(

a) Any person receiving state public assistance under the CalWORKs program (Article 3.2 (commencing with

Section 11320) of

Chapter of Part of Division of the Welfare and Institutions Code) who meets the minimum qualifications for any civil service position as a seasonal or an entry level nontesting class that does not require an examination shall be given priority consideration. “Priority consideration” means, for the purposes of this article, that after consideration has been made for all conditions described in this section, the state agency involved shall hire all qualified job applicants who are receiving state public assistance before hiring any other applicant. The department shall review all nontesting classes and determine those that are subject to this article. (

b) Public assistance recipients who apply for openings under this

article shall be required to undergo the same employment process used by state agencies to select any other person for appointment to a position in such a class. If a state agency does not select a public assistance recipient to fill an opening, it shall document in its employment records the reasons why the public assistance recipient was not selected and any other information determined to be necessary by the department. (

c) The employment of public assistance recipients shall be consistent with the goals established by each agency under

Section 19790. (

d) This

section shall not preclude a state agency from hiring any person appointed during the prior months in the class for which the vacancy exists.