Announcing the annual Cost of Living changes to the Maximum Allotments, Standard Deduction, Shelter Deduction, Homeless Household Shelter Allowance, Standard Utility Allowance (SUA), Income Eligibility Standards. Includes an updated Food Stamp Tables Of Coupon Issuance chart. All changes effective October 1, 2007. [Download]
Summaries of select CalWORKs, CalFresh, Health and Housing Regulations
Author: Brian Lawlor
ACIN I-10-07: Tracking CalWORKs And Tribal TANF Time On Aid (3/15/07)
Just a friendly reminder to counties that they must keep track of “time on aid” for both CalWORKs and Tribal TANF. Although Native Americans can elect to be in either program, both programs are subject to the 60-months time on aid. People can switch back and forth between the programs, but the County must obtain time on aid from the tribal TANF program, and send to the Tribal TANF program information about time on CalWORKs. Counties must have MOU’s with the Tribal TANF programs, which include this procedure. [Download]
ACL 07-10: Best Practice Guidelines For Screening And Providing For Foster Children With Disabilities (2/28/07)
This ACL implements AB 1633, which called for guidelines and best practices to get Title II and SSI benefits for disabled foster children, especially those about to age off of Foster Care. Though “not mandatory,” the ACL discusses the “fiscal and programmatic” advantages of foster care youth having income in place when losing foster care. The ACL includes helpful statements like, “disabled youth emancipating .. without …benefits are especially vulnerable to negative outcomes….” The ACL presents suggestions on how to assess and initiate applications, as well as attaching disability definitions and assessment forms. The letter also mentions a persnickety little problem: federal foster care policy “may” prohibit application for SSI until one month prior to terminating foster care (?), but it takes “several months” to qualify (?) which “may” leave a gap. [Download]
ACL 07-12: Translation Of Food Stamp And CalWORKs Joint Forms Into Eight Additional Languages (3/2/07)
At long last! This ACL implements the settlement in Vu v. CDSS, to provide a total of 12 languages for translation of food stamp information and material. In addition to the 4 languages already translated by the state (Spanish, Russian, Vietnamese and Chinese), the state now will translate everything related to the food stamp program (and CalWORKs forms when they are combined-use forms with Food Stamps) into Arabic, Armenian, Cambodian, Farsi, Hmong, Korean, Lao, and Tagalog. A reminder that if the county’s automation can’t handle spitting out translated versions, to use a manual process to issue pre-printed paper ones. [Download]
ACL 07-11: Implementation Of Conlan II: Reimbursement Of Covered Services For IHSS Recipients (2/20/07)
The long-awaited-for notice and process for the submission and handling of claims for reimbursement for bills paid out of pocket by folks later found eligible for Medi-Cal, and who are IHSS recipients. CDSS is handling the IHSS claims. (DHS is doing the “straight” Medi-Cal — see All Plan Letter 07002.) The notice is set to be mailed to 11.5 million folks. Wow. [Download]
ACIN I-85-06 – January 2007 COLA For CAPI (November 16, 2006)
Because the pass-through of the federal SSI COLA was reinstated effective January 1, 2007, the CAPI payment standards will also change at the same time. CAPI payments are based on the SSI/SSP payment standards, minus $10.00 for an individual and $20.00 for a couple. (The one exception is the Title XIX medical facility standard, which will not increase because there is no federal SSI COLA for this living arrangement.)
These changes also affect: In-kind Support and Maintenance, the allowances for Ineligible Children and Parent-to-child Deeming; the Sponsor’s Allocation in Alien Deeming, and the CAPI/SSI combo couple. Comes with a handy-dandy chart. [Download]