Informs counties of the CalWORKs Family Reunification (FR) Program. FR cases are CalWORKs cases in which the children have been removed from the home and placed in out-of-home care by the county child welfare services agency. Under CalWORKs rules, the children are considered temporarily absent from the Assistance Unit while their parents are receiving reunification services. However, under federal Medicaid rules the children are not considered temporarily absent because they have been removed from the home. Therefore the reunification parents are not eligible for Section 1931(b) and Medically Needy Medi-Cal programs. The letter reiterates that the Medi-Cal eligibility worker must reevaluate the case to determine whether the parents qualify under another Medi-Cal program. [Download]

Here’s the IRT chart for 2004. (This is the amount of income which triggers the mandatory CalWORKs mid-quarter income report). The ACL reminds counties they must send an informing notice that provides the IRT limits, individualized for each CalWORKs case, (1) at least once a quarter; (2) at redetermination/recertification; (3) anytime there are changes in the CalWORKs AU or Family MAP size; (4) when there is a change of persons who are required to report income; and (5) upon recipient request. And whenever the IRT chart is updated. In other words, constantly! [Download]

This officially transmits the regs, which have been effective since September 15, 2004. What’s new are the Q & A’s attached. Answers like “you must offer the LD screen to exempt adults if they volunteer, to those who are already working, and 16-17 year olds who lose their student exemption” and more. And yes, Virginia, you must provide a copy of the evaluation to the recipient. [Download]