Partner note · CalWORKs service improvement

CalWORKs now asks about the experience of leaving the program

A new exit survey creates another source of participant feedback. The useful lesson for workforce partners is how to learn from it without mistaking a small, selected sample for everyone’s experience.

Official notice: CDSS ACL 26-78 issued October 19, 2026 · Exit surveys began: August 2026 · Checked: October 23, 2026 · AI-assisted

The Decode. California’s CalWORKs Outcomes and Accountability Review (Cal-OAR) now includes an exit survey for randomly selected former CalWORKs Welfare-to-Work participants, in addition to existing early-program surveys. CDSS manages invitations and sends counties aggregated exit-survey findings. Counties administer eligible participant incentives. This is a CalWORKs program-improvement measure, not a new WIOA reporting or eligibility requirement for workforce boards.

What changed

A new exit touchpoint. CDSS began sending the survey in August 2026 to randomly selected, eligible people who recently left CalWORKs. People must have participated in Welfare-to-Work, opted into electronic communications, and met the state selection rules. Exiting CalWORKs does not guarantee an invitation. The current statewide exit-survey sample is limited to 555 people per month across 58 counties; it is not a census of everyone who exited.
New incentives. ACL 26-78 sets a $20 incentive for eligible people who complete the Client Satisfaction Survey in FY 2026–27, replacing the older $50 approach. CDSS sends monthly lists of eligible recipients to county agencies, which issue payments. Distribution within 30 days is encouraged, not mandated.
Information goes to counties. Quarterly aggregate exit-survey data and de-identified comments can inform CalWORKs county self-assessments and system improvement plans. The exit-survey individual responses are not shared with counties, although separate identity-based lists support incentive payments.
Participation is voluntary. Completing the survey is not a condition of benefits. The $20 payment is excluded from CalFresh income, but it can count as a resource in the month received for households subject to a resource test. State and local benefit treatment can differ. Refer individual eligibility questions to county staff, not an AJCC case manager.

Three useful questions for workforce partners

What barriers show up at exit? Ask county Cal-OAR staff whether aggregated results suggest recurring challenges with work, transportation, childcare, communication, or referrals.
Can we test a service change? If participants describe a broken handoff, agree on one improvement with the county, such as a clearer referral contact or follow-up step, and ask how the partnership will check whether it helped.
Whose voices are missing? Because the exit survey is sent only to a selected group with electronic contact preferences, do not treat its answers as a complete or representative account of all former participants. Seek other consent-based feedback channels.

Authority boundary. County CalWORKs agencies and CDSS administer the survey, participant data, and incentives. AJCC staff should not collect confidential Cal-OAR responses, determine incentive entitlement, or assume that a survey finding changes WIOA performance outcomes.

One practical example

A county’s aggregate exit responses mention confusion about career-training referrals. Rather than concluding that every participant had that problem, a workforce board and county partner could review their handoff instructions, test a clearer referral explanation, and ask about follow-through at the next review. This is a suggested use of feedback, not a CDSS mandate.

Where to direct questions

Participants with survey questions can use the CDSS Client Satisfaction Survey resources. County teams can consult their Cal-OAR continuous-quality-improvement contacts. Workforce boards can ask the county for appropriate aggregate findings, without asking for individual participant records.

Official authority and limits: CDSS ACL 26-78, October 19, 2026, especially pages 2–4 and the attached FAQ on sampling, aggregate data, and incentives. Also see the CDSS Cal-OAR program overview. Source-date and survey-start dates are different. The $20 rule is for FY 2026–27 survey completions; the letter preserves the prior-year $50 transition cases. This note is an independent WDB partner interpretation, not official guidance. Recheck if CDSS changes sampling, payment, or reporting instructions.