The California Department of Social Services (CDSS) has issued guidance about eligibility CalWORKs time limit extenders for two parent families. Former CalWORKs recipients who have used 48 months of time on aid can ask to be evaluation for an exception to the time limit to receive additional months of cash aid. The family may be eligible for an exception to the 48-month time on aid limit when all parents, aided stepparents and/or caretaker relatives meet the exception criteria. However, not all adults in the household must be timed out of CalWORKs. In a two-parent household, if all adults in the household meet the exception criteria, then the timed out adult can be added to the assistance unit. The exception criteria are:
▪ Advanced age (60 or older)
▪ Providing care for an ill or incapacitated family member, or a nonparent caretaker relative for a dependent child of the court, a child receiving Kin-Gap or child at risk of dependency,
▪ Disabled, defined as receiving benefits from State Disability Insurance, Worker’s Compensation Temporary Disability Insurance, In-Home Supportive Services, or the State Supplementary Program, and the disability significantly impairs the ability to participate in welfare-to-work activities,
▪ Unable to maintain employment or participate in welfare-to-work activities, and the individual has a history of participation and full cooperation in welfare-to-work activities. An individual is assumed to to have met participation and cooperation requirements unless the county has documented evidence otherwise.
▪ Unaided
The 48-month time limit can be waived for past or present domestic violence victims and these individuals are eligible for a time limit extender. All adults in the home do not need to meet extender criteria to add the timed-out individual under a domestic violence waiver. (ACIN I-14-20, February 6, 2020.)