Newsom issues executive order increasing access to benefits for wildfire survivors

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Newsom's order ensures fire survivors can access CalWorks, while also easing legal requirements for schools affected by the fires. (Aric Crabb/MediaNews Group/East Bay Times via Getty Images)

SACRAMENTO - Gov. Gavin Newsom on Saturday issued an executive order increasing access to benefits for those impacted by the deadly wildfires that scorched swaths of Southern California earlier in the year.

The order – officially titled Executive Order N-21-25 – ensures that survivors of the fires who received charitable donations or other contributions such as food, clothes or shelter are not disqualified from also receiving support from CalWORKs.

The executive order also eases legal requirements for public schools and students displaced due to the fires.

Newsom's order specifically suspends sections of the California Welfare and Institutions Code and the California Department of Social Services Manual of Policies and Procedures for CalWORKS applicants and recipients that were directly impacted by the fires, and extends deadlines for local schools affected by the blazes to obtain approval for their independent study programs and to review their annual audits.

Additionally, classroom-based charter schools that were forced to shift to independent study programs due to the fires will not have to submit funding determinations for the 2024-25 school year, according to the executive order.

"Survivors of the LA wildfires should be focused on recovering and rebuilding, not caught up by red tape while trying to attend school or fighting to retain state assistance because they received a donation of clothes from a neighbor," Newsom said. "My administration is dedicated to making the process of getting life back on track as smooth and simple as possible."

The backstory:

Beginning Jan. 7, a series of wildfires sparked in the Greater Los Angeles area. Spurred by drought conditions and Santa Ana winds, the blazes ultimately destroyed more than 18,000 buildings, blackened over 57,000 acres and killed 29 people.

The Palisades and Eaton fires were among the most destructive wildfires in California's history.