The California Department of Social Services (CDSS) has provided information about financial support for eligible at-risk families with child welfare contact during the COVID-19 state of emergency. Households are eligible if they meet one of the following criteria with a case open at any time in April, 2020 or a new case opened in May or June, 2020:
- Households with a Family Maintenance service component without a subsequent entry into Foster Care.
- Households with an Emergency Response service component without a subsequent entry into Foster Care.
- Households with a substantiated Emergency Response referral, without an accompanying case opening or entry into Foster Care.
- Households with an inconclusive Emergency Response referral, without an accompanying case opening or entry into Foster Care, where the Structured Decision Making Risk Assessment was considered high or very high.
- Probation cases where children or youth were at imminent or serious risk of removal or candidates for foster care.
Eligible households will be issued prepaid cards. The assistance payment will be $200 per month for April, May and June, 2020 or $400 per month for an eligible household with three or more children at risk of entering Foster Care. Households with cases opened in May will receive the payment for May and June, and households with cases opened in June will receive the payment for June.
These payments will not count as income for CalWORKs or CalFresh. (ACIN I-44-20, June 1, 2020.)