The California Department of Social Services (CDSS) has released its CalFresh Student Eligibility Handbook.  The Handbook provides guidance regarding student eligibility for CalFresh including definition of a student, income exclusions for students, exceptions from the general rule that students are not eligible for CalFresh, programs to increase employability which in qualifies a student for an exemption from the student eligibility rule, and verification procedures.  (ACL 20-08, February 12, 2020.)

The California Department of Social Services (CDSS) has issued the Disaster CalFresh income limits for the period October 1, 2019 to September 30, 2020.  Disaster CalFresh allows people living in federally declared disaster area who had not been receiving CalFresh to be eligible for CalFresh because of the disaster.

CDSS has a chart of the new income levels.  The new Disaster CalFresh income limit is $1,777 for a household of 1, $2,146 for household of 2, $2,514 for a household of 3, $2,893 for a household of 4, with amounts increasing as household size increases according to the chart.  (ACIN I-63-19, October 14, 2019.)

The California Department of Social Services (CDSS) has issued new disaster response notices and an overview of the replacement benefit methodology.

CDSS has issued a new CF 303 form to request replacement CalFresh benefits.  When a food loss occurs, a household can request replacement of benefits used to purchase food that was lost.  A household has 10 days from the date the food was destroyed to report the loss.  If the county does not receive the CF 303 form within 10 days of the date the food was destroyed, no replacement benefits will be issued.  It is possible that an entire county or specific zip codes codes will be approved for a timely reporting waiver which will extend to the time to report food loss for up to 30 days from the date of the disaster.

After a household contacts the county to report the loss, the county must provide the CF 303 as soon as possible.  The form can be provided in person, or by mail if an electronic version is not available to the household.  The signed form can be returned in person, by mail, by fax or through the household’s online benefits portal.

Prior to issuing replacement benefits, the county must verify the loss. This can be done by collateral contacts, documentation from a community agency or a home visit.  The county can delay or deny replacement for up to seven days if available documentation indicates the request is questionable or fraudulent.

Maximum replacement is one month of benefits.  Counties determine on a case-by-case basis whether to provide full or partial replacement.  A recommended method for determining the amount of replacement benefits is to determine the daily issuance amount and multiply that by the number of days between the issuance and the disaster.

For power outages, replacement is 70 percent of the calculated amount because the United States Department of Agriculture determined that 30 percent of food purchased is not perishable and therefore would not need to be replaced.

Individual disaster supplements are issued only during approved application periods for areas that have received a Presidential Declaration of Disaster.  The household must submit a CF 303 form during the Disaster CalFresh application period.  When counties find a household eligible for a disaster supplement, they must issue the benefit within three days, or no more than seven days of the request is deemed questionable.  The disaster supplement amount is the maximum benefit amount for the household size minus the actual monthly allotment for the household.

CDSS also revised the CF 390 form that is used to approve or deny Disaster CalFresh benefits.  (ACL 19-95, September 19, 2019.)

The California Department of Social Services (CDSS) has issued version 2.0 of the CalFresh Able Bodied Adults Without Dependents (ABAWD) Handbook.  Federal law limits Supplemental Nutrition Assistance (CalFresh in California) benefits to 3 months in a 36 month period for ABAWDs unless a waiver applies.  The handbook includes a general overview of the ABAWD time limit, guidance on ABAWD exemptions, and how ABAWDs subject to the time limit may satisfy the ABAWD work requirement.  The handbook also addresses counting months of ABAWD participation, losing and regaining CalFresh eligibility, and the system California uses to track an ABAWD’s eligibility and participation through the 36-month period.  (ACL 19-93, September 12, 2019.)

The California Department of Social Services (CDSS) has issued guidance regarding the new federal waiver of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program Able Bodied Adults Without Dependants (ABAWD) time limit.  The new waiver is effective September 1, 2019 through August 31, 2020.  52 counties qualify for waiver of the ABAWD three month time limit.  Six counties must implement the ABAWD time limit: Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, San Francisco, San Mateo and Santa Clara.

Counties with a waiver must continue to report work registrant, ABAWD, and Employment and Training data quarterly. Counties with a waiver must continue to sanction CalFresh work registrants who voluntarily quit a job of 30 or more hours per week or which provides earnings equivalent to federal minimum wage times 30, or who reduce weekly hours worked to less than 30.

Individuals who were previously discontinued for failure to satisfy ABAWD work requirements and subsequently reapply for CalFresh in a county with a waiver are eligible for benefits. CalFresh Employment and Training, and voluntary quit sanctions, do not stop when an individual moves to a county with an ABAWD time limit waiver.  (ACL 19-96, September 20, 2019.)