Good news/bad news. There are more FNS identified combat zones, but here is the list of them, so that the income of people posted to a zone is excluded for the Food Stamps program. [Download]
Summaries of select CalWORKs, CalFresh, Health and Housing Regulations
calfresh | food stamps
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-11-07: Supplemental Forms and Food Stamp/CalWORKs (3/27/07)
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]
ACL 07-12: Translation Of Food Stamp And CalWORKs Joint Forms Into Eight Additional Languages (3/2/07)
At long last! This ACL implements the settlement in Vu v. CDSS, to provide a total of 12 languages for translation of food stamp information and material. In addition to the 4 languages already translated by the state (Spanish, Russian, Vietnamese and Chinese), the state now will translate everything related to the food stamp program (and CalWORKs forms when they are combined-use forms with Food Stamps) into Arabic, Armenian, Cambodian, Farsi, Hmong, Korean, Lao, and Tagalog. A reminder that if the county’s automation can’t handle spitting out translated versions, to use a manual process to issue pre-printed paper ones. [Download]
ACIN I-99-06: State Minimum Wage Increase And Food Stamp Employment And Training (FSET) Participation Requirements (12/29/06)
A reminder to counties to adjust the required FSET participation in unpaid work activities to reflect the higher minimum wage, effective 1/1/07. (The grant divided by minimum wage results in the maximum assignable hours.) [Download]
ACIN I-96-06: Q & A on Food Stamp Simplification Options (12/26/06)
Find the answers to those pressing Food Stamp questions. Topics include changes to the Utility allowances, and obligated child support payments. Good things such as applying the child support deduction first to unearned income (vs. earned). The ACIN also includes revised budget worksheets to deal with the child support changes. [Download]