Revised regulations on parents as IHSS providers for children under age 18

Posted on July 24, 2015 by Stephen Goldberg

Following a decision of the CDSS director that invalidated CDSS’ prior regulations, CDSS issued revised regulations about eligibility for parents to be IHSS providers for their children. The revised regulations are at MPP Sections 30-763.44 and .45.

The revised regulation continues the rule that a child under age 18 is eligible for IHSS when the no parent is available to provide IHSS, which is defined as when the parent(s) is employed or enrolled in an education or vocational training program, or physically or mentally unable to provide IHSS services. A parent is considered unavailable only if unavailability occurs during the time the child must receive a specific service.

In addition, IHSS is available from a non-parent provider for up to 8 hours per week when parents are unavailable in order to do shopping or errands necessary for the family, to search for employment or to care for the recipient’s minor siblings. The regulations continue the rule that a parent who is required to leave or cannot obtain full-time employment because of the need to provide care for a child can be an eligible IHSS provider. The regulations also continue the rule that a parent cannot be the IHSS provider when a second parent who is in the home is available to provide care. The new regulations clarify that the restrictions who can be a provider for children under age 18 apply only to natural or adoptive parents. CDSS also included several questions and answers about the revised regulations.
ACL 15-45 (5/1/15).

Medi-Cal income thresholds for Blind FPL programs

Posted on July 24, 2015 by John Tan

DHCS clarified income levels for the Blind FPL Medi-Cal programs starting 4/1/15:

– Individuals: $1211

– Couples: $1751 where both are blind; $1666 where one individual is blind and the other is aged or disabled.

DHCS ACWDL 15-24 (7/15/15).

MBSAC cost of living increase

Posted on July 23, 2015 by Stephen Goldberg

Effective July 1, 2015, the CalWORKs Minimum Basic Standard of Adequate Care (MBSAC) increased by 2.54%. The MBSAC is the maximum amount of income an assistance unit can have, after income deductions, and be eligible for CalWORKs. The increase is the cost of living increase required by Welf. & Inst. Code Section 11453. This cost of living increase also increased the Income-In-Kind (IIK) level by 2.54%. The IIK level is the value assigned to free housing, utilities, clothes or food.

These increases also apply to Refugee Cash Assistance, Entrant Cash Assistance and Trafficking and Crime Victims Assistance Program benefits. The California Department of Social Services issued a chart showing the new MBSAC and IIK amount. ACL 15-52 (6/5/15).

Priorities for Processing Medi-Cal Application Batches

Posted on July 23, 2015 by John Tan

DHCS has set priorities for counties to process Medi-Cal batch applications. Counties are to resolve batch transactions that DHCS has not batched in weekly 45-day accelerated enrollment (AE) batch runs. Then, counties need to review Rivera Notice of Inaction individuals. Next, counties would process applications within the required 45 day timeframe. Finally, counties should process full eligibility determinations for those batched in aid code 8E.

DHCS MEDIL I 15-15 (7/13/15).

Medi-Cal managed care coverage of wheelchairs

Posted on July 22, 2015 by John Tan

DHCS issued an All Plan Letter clarifying how Medi-Cal plans should determine medical need for wheelchairs and applicable seating and positioning components. The criteria for medical necessity must include a medical evaluation of the beneficiary and review of the equipment to ensure that the beneficiary has appropriate mobility in or out of the home.

Medi-Cal covers medically necessary equipment when it is appropriate for use in or out of the patient’s home, regardless of whether the needed equipment will be used inside or outside of the home. DHCS APL 15-018 (7/9/15).

OCAT released

Posted on July 22, 2015 by Stephen Goldberg

CDSS has released its new Online CalWORKs Appraisal Tool (OCAT). OCAT guides county welfare department workers through the CalWORKs appraisal process and generates recommendations for welfare-to-work and supportive services. The OCAT appraisal includes a section to screen for learning disabilities.

OCAT is currently only available in English. Clients with limited English proficiency are to be referred for evaluation and services to address their language barrier. Counties have the option to reassess current welfare-to-work clients using OCAT if they believe doing do will identify barriers to self-sufficiency. Clients must be informed of their privacy rights at the beginning of the OCAT appraisal. Training on OCAT started in April, 2015. All counties must have fully implemented OCAT by October 1, 2015. ACL 15-43 (4/17/15).

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