CDSS has issued instructions to counties about SB 947 which allows counties to do telephone interviews for CalWORKs effective January 1, 2017. Counties can choose whether to do telephone interviews for CalWORKs. A county that chooses to do telephone interviews can do face-to-face interviews on a case-by-case basis. Those counties must provide a face-to-face interview if requested by the CalWORKs applicant or recipient. The county must have procedures in their county plan for conducting telephone interviews.
Telephone interviews must occur within seven working days of filing of the application. If an applicant meets the immediate need interview requirements on the application, the telephone interview must occur no later than the next working day.
For telephone interviews, there are three ways counties can obtain signatures on documents. The county can mail the documents to the applicant or recipient. The county can use an interactive voice response system that has a PIN number that can act as an electronic signature. In addition, if the application was filed online, the county can upload documents to the applicant or recipient’s online account. A journal entry stating the client attested to the information is not sufficient. CDSS provided a chart that outlines the county’s options regarding telephone interviews. ACL 16-119 (December 30, 2016).