IHSS overpayment recovery

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The California Department of Social Services (CDSS) has issued instructions about recovery of overpayments in the In Home Supportive Service Program (IHSS).  An overpayment includes any payments to a recipient to purchase IHSS services in an amount to which the recipient was not entitled.  Counties must recover the full amount of IHSS overpayments.  However, prior to initiating overpayment recovery, counties must confirm there has been a conviction for fraud against the IHSS program.  Once a fraud conviction has been established, counties can proceed with overpayment recovery.

CDSS has issued two new notices of action, NA 1284 for recipient fraud conviction and NA 1283 for advance pay recipient fraud conviction.  (ACL 19-81, August 8, 2019.)

CalWORKs Home Visiting Program

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The California Department of Social Services (CDSS) has issued instructions about the Home Visiting Program (HVP) which is a voluntary program that connects new parents with a nurse or other trained professional who makes regular visits to the client’s home to provide guidance, coaching, access to prenatal and postnatal care, and other health and social services.  HVP also encourages clients to enroll their child, and volunteer in, an early learning setting.

In order to be eligible for HVP, in a county where HVP is offered, an individual must be pregnant or the parent or caretaker relative of a child under age 24 months and one of the following: a member of a CalWORKs assistance unit, the parent or caretaker relative in a child-only case, applied for CalWORKs within 60 days of reaching the second trimester or preganacy or apparently eligible for CalWORKs.

HVP participants can be either mandatory or voluntary welfare-to-work participants.  All HVP hours and any time spent volunteering in an early learning setting must be assigned in the welfare-to-work plan and count toward welfare-to-work participation requirements.  However, HVP participants are not required to participate in welfare-to-work or to have a welfare-to-work plan.  CalWORKs time on aid limits do not prevent accessing HVP services.

HVP clients in welfare-to-work are entitled to supportive services.

(ACL 19-42, July 11, 2019 and ACL 19-42E, October 7, 2019.)

 

Temporary Homeless Assistance increase final regulations

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The California Department of Social Services (CDSS) has issued final regulations implementing the increase in the daily payment amount for temporary homeless assistance.  The daily temporary homeless assistance rate for a family of up to four is increased from $65 to $85 per night.  Each additional family member still increases the rate by $15, but the daily maximum for a family of 8 is increased from $125 to $145 per night.  (ACIN I-64-19, October 15, 2019.)

CalWORKs Home Visiting Initiative

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The California Department of Social Services (CDSS) has issued guidance regarding  aspects of the CalWORKs Home Visiting Initiative (HVI).  HVI authorizes voluntary home visits for certain CalWORKs households to support positive health, development and well-being outcomes for pregnant and parenting women, families and infants born into poverty.

Contractors must ensure that all home visitors receive implicit bias and cultural competency training.  Contractors are encouraged to partner with local organizations to develop a curriculum that best suits the needs of home visiting program participants.  Beyond required minimum training standards, counties are strongly encouraged to recruit home visitors who are culturally and linguistically matched to the CalWORKs population served, utilize culturally relevant community-based partners for resource and referral services, and integrate cultural competency into other training topics.

Counties must provide an informing notice about HVI in the CalWORKs intake packet.  CDSS provided a sample informing notice.

CDSS also provided a sample outreach flyer.  Counties must produce outreach documents in languages that “best represent the clients they are serving.”

Counties can provide $500 for the purchase of material goods during the course of home visiting services.  Material goods include child safety kits, car seats, appliance repairs and adaptive equipment for children with disabilities.  (All County Welfare Directors Letter, April 25, 2019.)

CalFresh ABAWD Handbook 2.0

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The California Department of Social Services (CDSS) has issued version 2.0 of the CalFresh Able Bodied Adults Without Dependents (ABAWD) Handbook.  Federal law limits Supplemental Nutrition Assistance (CalFresh in California) benefits to 3 months in a 36 month period for ABAWDs unless a waiver applies.  The handbook includes a general overview of the ABAWD time limit, guidance on ABAWD exemptions, and how ABAWDs subject to the time limit may satisfy the ABAWD work requirement.  The handbook also addresses counting months of ABAWD participation, losing and regaining CalFresh eligibility, and the system California uses to track an ABAWD’s eligibility and participation through the 36-month period.  (ACL 19-93, September 12, 2019.)

CalFresh ABAWD waiver

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The California Department of Social Services (CDSS) has issued guidance regarding the new federal waiver of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program Able Bodied Adults Without Dependants (ABAWD) time limit.  The new waiver is effective September 1, 2019 through August 31, 2020.  52 counties qualify for waiver of the ABAWD three month time limit.  Six counties must implement the ABAWD time limit: Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, San Francisco, San Mateo and Santa Clara.

Counties with a waiver must continue to report work registrant, ABAWD, and Employment and Training data quarterly. Counties with a waiver must continue to sanction CalFresh work registrants who voluntarily quit a job of 30 or more hours per week or which provides earnings equivalent to federal minimum wage times 30, or who reduce weekly hours worked to less than 30.

Individuals who were previously discontinued for failure to satisfy ABAWD work requirements and subsequently reapply for CalFresh in a county with a waiver are eligible for benefits. CalFresh Employment and Training, and voluntary quit sanctions, do not stop when an individual moves to a county with an ABAWD time limit waiver.  (ACL 19-96, September 20, 2019.)