ACWDL 12-3: Six New Aid Codes To Identify Assembly Bill 12 Non-Minor Dependents in the Foster Care, Kinship Guardianship Assistance Payment Program, CalWORKs, and Adoption Assistance Program

More Medi-Cal aid codes! These new codes will identify dependents age 18 through 21, who qualify for the current Foster Care (FC), Kin-GAP, CalWORKs, and Adoptions Assistance Program (AAP), who meet certain criteria under AB 12 to continue to receive extended benefits starting January 1, 2012.

Effective April 1, 2012, counties must begin using  the new aid codes (43, 49, 07, 4N, 4S, and 4W). Until then, counties must perform a MEDS transaction maintain eligibility for these beneficiaries. Download

ACL 11-47: CalWORKs Treatment of Adoption Assistance Program Payments (7/21/11)

As a result of the Cadaret lawsuit, this ACL was issued to remind counties that Adoption Assistance Program (AAP) payments made to families applying for or receiving CalWORKs are to exempt as income.  Although “effectively immediately,” this instruction is based on a 1990 federal clarification that was implemented through ACL 90-101.  Additionally, if a CWD becomes aware of any cases in which AAP payments incorrectly included AAP as income when determining eligibility for an applicant or when calculating a cash grant for a recipient, the CWD must take corrective action to reevaluate the eligibility and recalculate prior cash grants excluding the AAP payment, and restore any lost benefits. [Download]

ACL 11-48: The Tax Relief, Unemployment Insurance Reauthorization, And Job Creation Act Of 2010 (P.L. 111-312) (6/28/11)

PL 111-312 includes a provision that disregards tax refunds received after December 31, 2009 as income and as resources (for a period of 12 months) in programs funded in whole or in part with federal funds.  This letter clarifies that it applies to programs such as Title IV-E Foster Care, the Title IV-E Adoption Assistance Program and the Title IV-E Guardianship Assistance Program.

Tax refunds must be excluded from consideration as income in the month received and must be excluded from consideration as an asset for 12 months following the month in which it was received. The letter states that workers must ensure that income information being sought and that individuals are providing, does not include a federal tax refund received after December 31, 2009.

This also applies to assets, which are excluded a tax refund for 12 months after the month the refund was received. [Download]