The Income and Eligibility and Verification (IEVS) system now a has match with the California Lottery. The system will provide monthly reports of people who received over the maximum allowable resources for a CalFresh or disabled household.
Federal law requires CalFresh households to report substantial lottery and gambling winnings during the certification period within 10 days of receiving the winnings. Substantial winnings is defined as a cash prize won in a single game, purchase of a ticket, hand or similar bet, which is equal to or greater than the resource limit for CalFresh elderly or disabled households.
The reason for this match is to comply with federal requirements.
When there is a match, counties must review the case information to determine if the household reported the lottery winnings. Case narration is acceptable as a report of lottery winnings. If the winnings have not been reported, the county must send a verification letter to the household within 45 days. If the recipient does not respond to the letter with sufficient information to resolve the discrepancy, the county must discontinue the entire household. A household that is discontinued can reapply at any time, but the household cannot be considered categorically eligible for CalFresh.
For CalWORKs, if the assistance unit must be terminated if the lottery winnings take the household above the current CalWORKs resource limit. (ACL 24-29, April 24, 2024.)