopt resolution amending Resolution No. 2023-117 establishing position allocations for Fiscal Year 2023-2024, Budget Unit No. 4011 Public Health.
5.16: Approve long distance travel to the National Association of Pretrial Service Agencies for Eva Lara and Chelsea Perez being held in New Orleans, Louisiana Sept. 8 through 11, 2024, in an amount not to exceed $5,000.
5.17: Approve Award of Bid for the Nice Lucerne Cutoff Asphalt Rehabilitation Project; Bid No. 24-16 Federal Project No: CRASL-5914(126) with Lamon Construction Inc. in the amount of $210,215.20 and authorize the chair to sign the notice of award and agreement.
5.18: Approve award of bid for the Socrates Mine Road Stabilization Project, Bid No. 23-13 with Gregg Simpson Trucking and Construction in the amount of $1,075,961.35 and authorize the chair to sign the notice of award and agreement.
5.19: Adopt proclamation designating the week of May 5 to 11, 2024 as Correctional Officers Week in Lake County.
5.20: (a) Approve the purchase of a 2024 Honda Pioneer 700-4 Utility Terrain Vehicle, for use by the Search and Rescue Team, and (b) authorize attached budget transfer and (c) authorize the sheriff or his designee to sign the purchase order.
5.21: Adopt proclamation designating the month of May 2024 as CalFresh Awareness Month In Lake County.
5.22: Adopt proclamation commending Crystal Markytan, director of Social Services, on her retirement.
5.23: Approve Lake County’s System Improvement Plan, or SIP, for the term of November 2021 to November 2025 and authorize the chair to sign.
5.24: Authorize the closure of the Special Districts Administration Office from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Friday, May 17, 2024.
5.25: Approve request to waive 900 hour limit for extra-help Water Resources ramp monitors Anthony DeBolt, John MacDonald, Robert Dragness, Frank Levings Jr., Wayne Moore and Kenneth Wikstrom, and the two ramp coordinators Albert Acrey and Robert Valdez.
TIMED ITEMS
6.2, 9:03 a.m.: Pet of the Week.
6.3, 9:04 a.m.: Presentation of proclamation designating May 2024 as Lake County Month of Awareness for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and People.
6.4, 9:07 a.m.: Presentation of proclamation designating May 1 to 7, 2024, as Elks National Youth Week in Lake County.
6.5, 9:10 a.m.: Presentation of proclamation designating May 2024 as Lupus Awareness Month and May 10, 2024, as Lupus Awareness Day.
6.6, 9:13 a.m.: Presentation of proclamation designating May 2024 as Community Action Month and recognizing their 60th anniversary.
6.7, 9:16 a.m.: Presentation of proclamation designating the month of May 2024 Mental Health Matters Month.
6.8, 9:19 a.m.: Presentation of proclamation designating the week of May 5 to 11, 2024, as Correctional Officers Week in Lake County.
6.9, 9:22 a.m.: Presentation of proclamation designating the month of May 2024 as CalFresh Awareness Month in Lake County.
6.10, 9:25 a.m.: Presentation of proclamation commending Crystal Markytan, director of Social Services, on her retirement.
6.11, 9:28 a.m.: a) Presentation of proclamation designating May 4, 2024, As Wildfire Community Preparedness Day in Lake County; and b) consideration of report from partnering agencies on wildfire preparedness events and programs.
6.12, 9:35 a.m.: Consideration of updated contract with the Lake County Resource Conservation District for the Lake County Fire Safe Council.
6.13, 10 a.m.: (a) Consideration of letter of opposition to AB 2882, which proposes changes to the Community Corrections Partnership; and (b) consideration of letter of opposition to SB 1057, which proposes changes to the Juvenile Justice Coordinating Council.
6.14, 11 a.m.: Sitting as the Lake County Sanitation district board of directors, consideration of Entering Into a Land Lease Agreement Between the Lake County Sanitation District and the Lake County Rodeo Association for use of a Portion of APNs 003-046-30 and 003-046-72.
UNTIMED ITEMS
7.2: Consideration of rescission of urgency Ordinance No. 3113 amending urgency Ordinance No. 3110 prohibiting water hauling to commercial agricultural operations including cannabis cultivation sites.
7.3: Consideration of an agreement for tree survey services between the county of Lake and Tetra Tech Inc., in the not-to-exceed amount of $201,359.72.
7.4: Consideration of the following advisory board appointment: Lower Lake Waterworks District One Board of Directors.
7.5: Consideration of memorandum of understanding between Lake County Social Services Department and Behavioral Health Department for a short-term loan of $1,000,000 from 1991 realignment funds.
7.6: Sitting as the Lake County Sanitation District Board of Directors, consideration of appointment of an ad hoc committee to address contracts and topics related to the geothermal industry.
7.7: Consideration of presentation of the Lake County Public Health Officers Workplan.
CLOSED SESSION
8.1: Public employee evaluation: Public Health officer.
8.2: Public employee appointment pursuant to Gov. Code Section 54957(b) (1): Interviews for Special Districts administrator; appointment of Special Districts administrator.
8.3: Public employee appointment pursuant to Gov. Code Section 54957(b) (1): Interviews for Social Services director; appointment of Social Services director.
8.4: Public employee appointment pursuant to Gov. Code Section 54957(b) (1): Interviews for Water Resources director; appointment of Water Resources director.
Email Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Follow her on Twitter, @ERLarson, or Lake County News, @LakeCoNews.
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