CalWORKs

Civil rights obligations to people who are deaf or hard of hearing

Posted on by

County Welfare Directors (CWD) are legally required to ensure that communication with Deaf and Hard of Hearing (DHH) individuals is just as effective as communication with individuals without disabilities. DHH obligations include applicants for services and their companions, such as family members, friends, or associates. Written notes and lip reading are not effective or reliable forms of communication for most DHH individuals.

To ensure effective communication, CWDs must provide auxiliary aids and services promptly. Examples of aids and services include qualified interpreters, notetakers, captioning, and telecommunications devices. DHH individuals can choose which auxiliary aid or service they prefer.

Documentation of services provided to DHH individuals must be detailed and meet requirements for both language access and disability accommodations. Counties cannot charge for auxiliary aids and services.  CWDs must ensure that DHH individuals can obtain information about the existence of services. Best practices include visible posters informing the right to interpreter and including information about language access on websites or notices.

When an individual with a disability requests specific auxiliary aid or service, the CWD must give primary consideration to that request. CWDs must grant the individual preferred aid unless the preference causes undue administrative burdens, fundamentally alters the service, or an equally effective alternative is available. Denials must be approved by the County Welfare Director or their designee and documented with a written statement explaining the reason for the denial. In all cases, the CWD is responsible for offering effective alternative means of communication. There is no limit on the number of disability requests an individual can submit and no specific timeline for making these requests.

CWDs are required to provide interpreters when requested. Interpreters may include American Sign Language (ASL) interpreters, deaf Interpreters, tactile interpreters, or cued-speech transliterators, depending on the individual’s needs. Importantly, CWDs must not require or pressure individuals to bring their own interpreters. Only under minimal circumstances—such as emergencies involving imminent safety threats or when the individual voluntarily chooses to use an accompanying adult—is it acceptable to rely on a non-staff interpreter. Situations where it would be inappropriate for a guardian to provide effective communication include an interview with a child during a Child Protective Services (CPS) investigation. Children should never be used as interpreters except in genuine emergencies when no other options are available.

The California Department of Social Services (CDSS) encourages CWDs to establish contracts with Video Remote Interpretation (VRI) providers to help the CWD fulfill its obligation to provide timely services. VRI allows remote interpreters to facilitate communication via videoconferencing and can be helpful in situations where in-person interpreters are unavailable. However, VRI is not always suitable for every circumstance, especially when a DHH individual has low vision or when visual cues and body language are crucial for communication. Even when VRI is available, CWDs must prioritize the individual’s preferred communication method.

When communicating by phone, CWDs are required to create accessible telecommunication systems, including Video Relay Services (VRS), Text telephones (TTY), and captioned telephone services. However, telecommunication services are not a substitute for in-person interpreting services and should only be used when effective communication can occur by telephone.

CWD staff who interact with the public must receive civil rights and disability accommodation training upon hire and at least annually thereafter. This includes training in requesting interpreters, use of assistive technologies, and proper documentation procedures. In programs involving home visits, such as Child Welfare or CalWORKs, staff must plan to arrange interpreters or bring necessary tools to ensure effective communication off-site. If an interpreter cannot be secured in advance, visits should be rescheduled, except in programs that involve unannounced visits. In such cases, staff must be trained in obtaining real-time interpreter support.

CWDs must consider the unique needs of DHH children in out-of-home placements. For instance, assisting DHH children with communication through Resource Families and contacting individuals outside the home, such as relatives, social workers, or attorneys. Staff should be aware that family members may not be fluent in (ASL), which may necessitate the use of interpretation during visits. (ACIN I-39-24, September 17, 2024.)

Child Care for CalWORKs Family Reunification cases

Posted on by

CalWORKs Family Reunification benefits are available when: 1) all CalWORKs eligible children are removed from the home and placed in out-of-home care by the Child Welfare Services agency, 2) the family (including at least one adult) was receiving CalWORKs when the children were removed, and 3) the Child Welfare Services agency or court determines and documents in the case plan that CalWORKs cash aid, child care and other services are necessary and a Child Welfare Services case plan is being developed.  The case plan must be developed within 60 days.

Counties and contractors must begin authorizing child care services for resource families, or any other family the child is placed with by court order or Child Welfare Services worker as part of a family reunification plan.  These services are authorized for up to six months, or a period based on the reunification plan or court order, with the possibility of a six month extension for good cause.

For intercounty transfers, the county of jurisdiction provides supervision and arranges services.

Under automation occurs, counties and contractors must create a sec-month child care certificate when the child is authorized for child care.  (CCB 25-08, May 13, 2025.)

Implementation of CalWORKs Homeless Assistance changes

Posted on by

Two changes in the CalWORKs Homeless Assistance program that were delayed pending automation are now implemented.  Effective March 5, 2025, CalWORKs Homeless Assistance eligibility is expanded to include families who receive any eviction notice.  Previously, CalWORKs Homeless Assistance eligibility was limited to families who received a notice to pay rent or quit.

Also effective March 5, 2025, for purposes of Homeless Assistance, domestic violence perpetuated by a roommate that results in homelessness includes domestic violence by a parent or child the family is living with.  This expanded definition applies to the domestic violence exception to the once in a 12 month period rule for Homeless Assistance, and the Expanded Homeless Assistance for Victims of Domestic Abuse.  (ACIN I-15-25, April 27, 2025.)

CalFresh and CalWORKs electronically reported information

Posted on by

The California Department of Social Services has clarified requirements about how the County Welfare Departments (CWDs) will accept information for participants of CalWORKs and CalFresh electronically.  Electronically submitted information can include reporting changes, submitting verification, and other information that might affect the participants’ case.

CWDs must accept and process all information submitted by participants by e-mail, fax or the BenefitsCal Portal, even if that information is sent fby email to individual staff, general, shared or unencrypted. CWDs will not be cited in error for confidentiality if the participant has sent an unencrypted email. While all of these will be acceptable forms of information, CDSS says submitting by email may lead to some operational challenges and encourages participants to submit information via the BenefitsCal Portal. Making a BenefitsCal account is encouraged but information may be submitted anonymously without an account. (ACIN I-01-25, January 29, 2025.)

 

CalWORKs case processing during disasters

Posted on by

The California Department of Social Services (CDSS) has issued a reminder about policy for processing CalWORKs cases for victims and evacuees of state and/or federally declared disasters.

For disaster evacuees who apply for CalWORKs, if the applicant and the county make a good faith effort to obtain verification and are unable to do so, including identity, time on aid, and CalWORKs eligibility factors, the county must accept the evacuee’s statements signed under penalty of perjury in lieu of verification.  These families must comply with regular verification rules as soon as practicable.  Counties must inform families that they can get help from the county if they need help in getting verification.

When an evacuee applies for CalWORKs, counties must establish that the evacuee was living in a county designated as a federal disaster and/or state-declared emergency zone and ask if the evacuee or anyone else in their family is receiving CalWORKs from that county or another disaster county.

CalWORKs recipients may be eligible for nonrecurring special needs payments because of emergencies from the fires, such as damage to or loss of shelter or belongings. Nonrecurring special needs funds can be used to repair or replace clothing or household equipment, to provide assistance for damage to the home, or to pay for interim shelter when the AU’s home was destroyed or made uninhabitable or inaccessible. The maximum nonrecurring special needs payment is $600 for each individual incident.

Disaster assistance from federal, state or local government or disaster assistance organizations is excluded from consideration as income.

For CalWORKs applicants, diversion may be available to address their specific crisis or item of need. Applicants in an emergency should be evaluated for Immediate Need Payments.

A written statement from the applicant is sufficient to establish intent to establish residency in California and in the county of application for the foreseeable future. Receipt of benefits at an address outside of California for two months or longer is not apparent evidence of intent to reside outside of California when return to California is prevented by a disaster.

For income, it is expected that some evacuees will no longer have reasonably anticipated income because of the disaster. For property and resources, counties must consider the applicant’s ability to access, occupy or sell their property at the time of application because of the disaster.  Federal disaster and emergency assistance, and comparable state, local and private disaster assistance payments, are excluded from being considered either income or resources.

For families temporarily separated because of the disaster, a family member is considered temporary absent if they expect to reunite within one full calendar month. CalWORKs recipients can maintain a home in a different county than the county they are physically residing in if they intend to return to that home within four months.

Most evacuated families will not be able to participate in welfare-to-work activities. Counties should make a good cause determination for evacuated families for nonparticipation in welfare-to-work activities. Counties should also determine if an applicant needs barrier removal services such as mental health services or housing stabilization program services and provide these services as expeditiously as possible.

Counties must maintain the ability for families to apply for Homeless Assistance benefits during normal business hours.  Temporary Homeless Assistance must be issued or denied within the same working day as the request.  Permanent Homeless Assistance must be approved or denied within one business day.

Homeless Assistance can be issued in one lump sum payment for 16 days when homelessness is caused by a declared disaster.  Temporary and permanent Homeless Assistance is not limited to once every 12 months when the cause of homelessness is a disaster.  Counties may accept sworn statements of how homeless assistance money is spent, or counties can grant good cause for not providing paper verification such as motel receipts.  Homeless Assistance applications are not required to be made in person or to include a face-to-face interview.  Counties can complete the homeless assistance Statement of Facts on behalf of the family and accept electronic signature or oral attestation.

The CalWORKs Housing Support Program can provide interim housing, including hotels and motels, for disaster evacuees.  CDSS does not limit the number of days the Housing Support Program can cover hotels or motels.

Counties must notify CDSS when they will be closed during normal business hours.  CDSS asks counties to report closures because of a disaster to CDSS as soon as it is safe to do so.  (ACWDL, February 24, 2025.)

 

Waiver of resource and vehicle limits, and in kind benefits rule, because of Los Angeles fires

Posted on by

The CalWORKs and resource and vehicle limits have been waived because of the Los Angeles fires.  The CalWORKs aid in kind rule, which requires counting receipt of a full item of need as income, has also been waived because of the Los Angeles fires.  The waiver applies to designated zip codes and will be in effect until the state emergency declaration ends.  (ACWDL, February 19, 2025.)