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

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

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

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

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.)

CalWORKs Mandatory Inclusion

The California Department of Social Services (CDSS) has clarification regarding mandatory inclusion rules for determining the CalWORKs Assistance Unit (AU).  Mandatory inclusion means that a parent, sibling or half-sibling be included in the filing unit, that is the group of people that must be included in the CalWORKs application.  Optional persons must also be included in the statement of facts when aid is requested for them and they are living in the home of the applicant child.

Mandatory inclusion also means that an eligible parent, sibling or half-sibling must be included in the AU with applicant or eligible child.  A CalWORKs eligible child must be both deprived and needy, meaning the child meets both linking and non-linking eligibility factors.  Linking factors are single conditions that link an applicant to eligibility.  The linking factors for CalWORKs are blindness and deprivation of parental care or support.  Non-linking eligibility factors establish whether an individual is entitled to assistance.  The non-linking factors for CalWORKs are age, property, residence, financial status and institutional status.

In practice, this means that a sibling or half-sibling of the applicant or eligible child who is not eligible for CalWORKs because of their income is not mandatory included in the CalWORKs AU.  CDSS provides several examples to illustrate this.

Circumstances may change over time and this may result in a different AU composition mid-period, at semi-annual reporting or at annual redetermination.  When the AU reports income over the Income Reporting Threshold in any month except the last month of the payment period, the county must determine if the reported income is reasonably anticipated to continue.  If it is, the CalWORKs grant is recalculated based on the AU’s new income and the grant is lowered or terminated accordingly.  If the income reported is not reasonably anticipated to continue, the report will not affect ongoing benefits for the payment period.

When income over the Income Reporting Threshold is reported in the last month of the payment period and is reasonably anticipated to continue, the county uses that information to determine eligibility and grant amount for the next payment period.  If the new income will make the AU ineligible, the county must determine if eligibility exists for any members of the current AU and if so change the AU composition accordingly.  (ACIN I-03-20, January 16, 2020.)

Changes to CalWORKs Homeless Assistance

The California Department of Social Services (CDSS) has issued guidance regarding changes to the CalWORKs Homeless Assistance program.  16 days of temporary homeless assistance no longer needs to be used consecutively.  Families will be able to receive 16 days of Homeless Assistance cumulative in a 12-month period.  The 16 days of temporary Homeless Assistance will not be exhausted until all 16 days are used, the family resolves their homelessness or 12 months have passed.  The first three days of temporary homeless assistance must still be issued the day the family applies, followed by weekly issuances not to exceed 16 days.

However, this change will be not be effective until it is automated.  CDSS estimates that will take six to nine months.  Counties are encouraged to implement this change using a manual workaround as soon as possible.  CDSS will release the official implementation date later.

Families must still provide receipts verifying temporary Homeless Assistance was spent on shelter.  Counties are encouraged to offer good cause or accept a sworn statement when benefits are not received consecutively and families have not kept their receipts.  Counties are also encouraged to grant good cause or accept a sworn statement of permanent housing search when they do not have proof of their search.

Removal of the consecutive day requirement also applies to Homeless Assistance for persons fleeing domestic violence.  However, those benefits will still be issued in 16 day increments.

Effective January 1, 2020, families will no longer be required to use Homeless Assistance to rent from a person in the business of renting properties.  Families now can use Homeless Assistance to rent from any person or establishment with whom the family executes a valid lease, sublease or shared housing agreement.  This change also allows temporary Homeless Assistance to enter into a short-term lease, sublet or sharing housing arrangement to meet temporary housing needs.  (ACL 19-118, January 2, 2020.)