ACIN I-18-07 Food Stamp Q & As (4/10/07)

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Answers to questions such as whether you can budget the foster care income of a child on FS with the Foster Parent (as a boarder), to the parents if the child is returned home mid-quarter (no); eligibility for folks with temporary residency who have applied to adjust (no), Transitional Food Stamps when someone leaves to join another food stamp household (weirdly, you remove the person from the unit, but NOT their income — the TFS household must reapply to get the income of the absent person excluded), a reminder about separate household status for elderly/disabled recipients unable to purchase/prepare food; and various “how do you treat” sources of income questions (“Gate money” money given to someone leaving jail/prison, Tribal per capita payments, Veteran’s Aid and Assistance payments, etc.

A key answer: If a person gets CalWORKs Immediate Need, they are categorically eligible for Food Stamps, even if the CalWORKs application is later denied. [Download]

ACIN I-17-07: CalWORKs: Retroactive $50 Child Support Disregard (4/6/07)

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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)

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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)

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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]

ACIN I-10-07: Tracking CalWORKs And Tribal TANF Time On Aid (3/15/07)

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Just a friendly reminder to counties that they must keep track of “time on aid” for both CalWORKs and Tribal TANF. Although Native Americans can elect to be in either program, both programs are subject to the 60-months time on aid.  People can switch back and forth between the programs, but the County must obtain time on aid from the tribal TANF program, and send to the Tribal TANF program information about time on CalWORKs.  Counties must have MOU’s with the Tribal TANF programs, which include this procedure. [Download]