Good news/bad news. There are more FNS identified combat zones, but here is the list of them, so that the income of people posted to a zone is excluded for the Food Stamps program. [Download]
Summaries of select CalWORKs, CalFresh, Health and Housing Regulations
Author: Webdog
Errata to ACL 06-34: Correction ACL 06-34, Hourly Task Guidelines Regulations For IHSS/PCSP/IPW Programs (5/4/07)
If you felt attached to Attachment B to ACL 06-34…. get over it! This Errata provides the correct Attachment, which pertains to Annotated Assessment Criteria. The goal was to improve clarity, consistency and correct the listing of specific tasks which require determination of functional ranking. [Download]
ACL 07-14: Changes To Foster Care and Adoption Assistance Program Federal Financial Participation and Rosales (4/27/07)
The Deficit Reduction Act (DRA) changed some administrative billing abilities for Foster Care and Adoption Assistance, and confirms that the Administration for Children and Families (ACF) has issued program instructions to carry out the DRA/court reversal of the Rosales case. (The new law disallows federal foster care eligibility based on the home of the relative with whom the foster child is placed, when no eligibility existed in the home of removal.) More notably for advocates, the ACL has provided instructions on the Adoption Assistance Program (AAP) eligibility. To be eligible, the foster child must have meet AFDC eligibility criteria (as existed 6/16/96) at the time of the removal from the home. The child must have special needs, was removed from the home pursuant to a judicial determination or got foster care under a Title IV-E voluntary placement, meet the SSI standards prior to adoption OR was in foster care in which the child’s minor parent received IV-E. The letter reminds counties that if the adoption dissolves or the adoptive parents die, the APP can continue in a subsequent adoption. At that point, the county need only confirm that the child still has special needs. [Download]
ACIN I-21-07: CalWORKs: Forms Changes Due To Changes In Homeless Assistance, Food Stamp Utility Allowance Deductions, Racial And Ethnic Data Collection, And Welfare To Work Sanctions (April 26, 2007)
Pretty self-explanatory title. Mostly notable because it impacts the FS calculation, and people should be getting the correct forms. [Download]
ACIN I-18-07 Food Stamp Q & As (4/10/07)
Answers to questions such as whether you can budget the foster care income of a child on FS with the Foster Parent (as a boarder), to the parents if the child is returned home mid-quarter (no); eligibility for folks with temporary residency who have applied to adjust (no), Transitional Food Stamps when someone leaves to join another food stamp household (weirdly, you remove the person from the unit, but NOT their income — the TFS household must reapply to get the income of the absent person excluded), a reminder about separate household status for elderly/disabled recipients unable to purchase/prepare food; and various “how do you treat” sources of income questions (“Gate money” money given to someone leaving jail/prison, Tribal per capita payments, Veteran’s Aid and Assistance payments, etc.
A key answer: If a person gets CalWORKs Immediate Need, they are categorically eligible for Food Stamps, even if the CalWORKs application is later denied. [Download]
ACIN I-19-07: Online Data Publication (4/12/07)
For those of you who have not poked around in CDSS data, here’s a good introduction! The CDSS Research and Development website now has postings required by AB 1808. Read all about how counties are doing on Pay for Performance measures (employment rates and cases with earned income) and various Work Participation measures. [Download]