CalWORKs

County Welfare Department Use of Consumer Credit Reports

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NOTE — The section of this ACL regarding the Work Number being used in conjunction with, but not in lieu of, existing income and eligibility sources, is superseded by ACL 21-23.

CDSS has instructions to counties about SB 1232 regarding county welfare department use of consumer credit reports.  An example of a consumer credit report is a report from “The Work Number.”  These requirements are mandatory effective January 1, 2017.

Counties cannot obtain consumer credit reports without written authorization of the applicant or recipient.  Consumer credit reports can be used in conjunction with existing fraud detection resources.  Consumer credit reports cannot be used as the only means of verification.  The SAWS 2 Plus, CF 285 and CF 37 have been modified to include authorization for counties to obtain consumer credit reports.

If a county takes adverse action based on information in a consumer credit report, the county must provide an informing notice in addition to the notice of action.  The informing notice must include the name, address and telephone number of the consumer credit reporting agency, a statement that the consumer credit reporting agency did not make the decision, a statement of the right to free disclosure from the consumer credit reporting agency within 60 days and a statement of the right to dispute the accuracy of the information with the consumer credit reporting agency.

Information from a consumer credit report must be made available to an applicant or recipient who requests it from the county welfare department or if an applicant requests a fair hearing to regarding the information in the consumer credit report.  Note that information received from “The Work Number” is not considered verified upon receipt for CalFresh.  ACL 16-118 (December 30, 2016).

Study Time for SIPS, teen participants and summer vacations

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In instructions about county data reporting, CDSS has changed its policy about counting homework time for welfare-to-work participants in Self Initiated Programs (SIPs).  A SIP is an education program started by the participant prior to welfare-to-work appraisal.  Previously, CDSS said that SIPs could not count homework time for their welfare-to-work hours.  In these data reporting instructions, CDSS states that SIPs can count homework time in the same way that any homework time is counted for any other education activity, which is actual hours spent doing homework up to one hour of unsupervised homework for each hour of class time.  Unsupervised homework time can be verified by a statement from the education program indicating the amount of homework required for the student’s course of study.  Counties can retain such statements from the education institution and use them for any student enrolled in that course of study.

CDSS also says that in a two parent household when one of the parents is a teen attending secondary school, the other parent must participate enough hours to total 35 average weekly hours.

In addition, CDSS says, for summer vacation, satisfactory progress and participation may count, regardless of the number of hours of participation, if the participant has not completed basic education requirements and is enrolled or intends to enroll as a full-time student after the school vacation.

(ACL 17-08, January 27, 2017.)

Position Statements in CDSS hearings

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CDSS has issued instructions implementing AB 2346 about position statements.  Previously, public and private agencies other than the Department of Health Care Services were required to make paper copies of their position statements available to claimants at least two business days prior to the hearing.  AB 2346 extends this requirement to the Department of Health Care Services.  This means that position statements in Medi-Cal cases must now be made available two business days before the hearing.

In addition, position statements can now be provided to the claimant in one of three ways: 1) secure electronic transmission at least two business days before the hearing, with the claimant’s permission, and if the agency can comply with state and federal electronic privacy laws, 2) first class mail with mailing early enough for the claimant to receive the position statement two business days before the hearing, or 3) paper copy available at the appropriate office of the county welfare department two business days before the hearing, with public or private agencies that are not part of the county welfare department mailing a paper copy of the position statement to the county early enough for the county welfare department to make it available at least two business days before the hearing.

If electronic transmission does not apply, the county can choose whether to mail the position statement or make it available at the county welfare department office, but the county should discuss with the claimant how the claimant would prefer to receive the position statement.

If the position statement is not made available to the claimant two business days before the hearing or the agency modifies the position statement after providing it to the claimant, the claimant will have good cause to postpone the hearing.  The claimant must waive the 90 day deadline for a decision to get this postponement.  Because the postponement was caused by the county’s failure to provide the position statement as required, this postponement will be considered the claimant first postponement for purposes of evaluating subsequent postponement requests.

(ACL 17-21, February 16, 2017.)

Questions and Answers about Expanded Subsidized Employment

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CDSS has issued questions and answers about Expanded Subsidized Employment (ESE) for CalWORKs recipients.  Highlights of these questions and answers include

  • ESE funds cannot be used for dental services, glasses or tattoo removal, but non-prescription glasses and tattoo removal can be ancillary supportive services.
  • ESE funds cannot be used for the 25% match for federal work study placements, but can be used for CalWORKs work study placements.
  • ESE can be used for workers’ compensation costs and backgrounds checks but not for physicals or uniforms.
  • Counties can place a recipient in a second ESE placement if the first ESE placement does not use all six months of ESE eligibility, but counties must determine on a case-by-case basis if that placement is appropriate.
  • Youth can participate in ESE either as their welfare-to-work participation or as exempt volunteers, but Non-Minor Dependents are not eligible for ESE.

(ACL 17-03, January 25, 2017.)

CalWORKs eligibility when child dies

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CDSS has issued instructions about implementing AB 433 (2015) regarding CalWORKs eligibility in the event of death of a child.  AB 433 requires that if the county becomes aware of the death of a child, CalWORKs benefits cannot be decreased in the month of the death or the following month.  Note that for semi-annual (SAR) reporters, change in household composition is not a mandatory mid-period report.  This means SAR reporters are not required to report death of a child until the next semi-annual report.  However, if death of a child is reported, the county must act on that information.  For AR/CO reporters, death of a child must be reported within 10 days and AB 433 means these families are eligible for an additional month of benefits following the death.

In addition, AB 433 prohibits sanctions or overpayments for failure or refusal to comply with Welfare-to-Work requirements during the month the child died or in the following month.  ACL 16-90 (October 21, 2016).

WTW Participation for Teens

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CDSS has issued instructions about Welfare-to-Work (WTW) requirements for 16 and 17 year olds.  WTW requirements apply to 16 and 17 year olds in two situations.  First, non-parenting 16 and 17 year olds who either a school district or School Attendance Review Board have found to be chronic truant must be referred for a WTW plan unless an exception applies.  The only purpose of this plan is to complete high school or its equivalent.  These 16 and 17 year olds can voluntarily participate in other WTW activities as long as those activities do not interfere with school attendance.  All supportive services are available to these 16 and 17 year olds.

A non-parenting teen who does not comply with this WTW plan is subject to a school attendance penalty.  In this instance, the needs of the 16 or 17 year old are removed from the assistance unit but the 16 or 17 year old remains eligible for CalWORKs services.  If a 16 or 17 year old is not enrolled in a secondary school, the county must assist in becoming enrolled and the 16 or 17 year old has good cause until they are enrolled.

Non-parenting 16 and 17 year olds who complete high school or its equivalent, and 16 and 17 year olds who complete participation in CalLearn upon graduating from high school or its equivalent, are required to participate in WTW unless exempt.  Counties must conduct an assessment and develop WTW plans for these 16 and 17 year olds.  Only adults are subject to minimum participation requirements. However, the county must include a required number of participation hours in the WTW plan not to exceed 20 average hours per week.

These 16 and 17 year olds are mandatory WTW participants who are subject to sanction for noncompliance unless they are exempt or have good cause.  In addition to other exemptions, these 16 and 17 year olds are exempt if they have enrolled in or are planning to enroll in a postsecondary educational, vocational, or technical school training program.

In general, persons sanctioned by CalWORKs also receive a CalFresh sanction.  Non-head of household 16 and 17 year olds are exempt from CalFresh work requirements and are not subject to this CalFresh sanction.  However, head of household 16 and 17 year olds may be subject to work registration requirements and are subject to CalFresh sanction for failure to comply with CalWORKs WTW requirements.  ACL 16-99 (December 8, 2016.)