Good news/bad news. There are more FNS identified combat zones, but here is the list of them, so that the income of people posted to a zone is excluded for the Food Stamps program. [Download]
Summaries of select CalWORKs, CalFresh, Health and Housing Regulations
Uncategorized
ACL 07-14: Changes To Foster Care and Adoption Assistance Program Federal Financial Participation and Rosales (4/27/07)
The Deficit Reduction Act (DRA) changed some administrative billing abilities for Foster Care and Adoption Assistance, and confirms that the Administration for Children and Families (ACF) has issued program instructions to carry out the DRA/court reversal of the Rosales case. (The new law disallows federal foster care eligibility based on the home of the relative with whom the foster child is placed, when no eligibility existed in the home of removal.) More notably for advocates, the ACL has provided instructions on the Adoption Assistance Program (AAP) eligibility. To be eligible, the foster child must have meet AFDC eligibility criteria (as existed 6/16/96) at the time of the removal from the home. The child must have special needs, was removed from the home pursuant to a judicial determination or got foster care under a Title IV-E voluntary placement, meet the SSI standards prior to adoption OR was in foster care in which the child’s minor parent received IV-E. The letter reminds counties that if the adoption dissolves or the adoptive parents die, the APP can continue in a subsequent adoption. At that point, the county need only confirm that the child still has special needs. [Download]
ACIN I-21-07: CalWORKs: Forms Changes Due To Changes In Homeless Assistance, Food Stamp Utility Allowance Deductions, Racial And Ethnic Data Collection, And Welfare To Work Sanctions (April 26, 2007)
Pretty self-explanatory title. Mostly notable because it impacts the FS calculation, and people should be getting the correct forms. [Download]
ACIN I-17-07: CalWORKs: Retroactive $50 Child Support Disregard (4/6/07)
In the “Better late than never,” category, CDSS announces that it this past February, the Department of Child Support Services (DCSS) sent out retroactive $50 child support disregards, to compensate for the failure to timely credit and issue payments in the transition between Local Child Support Agencies and DCSS. A reminder that the retroactive payments (as well as the regular ones) are disregarded as income for both CalWORKs and Food Stamps. And, as an added bonus, recipients “shall not be discontinued for failure to report” the retro payment, presumably a reference to accepting a QR 7 as complete whether or not the retro payment is reported. [Download]
Delegation of Authority to Regional Directors to Waive Certain Handbook and Directives Provisions (72 FR 16809, April 5, 2007)
Effective March 30, 2007, the Secretary of HUD may delegate his power to waive certain HUD handbook and directives provisions to HUD Regional Directors. While there are certain safeguards and requirements regarding the the issuance of such waivers, the National Low Income Housing Coalition and other housing advocacy groups counsel advocates to be in touch with local HUD officials and monitor for any waivers that would have a negative impact on low income persons. [Download]
ACIN I-11-07: Supplemental Forms and Food Stamp/CalWORKs (3/27/07)
A rose by any other name would smell as sweet, but never a Pre-screening and Supplemental form shall meet. This ACIN discusses the difference between a Pre-Screening form (prohibited if asking eligibility questions prior to application ) and a Supplemental form (fine and dandy if “gathering information needed to begin an interactive interview after the application is signed”). It’s also fine to get information unrelated to the application/eligibility for purposes of referrals to other offices/programs. [Download]