Yippee! The Food and Nutrition Service has approved a statewide waiver of the Able-Bodied Adult Without Dependents (ABAWD) work requirement. The waiver would last for a one-year period beginning October 1, 2008 and ending September 30, 2009. The ABAWD work requirement would be waived for all counties within California, unless a county declines to participate. Counties wanting to decline the waiver would need to get Board approval and send that to DSS before the end of November. [Download]
Summaries of select CalWORKs, CalFresh, Health and Housing Regulations
ACL 08-43: Release Of Information To Birth Relatives Of Previously Adopted Children (10/6/08)
Transmittal of information about a new law that allows for the release of information to birth relatives of previously adopted children whose adoption failed or was set aside, and the child returned to the foster care system. The provisions of this statute apply to a child who meets all of the following criteria: 1. Does not have an appropriate potential caretaker that exists from his/her adoptive family, including a non-relative extended family member (NREFM) of the adoptive family; 2. Was previously a dependent of the court; 3. Was previously adopted and the adoption has been disrupted, set aside or has been released into the custody of CDSS or a licensed adoption agency by the adoptive parent(s); and 4. Was not the subject of a voluntary relinquishment by the birth parent(s). Effective January 1, 2008, when a child who meets the above criteria is removed, the agency should use the same standards and procedures to identify a safe and permanent home as utilized when a child is removed from their birth parent(s). The same preferential consideration given to a birth relative who requests placement of the previously adopted child in their home should be used. Once the birth relative is found, and desires to provide a safe and permanent home, the agency may furnish identifying information relating to the child to that relative, if doing so promotes the welfare of the child. [Download]
ACIN I-68-08: Kinship/Foster Care Emergency Fund (10/3/08)
A listing of the Emergency Fund allocations. The purpose of the Fund is to enable successful emergency placement of a child with a relative, nonrelative extended family member or foster parent, by removing barriers to such a placement. The fund may also be used to retain a placement when extenuating circumstances may alter the stability of the placement. Additionally, funds may be used to assist a prospective foster parent/home in meeting the requirements to provide care to a child. All expenditures of this funding are to be for one-time needs and not to pay for recurring expenses. [Download]
ACIN I-73-08: Title IV-E Foster Care Eligibility Review (10/8/08)
Notice to the counties of the upcoming September 2009 Primary Title IV-E Foster Care Eligibility Review (FCER). Alameda and Los Angeles are exempted (they got reviewed recently through a waiver program). [Download]
ACWDL 08-45: County performance standards and minimum case sample sizes for self-certifications and independent evaluations (10/10/2008)
This ACWDL lays out some changes in self-certification and independent evaluation minimum sample requirements. Included are the mandatory performance levels that must be achieved including 90% of regular applications processed in 45 days and disability applications processed in 90 days. [Download]
ACWDL 08-44: Translated Medi-Cal notices of action for the citizenship/identity requirements of the Defecit Reduction Act of 2005 (10/9/2008)
The Defecit Reduction Act requires U.S. Citizens and Nationals to provide proof of citizenship/ national status and identity for Medi-Cal eligibility. The NOAs related to the DRA are now available in Vietnamese, Chinese, Korean, Russian, Armenian, Farsi, Khmer, Hmong, Arabic, Tagalog, Spanish, and English. [Download]