The California Department of Social Services has issued guidance for County Welfare Departments (CWDs) clarifying the timeframes for processing CalFresh applications and the circumstances  when a household is entitled to expedited service (ES).

All CalFresh applications must be screened to determine if the household meets the criteria for ES entitlement at the time the application is filed or at any time during the application process. Households found entitled to ES must have access to their CalFresh benefits by the third calendar day following the date of application. This three-day processing timeline includes screening the application, scheduling the interview, processing the application, collecting mandatory verification of the applicant’s identity, and issuing benefits onto the Electronic Benefit Transfer.

A household’s entitlement to ES is not lost due to a delay in meeting the expedited processing timeframe. If a household is entitled to ES, and the CWD cannot schedule the initial interview within the three-day expedited processing timeframe, the CWD must make every effort to meet the federal seven-day expedited processing timeframe. If the CWD cannot meet the federal seven-day expedited processing timeframe, the CWD must process the application as soon as possible.

A household may re-request expedited service at any time prior to approval. If the household is found to be entitled to ES, the three-day timeframe to issue benefts must start on the date the household is found entitled to ES. 

The only way a household can lose ES entitlement is if (1) the household’s circumstances change and the household no longer meets the criteria for ES entitlement or (2) the household is scheduled for an initial interview within the three-day expedited processing timeframe and the household misses the scheduled interview. Under these circumstances the household’s application will be processed under the normal CalFresh processing timeframe. (ACIN I-11-20, February 3, 2020.)

The California Department of Social Services (CDSS) has issued guidance regarding a new federal requirement for County Welfare Departments to inform all CalFresh work registrants (individuals subject to the general CalFresh work requirements) with no earned income of local employment services, including but not limited to CalFresh Employment and Training (E & T). This requirement is effective immediately.

Work registrants are required to register for work every twelve months, provide information to determine employment status, report to an employer when referred by the county welfare department, accept a bona fide offer of suitable employment, and not voluntarily quit a job of 30 hours or more a week or reduce work hours to fewer than 30 hours a week. There is currently no mandatory CalFresh E&T required of work registrants n California.

The county welfare department is responsible for the work registration process and must determine which individuals in the household are work registrants and note this information in the case record. CalFresh recipients are not required to take additional steps in the application or recertification process to complete the work registration process.

All CalFresh recipients are subject to work registration unless they qualify for an exemption. If an individual no longer qualifies for an exemption from work registration, they must be registered for work when reported. (ACL 20-10, February 6, 2020.)

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.)