Effective May 1, 2024, all child support collections in cases where the family previously received CalWORKs benefts, including collections assigned to arrears owed to the government for recoupment of CalWORKs benefits, will be paid to the family receiving child support. This change is not retroactive. Collections in former assistance cases made before May 1, 2024 can still be retained by the government agency to recoup CalWORKs benefits paid to the family.
Effective May 1, 2024, child support collections that are passed through in cases where the family previously received CalWORKs, will count towards reimbursing the government agency for CalWORKs previously received by the family. Any child support collected that exceeds the amount of CalWORKs received by the family will be passed through to the family.
Any pass through payments that cannot be delivered to the former aid recipient within six months will be retained by the government agency to recoup CalWORKs that was paid. The former recipient has 12 months after the payment is used for CalWORKs recoupment to make a claim for that payment. If the former aid recipient is deceased, collected child support will be used to recoup CalWORKs that was previously paid. (CSSI Letter 24-04, May 1, 2024.)