CalWORKs

COVID-19 suspension of periodic reporting and annual recertification

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The California Department of Social Services (CDSS) has issued instructions implementing Executive Order N-29-20 regarding eligibility redeterminations for CalWORKs and CalFresh.  CalWORKs and CalFresh redeterminations are suspended for March, April, and May, 2020, and months or partial months of CalWORKs aid are exempt from being counted toward the 48-month time clock through June, 2020.

For March CalFresh and CalWORKs semi-annual reports (SAR 7s), as many discontinuances as as possible will be stopped using an automated process.  For March SAR 7s that have already been processed, counties must manually rescind any discontinuances as a result of information on the SAR 7.  Processing that resulted in a benefit increase will not be changed.  Counties must stop processing March SAR 7s.

Households will continue to receive benefits in the amount they were eligible for in the month the report was due.  That amount will continue unless the household completes a voluntary or mandatory report resulting in a benefits change.

For March CalFresh annual recertifications and CalWORKs annual redeterminations, households will be granted a new six-month certification period with a recertification due in September, 2020.  All CalFresh households granted a new six month certification period must be issued a notice informing of their new certification period and new recertification due date.  Otherwise, March annual recertifications and redeterminations are handled in the same way as the March SAR 7s.

For April and May CalFresh and CalWORKs SAR 7s, automated mailing of the April and May SAR 7 documents has stopped.  Households will continue to receive benefits in the amount they were eligible for in the month the report was due.  Households must continue to complete all mandatory reports. The waiver of the SAR 7 reporting requirement does not change the household’s originally assigned certification period.  That amount will continue unless the household completes a voluntary or mandatory report resulting in a benefits change.  Counties will disregard any April or May SAR 7s that are submitted.

For April and May CalFresh recertifications and CalFresh retedetminations, households will be granted a new six-month certification period with a recertification due in October or November, respectively.  Automated mailing of May recertification packets will stop.  April recertification packets have already been mailed.  Households will continue to receive benefits in the amount they were eligible for in the month the report was due.  That amount will continue unless the household completes a voluntary or mandatory report resulting in a benefits change.  Counties will disregard any April or May recertifictions or redeterminations that are submitted.

Transitional CalFresh households who have recertification due in March, April or May will need to complete recertification as originally scheduled.

The county welfare department computer systems have stopped all discontinuances set to occur in March, April, May or June for exceeding the 48-month time on aid limit.  Cases that have already been discontinued for exceeding the 48-month time on aid limit in March should be reinstated through June.  People who are on a time-limit extender must continue to meet the extender requirements to remain on aid.

Counties should implement mass informing practices to communicate this change such as a message on their websites, social media and interactive voice response systems. (All County Welfare Directors Letter, March 27, 2020.)

Interim housing and homeless program guidance on COVID-19

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The California Department of Social Services (CDSS) has issued guidance regarding CDSS housing and homeless programs for COVID-19.  The guidance relates to CalWORKs Homeless Assistance (HA), CalWORKs Housing Support Program (HSP), Bringing Families Home (BFH), Housing and Disability Advocacy Program (HDAP) and Home Safe.

CDSS does not limit the number of days of interim shelter, including nights in a hotel or motel, for HSP, Bringing Families Home, HDAP and Home Safe.

HA applications are not required to be in person or to include a face-to-interview.  Counties can complete the CW 42 application form for the client and have then sign electronically.  Existing rules requiring issuing 3-days of benefits while homelessness is verified remain in effect.  However, counties are strongly encouraged to issue benefits without requiring clients to come to the office, including allowing sworn statements and granting good cause instead of requiring clients to come to county offices.  Although existing guidance requires counties to issue vendor payments when there has been a finding of mismanagement, if there is no feasible way to issue vendor payments because of COVID-19, counties should consider issuing benefits on the client’s EBT card.

Clients affected by COVID-19 may be eligible for an exception to the once-every 12 months rule for HA.  For example, if a parent in an assistance unit is concerned about infection and asks to isolate themselves, HA should be granted based on an exception because of illness.

HDAP funds can expand existing housing options used by HDAP clients, including shelters, recuperative care housing, hotel or motel leases, or interim housing programs.  For example, expanding a shelter program could include offering specialized quarantine options or leases with motels to provide housing for homeless persons impacted by COVID-19.  Counties can also purchase supplies for a specialized quarantine area or establish a new shelter program for HDAP clients specific to COVID-19.  In addition, HDAP funds can be spent on outreach to locate persons potentially eligible for HDAP who are residing in homeless camps who require medical care related to COVID-19.

Home Safe funds can be spent on landlord engagement, including incentives for landlords to participate in Home Safe.  Such payments can include in-kind goods to address COVID-19 impacts such as medical or sanitizing equipment and supplies.  Home Safe funds may also be used for interim housing, including motels.

HSP funds can be used for a range of financial and supportive services, including providing interim housing, helping participants navigate systems of care, providing rental assistance, incentive payments in the form of good for landlords participating in HSP, and supplies necessary to keep housing habitable.  Counties can provide landlord mediation and discussion of tenant’s rights to avoid eviction or housing displacement.

BFH for families experiencing homelessness or at risk of homelessness with an open child welfare case can include interim housing, tenant engagement, case management, public systems assistance, and conflict mediation with landlords or neighbors.  BFH can locate and pay for motel stays for families seeking interim housing that is not a shelter.  BFH can also pay for cleaning supplies.

A three-day notice to pay rent or quit meets eligibility requirements for HA, BFH, HDAP and Home Safe.  HA can be used to pay up to two month rental arrearages to prevent eviction.  (ACWDL, March 19, 2020.)

The HA provisions of this letter are superceeded by All County Welfare Directors Letter, March 31, 2020, summarized here.

90 day suspension of redeterminations, CalWORKs clock stop, and public meeting requirements

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Governor Gavin Newsom has issued an executive order regarding public benefits programs in California.  The executive order suspends otherwise required redeterminations for Medi-Cal, CalWORKs, CalFresh , Cash Assistance Program for Immigrants, California Food Assistance Program, and In Home Supportive Services for 90 days.

The executive order also stops the CalWORKs 48 month time clock through June 17, 2020.  Any month or partial month of CalWORKs received will not be counted toward California’s 48 month time on aid limit.

The Executive Order also suspends any requirement of physical presence in the Brown Act or the Bagley-Keene Act for meetings or local or state bodies.  Meetings of state or local bodies held via teleconference and allowing members of the public to observe and address the meeting shall satisfy any requirement that the body allow members of the public to attend the meeting and offer public comment.

The body must have a procedure for reasonable accommodations for persons with disabilities and advertise that procedure in each public meeting notice.  Requirements for notice of the time and agenda for meetings are unchanged, except that the notice of the time of the meeting must also give notice of how the public may observe and comment.  These public meeting provision apply as long as state or local public officials have imposed or recommended social distancing. (Executive Order N-29-20, March 17, 2020.)

CDSS guidance regarding COVID-19

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The California Department of Social Services (CDSS) has issued guidance regarding the impct of COVID-19 on CalWORKs, CalFresh, housing and homelessness programs, and Refugee Cash Assistance.  Counties must ensure continuity of and safe access to services during pandemic conditions or periods of social distancing.

Current CalWORKs recipients are eligible for waiver of existing rules regarding homeless assistance, including the once-every-12-months limit.

Counties are encouraged to explore Diversion eligibility.  Diversion is designed to address a specific crisis or item of need and may be appropriate for affected families.  People who receive diversion are not subject to work requirements or child support assignment.  However, Diversion payments count toward the 48-month time on aid clock.

For CalWORKs applicants, when evidence concerning eligibility does not exist, the applicant’s sworn statement under penalty of perjury is sufficient except for verification of U.S. citizenship or immigration status, and medical verification of pregnancy.  Written statement is also acceptable to establish residency for the forseeable future.  The photo identification requirement is unchanged, meaning that if the applicant cannot present photo identification within 15 days of application, aid shall continue if the applicant presents evidence of good faith efforts to obtain photo identification.  Income rules remain the same.  Some persons impacted by school or work closures will no longer have an income that is reasonably anticipated.

For CalWORKs, counties can conduct interviews telephonically or by electronic means.  Counties that want to implement electronic/telephonic interviewing now because of COVID-19 can contact CDSS for immediate approval, and must submit a plan to CDSS within one week of implementation.

Counties may provide welfare-to-work good cause or exemptions in response to COVID-19. Good cause determinations should be made on a case-by-case basis.  However, counties can implement county-wide good cause to avoid face-to-face interactions to mitigate COVID-19.

Child care providers may not be reimbursed for days on which the provider is not operating unless that provider has a paid day of non-operation and can provide documentation that contractual terms require parents to pay for days of non-operation.  Reimbursable days of non-operation are limited to 10 days per fiscal year.  Payments to alternative providers when regular providers are not operating are limited to 10 days per child per fiscal year.  Counties must pay for child care on behalf of the client when the child is ill for during excuses absences for illness or quarantine.

For CalFresh, counties should promote online, phone or mail-in applications.  Counties should conduct as many interviews as possible by phone.  Counties should fulfill EBT card replacement requests by phone or mail as often as possible.

Counties must ensure that they are granting maximum allowable CalFresh certification periods.  Counties should maximize use of existing databases for verification.  If a household cannot provide required verification because of unusual circumstances, self-certification can be used.

Counties can exempt households from certain requirements for good cause.

If county offices close during regular business hours, they must make it possible for individuals to apply for and receive CalWORKs and CalFresh, including emergency benefits, within time frames required by state and federal law.  Counties must also provide notice of hours of operation, and procedures during closure hours for applying for and receiving benefits.  These procedures must include making applications available and providing a drop-box or mail slot for filing applications.  Such applications must be deemed to have been filed on the date of the county closure.  Counties must maintain sufficient staff to accept and act upon all applications, and telephone staff to accept and act upon all applications as if they were made in person.  This includes making immediate need available no later than the third calendar day following the application date.

Refugee Cash Assistance and Refugee Support Services will use the CalWORKs guidance.  (ACWDL, March 12, 2020.)

CalWORKs time limit extenders for two parent families

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The California Department of Social Services (CDSS) has issued guidance about eligibility CalWORKs time limit extenders for two parent families.  Former CalWORKs recipients who have used 48 months of time on aid can ask to be evaluation for an exception to the time limit to receive additional months of cash aid.  The family may be eligible for an exception to the 48-month time on aid limit when all parents, aided stepparents and/or caretaker relatives meet the exception criteria.  However, not all adults in the household must be timed out of CalWORKs.  In a two-parent household, if all adults in the household meet the exception criteria, then the timed out adult can be added to the assistance unit.  The exception criteria are:

▪ Advanced age (60 or older)

▪ Providing care for an ill or incapacitated family member, or a nonparent caretaker relative for a dependent child of the court, a child receiving Kin-Gap or child at risk of dependency,

▪ Disabled, defined as receiving benefits from State Disability Insurance, Worker’s Compensation Temporary Disability Insurance, In-Home Supportive Services, or the State Supplementary Program, and the disability significantly impairs the ability to participate in welfare-to-work activities,

▪ Unable to maintain employment or participate in welfare-to-work activities, and the individual has a history of participation and full cooperation in welfare-to-work activities.  An individual is assumed to to have met participation and cooperation requirements unless the county has documented evidence otherwise.

▪ Unaided

The 48-month time limit can be waived for past or present domestic violence victims and these individuals are eligible for a time limit extender.  All adults in the home do not need to meet extender criteria to add the timed-out individual under a domestic violence waiver.  (ACIN I-14-20, February 6, 2020.)

$500 Home Visiting Initiative Material Goods Fund

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The California Department of Social Services (CDSS) has issued guidance for County Welfare Departments (CWDs) participating in the CalWORKs Home Visiting Program (HVP) regarding the use of the $500 material goods funds. Counties should coordinate with home visitors and CalWORKs staff to provide $500 for the purchase of material goods for each family served by HVP. This money may be spent on multiple items and at multiple times, but it is cumulative per case and does not reset.

The funds can be used on items related to the care, health, and safety of the child and family. It may be spent on food if the home visitor decides that it is an immediate need. The funds are not meant to be an incentive to participate, but as a mechanism to help vulnerable families. Counties and their subrecipients and contractors are reminded that these funds cannot be issued directly to participants or used to supplant services already provided through WTW supportive services.

All CalWORKs HVP participants in participating counties are eligible for the $500 material goods funds. If a parent or assisted caretaker relative is removed from the CalWORKS program but continues to participate in HVP, they would still be eligible for HVP services including the $500 material goods. If the custodial parents agrees, participation by the non-custodial parent can be counted for the home visiting initiative.  (ACIN I-4-20 , January 22, 2020.)