The County Welfare Directors Association of California (CWDA) respectfully requests $5 million General Fund (GF) ($4 million one-time and $1 million ongoing) to support implementation of a global telephonic signature solution for human services programs. 
The COVID pandemic spurred the provision of temporary flexibilities in county-administered programs. Some key flexibilities included allowing for certain signatures to be attested to by phone and waiving the usual requirement of recording and storing these telephonic signatures when that functionality was not available, for many of our human services programs. When the pandemic ends, many counties would like to continue to provide customers with the flexibility of using telephonic signatures, yet not all counties have access to the necessary technology to record and store these signatures. This proposal would ensure all counties, across all programs. have the ability to record and store telephonic signatures. allowing counties to continue to offer this option to their customers after the end of these pandemic-related flexibilities.