The California Department of Social Services (CDSS) has issued instructions regarding allocation and use of the 15% exemptions for counties implementing the Able Bodied Adults Without Dependants (ABAWD) requirement.

The ABAWD requirements is that able bodied persons age 18 to 49 are eligible for CalFresh for only 3 full months in a 36 month period unless they are exempt or satisfying work requirements.  Federal law gives each state individual exemptions equal to 15% of its annual caseload.  These exemptions allow counties to extend CalFresh eligibility to ABAWDs who would otherwise be ineligible.  Each exemption is equal to one full month of CalFresh eligibility for one ABAWD.

The 15% exemptions are only available to persons at risk of losing CalFresh benefits for not satisfying work requirements.  California has established equivalent exemptions for persons receiving California Food Assistance Program benefits.  People serving a sanction are ineligible for a 15% exemption.

For the period September 1, 2018 to August 31, 2019, San Francisco, Santa Clara and San Mateo counties are subject to the ABAWD requirement.  The ABAWD requirement is implemented by first assessing persons subject to the ABAWD requirement and screening for exemptions, second engaging ABAWDs to find additional work or participate in qualifying work activities, then third providing 15% exemption to maintain food assistance.

For fiscal year 2018, California has 866,894 15% exemptions including exemptions carried over from prior years.  (ACIN I-72-18, October 30, 2018.)

The California Department of Social Services (CDSS) has issued instructions implementing the settlement agreement in Brown and Espinosa-Tapia v. Lightbourne.   Counties can now collect administrative error and inadvertent household error overissuances going back only three years from the date of discovery of the overissuance.

CDSS’ prior policy authorized collection going back up to six years from the date of discovery of the overissuance.  The change is only prospective and does not apply to overissuance claims established prior to the date of this letter.  (ACL 18-99, September 14, 2018.)

The California Department of Social Services (CDSS) has issued instructions about waiver of the CalFresh Able-Bodied Adults Without Dependants (ABAWD) time limit. The federal government granted California a waiver of the ABAWD time limit for 55 of 58 counties from September 1, 2018 to August 31, 2019.  The time limit requires ABAWDs to participate in work activities or be limited to three months of CalFresh benefits in a 36 month period.

Counties, multi-county regions, areas within a county or an entire state can be approved for a waiver of the ABAWD time limit based on several criteria including a recent 12 month average unemployment rate over ten percent, a recent three-month average unemployment rate over ten percent, a historical seasonal unemployment rate over ten percent, designation as a Labor Surplus Area by the Department of Labor or having a 24-month average unemployment rate that is 20 percent above the national average for the same time period.

The counties that do not qualify for the ABAWD time limit waiver are San Francisco, San Mateo and Santa Clara.

Counties with an ABAWD time limit waiver must continue to report work registrant, ABAWD and Employment and Training date quarterly.  Counties with a waiver of the ABAWD time limit must continue to sanction work registrants who voluntarily quit a job of more than 30 hours per week or that provides weekly earnings greater than federal minimum wage times 30.

Individuals who are discontinued for failure to meet the ABAWD work requirements in the counties that no longer have a waiver and who subsequently reapply for CalFresh in a county that has a waiver can be eligible for CalFresh.  (ACL 18-97, August 27, 2018.)

The California Department of Social Services (CDSS) has issued guidance to County Welfare Departments (CWDs) regarding partnering with an employment social enterprise in the development of their county CalFresh Employment and Training (E&T) programs.

The purpose of CalFresh E&T program is to provide CalFresh recipients with resources to increase their employability and earning capacity. E&T programs provide assistance with job search and job search training, workfare, work experience opportunities, education, self-employment training, apprenticeship programs, and on-the-job training as well as supportive services associated with finding employment.

AB 415 authorizes the CDSS to contract directly with entities that provide CalFresh E&T services locally or statewide. CDSS is authorized to receive federal reimbursement on behalf of the entity so long as the entity complies with its contract and meets necessary requirements.  AB 415 also allows E&T-participating counties to contract directly with an employment social enterprise or an intermediary to provide CalFresh E&T services.

Counties that do not provide E&T services directly or contract with an organization to provide services on the county’s behalf can partner with community-based organizations (CBOs), which include social enterprises. Under this “third-party model,” CBOs that incur the cost of providing E&T services with non-federal funding are eligible to receive a 50% reimbursement from the federal government. The purpose of the third-party model is to expand access to E&T services and encourage community investments in employment and training.

An employment social enterprise is a business – a social purpose corporation, benefit corporation, or nonprofit corporation – that, provides employment with on-the-job and life skills training to participants at least 80% of whom face multiple barriers to employment. The enterprises must demonstrate that they meet these requirements.   (ACIN I-34-18, June 11, 2018.)