California Welfare and Institutions Code

§ 10851

WIC § 10851 Effective Jan 1, 2001Div. 9 · Part 2 · Ch. 5

Statute text

(a)Each county shall establish and maintain a case record for each public social services case and shall retain the record for a period of three years. The three-year retention period begins on the date on which public social services were last provided. The records shall be retained beyond the three-year retention period when the county is notified by the department or the State Department of Health Services, whichever has jurisdiction over the records, to retain records for a longer period of time. The department or the State Department of Health Services, whichever has jurisdiction over the records, shall instruct a county to retain records beyond the three-year period when the retention is necessary to a pending civil or criminal action.

(b)Notwithstanding subdivision (a), the board of supervisors of any county may authorize the destruction of the case narrative portions of the case record that are over three years old in any case file, active or inactive, only after audit by the department or the State Department of Health Services, whichever has jurisdiction over the record. In addition, the board may also authorize the destruction of those documents contained in the case file that are over three years old and are no longer necessary to document the recipient’s continued eligibility for public social services. However, if a civil or criminal action against a person based on alleged unlawful application for, or receipt of, public social services, is commenced before the expiration of the three-year period, no portion of the case record of the person shall be destroyed until the action is terminated.

(c)Each county shall maintain fiscal, statistical, and other records necessary for maintaining accountability and meeting reporting requirements relating to the administration of public social services. These fiscal and reporting records shall be retained for a minimum period of three years from the date of submission of the final expenditure report and shall be retained beyond the three-year period when audit findings have not been resolved.

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Legislative history

Amended by Stats. 2000, Ch. 569, Sec. 11. Effective January 1, 2001.