The California Department of Social Services (CDSS) has issued guidance regarding treatment of earmarked income when determining eligibility for CalFresh and benefit amount.  Earmarked income is income received by the CalFresh applicant or recipient that is designated for a particular purpose.

Unless the source of the earmarked income is otherwise excluded, recurring income that is earmarked and reasonable anticipated to continue is not excluded.  Earmarked income that is received only once, or that is so infrequent that it cannot be reasonably anticipated does not court for CalFresh purposes.

Education assistance that is not otherwise excluded from being considered income for CalFresh is excluded to the extent that it is earmarked by the lender, used for, or intended to be used for, education expenses.

Voluntary contributions from nongovernmental persons or organizations having no liability for the support of the recipient are excluded as income because they are also excluded under CalWORKs rules.

Excluded income is not subject to verification.  Counties can only request verification if the information provided by the applicant or recipient is questionable, that is,the information is inconsistent with the applicant or recipient’s prior statements or with other information the County has.  A county’s determination that information is questionable must be based on an individualized inquiry.  When verification is required, the county must use the CW 2200 form to request the verification, document in the case file why the information received was considered questionable, and state what documentation was used to resolve the questionable information. (ACIN I-01-24, January 5, 2024.)

The CalFresh Restaurant Meals Program allows eligible household buy hot or prepared food at participating restaurants.  Eligible CalFresh participants are adults age 60 or over and their spouses, people with disabilities and their spouses, and people experiencing homelessness.

Because of recent guidance from the United States Department of Agriculture, the CalFresh Restaurant Meals Program is limited to household where all members of the household are eligible for it.  The only exception is spouses do not need to meet the age or disability criteria.  Households that include a member who does not meet the Restaurant Meals criteria (except for a spouse) are not eligible for the Restaurant Meals Program.  This change will be effective upon automation in the CalSAWS system, which is expected in early 2025.

After automation is completed, CalSAWS will identify existing households that are no longer eligible for Restaurant Meals and will terminate their access to it.

When automation is completed, any member of a household that is eligible for Restaurant Meals, including spouses, will be able to access the program.

When automation is completed, counties will be required to provide the CF 889 form to all households that are approved for or terminated from the Restaurant Meals Program.  (ACL 24-01, January 19, 2024.)

The California Department of Social Services (CDSS) has issued guidance regarding calculating CalFresh overissuances. This guidance supersedes ACL 15-95 for CalFresh overissuances.

When determining the amount of a CalFresh overissuance, counties must recreate the circumstances of the case, that is they must calculate the amount of the overissuance by determining the difference between the amount of benefits the household should have received and the amount the household actually received. The county must not consider income changes that the household was not required to report unless the change would result in increased benefits.

Households are required to report income that exceeds the Income Reporting Threshold, that is 130 percent of the Federal Poverty Level.  This reporting is required at any time, including between semi-annual reports.  Households that are eligible for CalFresh with income between 131 and 200 percent of the Federal Poverty Level are not required to report income changes between semi-annual reports.

In determing whether a household has exceeded 130 percent of the Federal Poverty Level, the county must use the household’s actual gross income.  Counties cannot use the conversion factor (4.3 times weekly earnings) to determine if a recipient has missed a required report of income over the Income Reporting Threshold.

If a household misses a required report of income over the Income Reporting Threshold, the county must recalculate the monthly allotment for the months in which the household income exceeded the Income Reporting Threshold, and establish any appropriate overissuances.

Counties are required to review information they receive from the Income Eligibility Verification System (IEVS).  When the county receives an IEVS match and determines there is a potential discrepancy between the match and the income the household reported, the county must ask for information from the household to verify the IEVS match.  If the household does not respond, the county can use the Work Number or another third party payroll source to verify the IEVS match.  Counties can only request verification related to an IEVS discrepancy that shows the client may have missed a mandatory report of income over the Income Reporting Threshold.

When reconciling IEVS matches, counties must consider prospective budgeting rules, including whether the income could have been reasonably anticipated at the time of the previous semi-annual report or annual recertification.

If benefits should have been different based on income verified after an IEVS match, the county must recalculate the monthly allotment for the months in which the household income exceeded the Income Reporting Threshold, and establish any appropriate overissuances.

When calculating the amount of an administrative error overissance, the county must apply the earned income deduction.  When calculating the amount of an advertent household error or Intentional Program Violation overissance, the county must not apply the earned income deduction.  (ACL 24-23, March 29, 2024.)