The California Department of Social Services has issued instructions implementing changes to the Inter-County Transfer (ICT) process required by SB 1339. Effective June 1, 2017, CalWORKs and CalFresh recipients can report a move to either their old county or their new county. CalWORKs recipients must report a change of residence within 10 days of the actual move. Failure to report a move, by itself, cannot be a basis for an overpayment, overissuance or other negative action.
The county that the recipient informs of the move must initiate the ICT process within seven days. Benefits must be transferred from the sending county to the receiving county with no redetermination or recertification of eligibility in the receiving county. The new county cannot interview the recipient, request or require a new application, or request or request any verification. The new county can interview the client only regarding Welfare-to-Work participation.
The sending county must provide the receiving county copies of documents necessary to verify current benefits and grant amount within seven business days, including the most recent SAR 7, SAWS 2 Plus, SAWS 1 and Welfare-to-Work plan. Benefits and payment responsibility must be transferred to the receiving county no later than the first day of the next month following 30 days after the county is notified of the move. If the move is from a Region1 to Region 2 county or visa versa, the receiving county adjusts the grant accordingly.
The county can provide the Child Care Request form (CCP 7) as part of the ICT process, but the recipient must apply for child care in the receiving county.
The receiving county is responsible for determination of homeless assistance eligibility and issuance of homeless assistance benefits.
The process is the same for non-assistance CalFresh cases except that CalFresh recipients are not required to report a mid-period move to a new county. CalFresh recipients are encouraged to promptly notify the county when they move to another county to ensure continuity of benefits.
The ICT process now applies to Transitional CalFresh cases. This change will be effective when the computer systems are programmed for it, but no later than September 1, 2017. (ACL 17-58, June 23, 2017.)