The Deficit Reduction Act (DRA) changed some administrative billing abilities for Foster Care and Adoption Assistance, and confirms that the Administration for Children and Families (ACF) has issued program instructions to carry out the DRA/court reversal of the Rosales case. (The new law disallows federal foster care eligibility based on the home of the relative with whom the foster child is placed, when no eligibility existed in the home of removal.) More notably for advocates, the ACL has provided instructions on the Adoption Assistance Program (AAP) eligibility. To be eligible, the foster child must have meet AFDC eligibility criteria (as existed 6/16/96) at the time of the removal from the home. The child must have special needs, was removed from the home pursuant to a judicial determination or got foster care under a Title IV-E voluntary placement, meet the SSI standards prior to adoption OR was in foster care in which the child’s minor parent received IV-E. The letter reminds counties that if the adoption dissolves or the adoptive parents die, the APP can continue in a subsequent adoption. At that point, the county need only confirm that the child still has special needs. [Download]
Summaries of select CalWORKs, CalFresh, Health and Housing Regulations
ACIN I-21-07: CalWORKs: Forms Changes Due To Changes In Homeless Assistance, Food Stamp Utility Allowance Deductions, Racial And Ethnic Data Collection, And Welfare To Work Sanctions (April 26, 2007)
Pretty self-explanatory title. Mostly notable because it impacts the FS calculation, and people should be getting the correct forms. [Download]
ACIN I-18-07 Food Stamp Q & As (4/10/07)
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-19-07: Online Data Publication (4/12/07)
For those of you who have not poked around in CDSS data, here’s a good introduction! The CDSS Research and Development website now has postings required by AB 1808. Read all about how counties are doing on Pay for Performance measures (employment rates and cases with earned income) and various Work Participation measures. [Download]
ACIN I-17-07: CalWORKs: Retroactive $50 Child Support Disregard (4/6/07)
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)
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]