Emergency Child Care Bridge Program for Intercounty and Interstate cases

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The California Department of Social Services has provided guidance regarding eligibility for the Emergency Child Care Bridge Program for Foster Children (Bridge Program) for intercounty and interstate foster care placements.

When a child or parenting youth is placed outside of the county of jurisdiction, the county of jurisdiction is responsible for child care vouchers, reimbursements and navigation services.

If a county of jursidiction has not opted into the Bridge Program, but the county of placement has opted into the Bridge Program, the county of placement may, if it decides to, provide child care payments. The county of placement would also be responsible for providing navigator services.

If a child or parenting youth has their juvenile dependency case transferred from one county to another and both counties have opted into the Bridge Program, the county from where the person is transferred will continue to provide the child care voucher and navigator services until the case is fully transferred to the new county.  If the new county has not opted in to the Bridge program, the transferring county can continue providing child care vouchers or reimbursements at its discretion.

If a child or parenting youth’s juvenile dependency case is determined by another state and that person is placed in a California county that has opted into the Bridge Program, that county may provide child care vouchers and navigator services, if the county decides to do so.  For dependency cases determined in California but the child or parenting youth is placed outside of California, the county of jurisdiction is not allowed to provide child care vouchers or navigator services.  Counties that have provided child care vouchers or reimbursements that have provided child care vouchers or reimbursements for children placed outside of California can continue doing so for cases opened before February 26, 2025, and payments must end in six months.

If a service provider is located outside of California, the county shall provide the child care voucher or reimbursement based on the Regional Market Rate of the California county of placement.  (CCB 25-03, February 26, 2025.)

End of CalFresh Comparable Disqualification

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Previously, California imposed a comparable CalFresh disqualification when an individual was sanctioned for noncompliance with CalWORKs welfare-to-work, Unemployment Insurance, or substitute programs such as General Assistance and Refugee Resettlement programs participation requirements.  Effective May 15, 2025, the California will no longer impose the comparable disqualification for CalFresh or the California Food Assistance Program.

When an individual does not comply with participation requirements of CalWORKs, Unemployment Insurance, or substitute programs, the CalFresh allotment cannot increase because of the decreased CalWORKs grant.  CalFresh can increase if the individual becomes ineligible for CalWORKs for another reason, or the household’s CalWORKs case is closed.

Individuals who were disqualified from CalFresh because of a comparable disqualification may participate without completing the sanction.  One person households must reapply.  Existing households can request to add the individual to the household.

Counties must continue to ensure that CalFresh recipients who do not comply with participation requirements of CalWORKs, Unemployment Insurance, or substitute programs are registered for work unless they are exempt.

Individuals who do not comply with CalFresh work registration requirements without good cause may be disqualified if they not exempt.  Work registrants must participate in an Employment and Training Program (which is voluntary in California), provide enough information to determine employment status or availability for work, report to an employer when referred by the county, accept an offer of suitable employment, and not voluntarily quit a job of 30 or more hours a week, earning the equivalent of Federal minimum wage for 30 hours per week, or reduce work to less than 30 hours per week without good cause.

Good cause for noncompliance with CalFresh work registration is circumstances beyond the individual’s control, including, but not limited to: illness, illness of another household member that requires the work registrant’s presence, a household emergency, lack of adequate child care for children age 6 to 11, lack of transportation, declaration of disaster, language barriers, discrimination or workplace rights violations, or unpredictable or inconsistent employment hours.  Verification of good cause is not required unless the good cause is questionable.

Counties must screen for CalFresh work registration exemptions before imposing a disqualification.  Individuals are exempt from CalFresh work registration when they are: under age 16 or over age 59, a 16 or 17 year old who is attending school or enrolled in a training program on at least a half-time basis, physically or mentally unfit for employment, complying with CalWORKs work requirements, parent of a child under age 6, responsible for care of a disabled person, applying for or receiving Unemployment Insurance, a regular participant in a drug or alcohol addiction treatment and rehabilitation program, employed or self-employed for at least 30 hours per week or earning the equivalent of Federal minimum wage for 30 hours per week, or enrolled in a school, training program or institution of higher learning on at least a half-time basis.

If an individual is disqualified from CalFresh, the disqualification period is one month for the first disqualification, three months for the second disqualification, and six months for the third or subsequent disqualifications.   Counties cannot count prior comparable disqualifications for future disqualifications.

A household is ineligible for Modified Categorical Eligibility if the head of household does not comply with work requirements.  This means that these households must meet the CalFresh resource limit.

A CalFresh disqualification period can end when the period ends and the work registrant meets work registration requirements, the disqualified person complies during the disqualification period, or the disqualified person qualifies for an exemption during the disqualification period.  When the disqualification period ends, one person households must reapply, and existing households can request to add the individual to the household.

Counties must issue a notice within 10 days of discovering CalFresh work registration noncompliance, and must provide notice at least 10 days prior to imposing the disqualification.  (ACL 25-32, May 15, 2025.)

GetCalFresh sunset

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The California Department of Social Services has issued updated information about the sunset of the GetCalFresh online application tool.  GetCalFresh is being sunsetted because the BenefitsCal online application tool is now fully functioning.

The SAR-7 submission function, and the Social Security joint application tool have already sunsetted.  The application assister tool and community based organization portal will sunset on June 30, 2025.  The document upload function, data dashboard and community based organization tools will sunset in September, 2025.  GetCalFresh will not transmit CalFresh applications after September 30, 2025.

The GetCalFresh.org domain will remain active with digital ads to provide education about CalFresh, landing pages and subsites for education about CalFresh, and a live chat feature to give general information about CalFresh.  (ACWDL, April 15, 2025.)

Extension of CalFresh waiver to combine reminder notice and notice of adverse action for periodic reporting

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California has been granted an extension of the federal waiver which allows counties to combine the reminder notice and the notice of adverse action for failure to complete semi-annual reporting to April 1, 2030.  This notice is sent to clients when they do not submit their semi-annual report on time or submit an incomplete semi-annual report.

Under the waiver, counties must send the combined reminder notice and adequate notice no later than 10 days from the date the SAR-7 should have been submitted.  If an eligible household files a complete SAR-7 during that 10 day period, the county must allow the household to participate in CalFresh no later than 10 days after the normal issuance date.  (ACL 25-31, April 29, 2025.)

Reduction in eligibility period for RCA, ECA, and TCVAP cash assistance

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The eligibility period for Refugee Cash Assistance (RCA), Entrant Cash Assistance (ECA), and Trafficking and Crime Victims Program (TCVAP) cash assistance is reduced to 4 months for individual’s whose eligibility start date is on or after May 5, 2025.

The eligibility start date for RCA and ECA is either the date of admission into the united States in a qualifying status, the grant date of a qualifying status, or the issuance date on the Certification of Eligibility Letter for a Victim of a Severe Form of Human Trafficking.  The eligibility state date for TCVAP cash assistance is the date of application.

RCA, ECA, and TCVAP cash assistance recipients whose eligibility started before May 5, 2025 remain eligible for twelve months of benefits.

Groups who are eligible for RCA or ECA are: refugees, asylees, Cuban and Haitian entrants, Amarasians, certain Iraqi and Afghan Special Immigrants (SIVs), certain Afghan Humanitarian Parolees, certain Ukranian Humanitarian Parolees, and certain victims of human trafficking.  People who are eligible for TCVAP cash assistance are qualifying noncitizen victims of human trafficking, domestic violence, or other serious crimes.

Automation of this change is pending.  Program forms and notices must be manually changed until automation is implemented.

CDSS recommends that counties verbally inform clients of this eligibility change until August 5, 2025.

This eligibility reduction does not impact eligibility for Refugee Support Services or TCVAP social services.  (ACWDL, May 2, 2025.)

Emergency Child Care Bridge program work and instruction hours

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The Emergency Care Bridge Program provides child care for foster children for a limited time via payment or voucher if work or school responsibilities prevent resource families from providing care when the child for whom they have care and responsibility is not in school. It also provides child care navigation services to families that qualify.

The California Department of Social Services has clarified that families cannot get Emergency Child Care Bridge benefits for hours where:

  • The Child is in public education program
  • The Child is attending a private school
  • The Child is getting other instruction or education in an alternate setting such as homeschooling/tutoring, independent studies program or online schooling.

Otherwise, if the parent is working and the child is not in an education setting in the three categories above, the family can get Emergency Child Care Bridge benefits for child care because the child is not considered to be attending school.

The term “working” for the parent includes not just working at a job but also time spent looking for work, filling out job applications, going to interviews, going to job fairs, and volunteer hours to gain work experience.  Resource and Referral Agencies and the county Welfare Department are able to determine reasonable hours for employment seeking activities.  (CCB 25-01, January 17, 2025.)