CAPI

CAPI application process

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The California Department of Social Services (CDSS) has issued reminders about the application process for the Cash Assistance Program for Immigrants (CAPI).

Any person who wants to apply for CAPI must be allowed to do so immediately.  People attempting to apply for CAPI cannot be turned away by the county for any reason.  This is true even if the an applicant is applying in a county they do not reside in.  In that situation, the county must offer to start the application and that the application will be forwarded to the correct county.

Counties cannot dissuade persons from applying for CAPI.  Counties may not issue verbal eligibility decisions and must follow all notice requirements.  Counties may not redirect CAPI applicants to other county offices or agencies until they have made a determination of CAPI eligibility.

Counties must assist applicants as needed to establish CAPI eligibility.  This includes providing required application forms, information on how to obtain required documents, and information about alternative types of documentation.  Counties must provide reasonable accommodations to qualified individuals with disabilities in the application process.

Counties must assist applicants in their preferred language.  CAPI applicants may not be turned away based on unavailability of county staff who speak the applicant’s preferred language.  Counties can use telephone interpreter services.  CAPI applicants can use their own interpreter if the interpreter is at least 18 years old.  Only under extenuating circumstances or at the specific request of the applicant can a minor temporarily act as an interpreter.  Whenever the applicant provides their own interpreter, the county should inform the applicant that they have a right to a free interpreter.

All CAPI forms are available in English, Armenian, Spanish and Chinese on the CDSS website.  Applicants requesting assistance in any other language must be provided with interpretation of CAPI forms in their preferred language.

When a married couple applies for CAPI, each spouse must complete and sign their own application, must be assigned a separate case number, and get separate notices of action.

Counties must accept CAPI applications and documents at any county welfare department office. Applicants may not be redirected to other offices to apply.  County residents who call an office that does not process CAPI applications must be transferred to a county office that does and be given the direct phone number for that office.  Counties with call centers that accept CAPI applications must be given the opportunity to apply over the phone and the application should be sent for processing within 24 hours.  Counties cannot redirect phone applicants to apply in person or by mail.

Members of one of the CAPI consortia must accept CAPI application in-person, by mail or by phone, at any county welfare department office.  Consortium counties cannot direct callers or transfer callers to the lead consortium county.  Applications and forms must be scanned and emailed to the Sacramento County Department of Human Assistance or the San Mateo Human Services as appropriate.

Counties must collect a photo id from the applicant.  CAPI applicants who apply based on age must provide evidence of age.  For people who do not have birth certificates, other evidence may be submitted to establish date of birth.

Counties must collect evidence of immigration status.  An applicant who does not have this documentation must still be allowed to apply.  There are many ways to prove immigration status or intent to obtain immigration status for victims of serious crime or trafficking survivors.  Counties must require qualified aliens to apply for SSI and to get evidence of the application or a denial based on immigration status.  Counties must not require an SSI application as a condition of applying for CAPI.  People who are not qualified aliens are not required to apply for SSI to be eligible for CAPI.  Because of COVID-19, verbal attestation of applying for SSI is sufficient until the end of the state of emergency.

All CAPI applicants are usually required have a face-to-face interview.  However, because of COVID-19, interviews can be done electronically until the end of the state of emergency.  (ACL 20-143.)  The interview should be within five days of the application so the county can make an eligibility decision within 30 days.

CAPI applicants under age 65 who have not already been found disabled for purposes of Med-Cal must be evaluated by the Disability Determination Service Division and are not eligible until that evaluation is done unless they are presumptively eligible.  (ACIN I-84-20, November 16, 2020.)

CAPI date of entry

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The California Department of Social Services (CDSS) reminds counties that qualified aliens who entered the United States prior to August 22, 1996 can be eligible for the Cash Assistance Program for Immigrants (CAPI).

Qualified aliens who entered the United States before August 22, 1996 can be eligible for CAPI if the Social Security Administration denied their SSI applications due to immigration status because they were not lawfully residing in the United States on August 22, 1996.  This policy reiterates the 2005 settlement agreement in Jamal Eddin v. Bolton.  (ACIN I-81-20, November 17, 2020.)

New CAPI payment standard

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The California Department of Social Services (CDSS) transmits the new payment standard for the Cash Assistance Program for Immigrants (CAPI).  Effective January, 2021, the 1.3 percent SSI cost of living increase will cause both the SSI/SSP payment standard and the CAPI payment standard to increase.

The cost of living increase will also increase the presumed maximum value for in-kind support and maintenance, the allowance for ineligible children in deeming situations, the sponsor’s allocation in alien deeming situations, and the allowance for parent(s) in parent-to-child seeming situations.  (ACIN I-78-20, November 17, 2020.)

COVID-19 emergency procedures for CAPI

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The California Department of Social Services (CDSS) has extended certain COVID-19 emergency procedures for the Cash Assistance Program for Immigrants.

The CAPI face-to-face interview requirement will continue to be waived through the end of the State of Emergency in California.  Counties must accept CAPI applications by telephone, mail, fax and email.

The waiver of the requirement for CAPI applicants to submit proof of SSI application denial because of immigration status expires on December 31, 2020.  After December 31, 2020, and through the end of the State of Emergency in California, the SSI ineligibility requirement may be met by verification that an SSI application has been filed and is pending final determination.  Counties must get a copy of the application summary letter issued by SSI after the applicant completes a SSI application.  Verbal attestations of having applied for SSI will not longer be acceptable after December 31, 2020.

Counties can check the MEDS system for proof that the CAPI applicant applied for SSI and was denied because of immigration status.  (ACL 20-143, December 18, 2020.)

COVID-19 civil rights obligations

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The California Department of Social Services (CDSS) provides guidance to counties regarding meeting their civil rights obligations in emergency situations.  Civil rights laws remain in effect when counties take emergency actions such as closing physical offices to the public, shortening office hours, or requiring staff to work from home.

Counties must provide services and administer programs free of discrimination.  During emergencies there can be heightened fear and anxiety leading to increased acts of xenophobia, racism, ableism, transphobia and many other forms of prejudice toward protected classes.  Counties should remind their staff to be mindful of the additional stress and anxiety of their clients.  CDSS recommends that counties make statements that reaffirm their commitment to civil rights protections both internally among their staff and externally to the public.  CDSS also recommends that counties provide refresher trainings to staff on how to provide service in an inclusive, culturally appropriate and sensitive manner.

Counties should remind staff to use the name provided by a person, even if it is different from the name on their record.  County staff should not make assumptions about a person’s sex, gender, gender identity and/or sexual orientation based on their name, their gender expression, their spouse or partner’s name, or their voice, and should use gender neutral language to foster an inclusive environment, until and unless the individual has identified their gender.

It is important to remind staff that COVID-19 is not linked to any race or nationality, and that stigmatizing people because of race or nationality is unlawful.

Counties must ensure that clients are notified of and can obtain information about programs or program changes, including changes in response to emergencies such as shortening office hours or increasing availability of phone interviews.  Counties must publicize this information in understandable and diverse formats in the threshold languages required by law.  Counties must also adopt communication methods that are understandable to people with intellectual, cognitive and psychosocial impairments.

When offices are closed or have shortened hours, office-related activities must continue to meet accessibility and non-discrimination standards.

Services and programs must remain accessible to people with disabilities as counties make changes during an emergency.  If a county designates a location for pick up/drop off of applications and forms, it must comply with Americans with Disabilities Act regulations for physical accessibility.

During medical emergencies such as COVID-19, if persons are advised to stay home, counties should ensure live or recorded messages are available in American Sign Language, Teletypewriter, and Telecommunications Device for the Deaf, and include captioning.  Counties can also consider designating office hours for people with disabilities or other vulnerable people.

Documents and postings on social media with images should have captions and images should be inclusive and not stigmatize disability.

Counties must continue to provide accommodations for people who have vision, hearing or speech disabilities.  Counties must provide auxiliary aids and services when necessary to communicate effectively.

Counties must continue to offer reasonable accommodations to persons with disabilities.  This obligation does not end at intake.  If a county staff member have actual knowledge of an individual’s disability or an individual’s need for an accommodation is obvious, the staff member must offer to assist the individual in self-identifying the disability and/or appropriate accommodations.  County staff should check for disability indicators in the case file prior to contact with the client.  Reasonable accommodations must be offered regardless of the method of contact. There is no limit on the amount of reasonable accommodation requests a person may make, and each request must be analyzed individually.

Counties must make sure they have adequate qualified interpreters and qualified translation services to assist Limited English Proficient individuals.  Counties must continue to maintain up-to-date lists of bilingual staff and remind staff of how to access these individuals.  Counties must also ensure that staff are trained in accessing alternate interpreter resources, including telephonic or video interpretation.

Clients maintain the right to file a discrimination complaint during an emergency or disaster.  Counties are reminded of their duty to actively receive and process civil rights complaints. Complaints can be made verbally or in writing.  Counties cannot require complainants to complete a form as a condition of filing a complaint.  (ACIN I-69-20, November 9, 2020.)

CAPI couples benefit rate calculation

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The California Department of Social Services (CDSS) has issued clarification about benefit calculation rules for Cash Assistance Program for Immigrants (CAPI) couples when these individuals are determined eligible for CAPI in different months.

When both spouses are eligible for CAPI, the benefit payment for each spouse is one-half of the CAPI couple payment standard.

When one spouse is aged, and the other spouse is under 65 and has applied for CAPI based on disability, the aged spouse receives the CAPI individual rate until the other spouse is determined eligible.  When both spouses are found eligible, the couples payment standard is applied, and each spouse will receive one-half of the couples rate.  Retroactive payment for the newly eligible spouse will be the difference between the amount the couple would have received and what the aged member received as an individual CAPI recipient.

When one spouse is aged, and the other spouse under 65 and is presumptively disabled, the couple should be granted the CAPI couple rate.

When one spouse is aged and the other spouse is almost age 65 but not blind or disabled the spouse who is over age 65 will receive the individual CAPI rate until the other spouse becomes eligible for CAPI, at which time the couple will begin to get the couples rate.

When one spouse is aged and applying CAPI for the first time, and the other spouse is requesting reinstatement of CAPI the couple will begin receiving the benefit rate the first month that the first spouse’s application is granted and the second spouse’s benefits are reinstated.  (ACIN I-66-20, September 10, 2020.)