ParaRegs-CalWORKs-Time Limits
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Code |
Effective |
ParaReg Text |
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109-1A |
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"WtW Grant program" means
the Welfare-to-Work (WtW) Grant program described in 42 |
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109-6A |
REVISED 7/06 |
An adult recipient in a
one parent AU shall participate each month for 32 hours per week, on average,
in WTW activities, unless exempt from WTW. A minimum average of 20 hours per week of
participation must be in one or more core welfare-to-work activities. (§42-711.411) An adult recipient in a
two-parent AU, whose basis for aid is unemployment, shall participate each
month in welfare-to-work activities, for a minimum average per week of 35
hours. Both parents may contribute
toward the 35-hour requirement if one parent’s participation is a minimum
average of 20 hours per week. A
minimum average of 20 hours per week of participation must be in one or more
core welfare-to-work activities. (§42-711.421) |
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109-6D |
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To comply with State
statutes and regulations, a county's plan for its community service component
must not routinely require individuals to participate in welfare-to-work
activities, other than community service or unsubsidized employment, and/or
count the time spent in these other welfare-to-work activities toward an
individual's required hours of participation. For instance, a county
community service plan that requires all post time-limit recipients to participate
in 20 hours of community service, six hours of vocational training, and six
hours of job search per week, as part of their community service assignment,
would not be certifiable. (All-County Letter No. 99-111, December 27, 1999) |
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109-6E |
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Individuals may, but are
not required to, develop their own community service placements. Counties
"may deny a self-initiated community service placement if it is
inconsistent with the individual's welfare-to-work plan or does not conform
to State statute, regulations, or policies governing community service."
(All-County Letter No. 99-111, December 27, 1999) |
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109-6F |
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Child care assistance
must be provided to community service participants as specified in §42-750.
Other supportive services, such as assistance with transportation and
ancillary expenses, and personal counseling, may be provided at the county's
option as described in the county's plan. Counties are reminded that if they
do not provide the supportive services necessary for a recipient to participate
in his/her assigned activity or accept employment, a recipient will have good
cause for not participating. (All-County Letter No. 99-111, December 27,
1999) |
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109-9 |
ADDED 12/04 |
Senate Bill (SB) 1104 amended sections of the W&I Code
pertaining to the development the CalWORKs plan, WTW participation
requirements, and the 18- and 24- month WTW participation period. The bill also authorized CDSS to implement
new WTW provisions through All County Letter.
CDSS will adopt emergency regulations to implement program changes by |
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109-9A |
ADDED 12/04 |
The
CalWORKs 18- and 24-month time limit for WTW participation has been
eliminated. As a result, the post 18-
and 24-month time limit community service requirement has also been deleted,
along with other program requirements related to this time limit. Under SB
1104, participants may be allowed to participate in any allowable WTW
activity, including SIPs, during their 60-month time limit if they comply
with work participation requirements (ACL 04-41, |
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109-9B |
ADDED 12/04 |
CalWORKs
participants who have reached the 18- or 24-month time limit and been
assigned to community service prior to December 1, 2004, must continue to
meet the community service requirement and other provisions of their existing
WTW plan until an amended plan that meets SB 1104 participation requirements
is developed. (ACL
04-41, |
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109-17 |
ADDED 3/08 |
The CWD shall provide the individual, in writing and orally as
necessary, a description of the 60-month time limit requirements, including
the exemptions from the time limit, as provided in Sections 42-302.11 and
42-302.21 and the process by which recipients can claim the exemptions, as
provided in MPP Section 42-302.3. The description of the 60-month time limit
requirements shall be provided at the time an individual applies for aid, at
the time a recipient’s eligibility for aid is redetermined, and any other
time a notice of action establishing time on aid pursuant to this section is
provided. (§40-107(a)(4)) |
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109-17A |
REVISED 3/08 |
Upon
request for time limit information, a current or former CalWORKs recipient
shall be notified, in writing, of the following within 30 calendar days from
the date of receipt of the request: (a) The
cumulative number of countable months (per §42-302.2) that the recipient
received aid. (b) The
specific months that were exempt from the 60-month time limit since the most
recent notification (per §§40-107(a)(4)(A), 40-107(a)(4)(B), 40‑107(a)(4)(C)1,
or 40-107.(a)(4)(D). (c) The
remaining number of months that the recipient may be eligible to receive aid. (§40-107(a)(4)(F)) |
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109-18 |
REVISED 3/08 |
The applicant shall be
informed, by notice of action, at the time that eligibility for aid is
authorized and the recipient shall be informed at redetermination by notice
of action of: ·
the number of months the individual received aid as reported on
the most recent notice of action, ·
the cumulative number of countable months that the recipient has
received aid and the specific months that were exempt from the 60-month time
limit since the last notice of action, or the beginning of aid if there has
been no prior notice of action, the remaining number of
months that the recipient may be eligible to receive aid."
(40-107(a)(4)(A) and (B)) |
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109-19A |
REVISED 3/08 |
At the 54th countable month of aid, a
notice of action (NOA) must be sent which meets the requirements of §40-107(a)(4)(A),
or the notice must inform the recipient of the cumulative number of countable
months of aid, and the remaining months of eligibility. (§40-107(a)(4)(C)) |
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109-19B |
ADDED 3/08 |
Each recipient shall be
informed by notice of action provided in one month during the period of the
recipient’s 54th through 58th countable month on aid of
the time on aid. Once the notice of action is sent, no further notice of
action shall be required until six exempt months have passed.
(40-107(a)(4)(D)) |
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109-19C |
ADDED 3/08 |
No NOA is required if an adequate
60-month NOA was sent within the previous three calendar months, or if the
individual has established an exemption based on being 60 years of age or
older (§40-107(a)(4)(E)) |
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109-20 |
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A timed out adult is an
adult who has been removed from the AU because that adult has exceeded the
60-month CalWORKs time limit set forth in §42-301. (§82-833.1, effective |
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109-21 |
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In general, no individual
who has received TANF or Cal WORKs benefits as an adult for a total of 60
months from |
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109-21A |
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The
exceptions to this general rule (i.e., ineligibility for CalWORKs after 60
months of receipt of CalWORKs as an adult) exist when all parents, aided
stepparents, and/or caretaker relatives residing in the home of the aided
child(ren) meet any of the following conditions: .111 The
individual is 60 years of age or older. .112 The
individual is exempt from participation in WTW due to: (a) Caring
for an ill or incapacitated person residing in the home, and the care impairs
the individual's ability to be "regularly employed" or to
participate in WTW activities. (b) Being
a non parent caretaker of a dependent child of the court, a Kin-GAP child, or
a child who is at risk of foster care placement; and the caretaking
responsibilities exceed those considered normal parenting responsibilities so
that they impair the individual's ability to be regularly employed or to
participate in WTW activities. .113 The
individual receives State Disability Insurance (SDI), Worker's Compensation
Temporary Disability Insurance, IHSS, or SSI/SSP, and the disability
significantly impairs the ability to be employed on a regular basis or to
participate in WTW activities. .114 Upon
reaching the 60-month time limit, the county determines the individual is not
able to "maintain employment" or to participate in WTW activities,
based on a current assessment of the individual, as set forth in
§44-302.114(b), and a finding by the county that the individual has a history
of participation and full cooperation in WTW activities. (§42-302.11, effective |
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109-21B |
REVISED 7/06 |
When
the individual is being evaluated for an exception to the CalWORKs 60-month
limitation because of an alleged inability to maintain employment or
participate in WTW activities, to determine whether the individual has a
history of participation and full cooperation in WTW activities, the
following criteria shall be used: (a) The
county’s determination that the individual has a history of participation and
full cooperation in WTW activities shall be based on either of the following
criteria that may apply: (1) The
recipient has not failed to meet satisfactory participation, attendance, and
progress requirements, without good cause, as evidenced by the absence of an
instance(s) of noncompliance that resulted in a WTW financial sanction during
the time an individual was a mandatory WTW participant. (A) For
purposes of this section, a sanction received while the individual was a
volunteer in the CalWORKs WTW program pursuant to §§42-712.51, or an aid
recipient in another state, shall not be considered a WTW sanction. (2) The
recipient has an instance or instances of noncompliance that resulted in a
WTW sanction or sanctions; however, the individual has also maintained to the
best of his/her ability, a sustained period or periods of WTW participation
despite the presence of a significant impairment or combination of
impairments, as determined pursuant to §§42-711.56, 42-711.57, 42-711.58, or
42-712.442, including domestic abuse, as determined pursuant to §42-715. (A) For
purposes of this section, six months, or two or more periods of WTW
participation within a consecutive 24-month period, including participation
in orientation/appraisal, job search, assessment/evaluations, and
post-assessment activities, that equal six-months or more shall be considered
a sustained period. (B) For
purposes of this section, a significant impairment is one that does not meet
the welfare-to-work exemption or waiver requirements §§42-712 or 42-715,
respectively, but nevertheless limits an individual’s ability to perform the
physical and/or mental functions necessary to maintain employment or
participate in WTW activities. (§42-302.114(a)) If
the county determines that the individual has a history of participation and
full cooperation in WTW, the county shall assess the individual’s current
ability to maintain employment or participate in WTW activities, using the
criteria set forth in (b), below: (1) An
individual who is fully participating in her/his WTW assignment upon reaching
the 60-month time limit shall be considered capable of work unless the
individual’s required hours of participation or WTW activity have been
modified in accordance with §42-302.114(b)(2)(B). (2) The
county determines that an individual is incapable of maintaining employment
or participating in WTW activities, based upon, but not limited to, one of
the following criteria: (A) The
individual has a documented impairment or combination of impairments, as set
forth in §42-302.114(a)(2), that the county has determined severely limits
the individual’s ability to successfully maintain employment or participate
in WTW activities for 20 or more hours per week. (B) The
individual has a documented impairment or combination of impairments, as set
forth in §42-302.114(a)(2), and is maintaining participation in WTW
activities only through a significant modification in those activities. (C) The
individual has a documented impairment or combination of impairments, as set
forth in Subsection (a)(2) above, and local labor market conditions limit the
availability of employers that could reasonably accommodate the individual’s
physical and/or mental limitations. (§§42-302.114(b), effective |
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109-22 |
REVISED 8/04 |
Any month or partial
month in which an adult is included in an AU that receives a cash grant
(including a special need payment) shall count towards the 60-month time
limit, except if the month was an exempt month (§42-302.21) or part of a
diversion count (§42-302.22). (§42-302.2) |
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109-23 |
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Any
month in which any of the following conditions exists for any period during
the month shall not count toward the 60-month time limit: (a) The
individual is exempt from WTW participation requirements due to a verified
disability that is expected to last at least 30 days. (b) The
individual is exempt from WTW due to: (1) The
need to care for an ill or incapacitated person residing in the home. (2) Being
the nonparent caretaker of a dependent child of the court, a kin-GAP child,
or a child who is at risk of placement in Foster Care. The caretaking responsibilities must be
beyond normal day-to-day parenting responsibilities. (In both (1) and (2), the individual's ability to be
"regularly employed", or to participate in WTW activities, must be
impaired.) (c) The
individual is a victim of domestic abuse, and good cause (per §42-713.22)
exists for waiving the 60-month limit. (d) The
individual is eligible for, participating in, or exempt from Cal-Learn or
another teen parent program approved by the CDSS. (e) The
individual is at least 60 years old. (f) The
individual is excluded from the AU for reasons other than exceeding the time
limit. (g) The
cash aid received in (h) The
individual lived in Indian country, or in certain Alaskan native villages. (i) The
individual is a former cash aid recipient and is only receiving child care,
case management or supportive services. (j) The
recipient does not receive a cash aid payment because the eligible grant
amount is less than $10. (§42-302.21, as revised effective |
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109-23A |
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State
law (W&IC §11454.5(b)(3) and regulations 42-302.21(g)) require that any
month in which cash aid is fully reimbursed as a result of child support
collection, whether collected in that month or any subsequent month, shall be
exempt from the CalWORKs 60-month time limit. In
order to comply with the requirement that both current and subsequent child
support collections are applied to reimburse and exempt monthly aid, counties
are required to track the recoupment of aid through child support
collections. All child support recoupment, including collections for a
current month, arrearages, and lump sum payments, collected from January 1998
forward, shall be cumulatively applied to repay aid payments in the following
manner: 1. The
cumulative child support recoupment (i.e., child support that has been
assigned and collected to repay aid) will be applied to each month of aid,
starting with the earliest unreimbursed month(s) of aid, on or after January
1998. The county shall move forward
chronologically as each month’s grant is fully reimbursed as set forth below. 2. Each
month of aid that is fully reimbursed by child support shall be exempt and
therefore not counted toward the CalWORKs 60-month time limits of the
mandatory aided adults in the AU.
Beginning October 1998, this includes disregard payments. 3. The
child support recoupment amount will be applied to all month(s) of aid
whether or not the month had been previously exempted for any other reason,
including any month(s) exempt because the individual was unaided due to a
sanction or other reasons. 4. The
child support recoupment amount must be reviewed to determine if the
cumulative amount is sufficient to reimburse and exempt a monthly grant
amount. Any child support amount that remains but is insufficient to fully
reimburse a monthly grant, whether collected in the current month or for a
previous period of time, shall be carried forward and used for any subsequent
unreimbursed month(s) of aid. 5. Records
of the aid payments and the cumulative child support recoupment amounts will
be retained until the months of aid have been fully reimbursed and the exempt
months are recorded and validated. 6. As
recipients transfer to other counties, information regarding the balance of
the child support recoupment and number of months exempt due to child support
recoupment must be reported to any subsequent county(ies) to continue
reimbursement of the subsequent months of aid. 7. For
purposes of tracking this exemption, counties will use the Welfare Data
Tracking Implementation Project (WDTIP) system to “untick” the months of aid
for the exemption. (All-County Letter No. 02-74, |
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109-23B |
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For purposes of the
60-month time limit for adult CalWORKs recipients, an overpayment month (i.e.
an entire month of aid in which the recipient was not entitled to the cash
aid) that is fully repaid by grant reduction or any other means, does not
count toward the CalWORKs/TANF 60-month time limit. When it is determined
that an overpayment occurred, the county must calculate the amount of the
overpayment and determine the period of time for which the recipient was not
entitled to the cash aid. Counties shall follow overpayment recovery
procedures as provided in state regulations (contained in §44-352). Counties are required to
"untick" only the repaid overpayment months, in which the family
was entirely ineligible for aid. For all other overpayments that occur in
partially eligible months, those months will continue to count toward the
60-month time clock. (All-County Letter No.
02-74, |
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109-24 |
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Diversion payments as set
forth in §81-215 count toward the 60-month time limit unless they are
recovered (see §42-302.223(a)) or exempt "as provided in §42-302.21 et
seq." (§42-302.22, as revised effective |
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109-26 |
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A CalWORKs recipient can request an
exemption/exception to the 60-month time limit verbally or in writing. When a
recipient states that s/he meets a condition that qualifies as an exemption
or exception to the limit, the county shall document the request and provide
the recipient with an exemption/exception request form if necessary to
complete the request. (§42-302.3) |
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109-27 |
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The
form to request an exemption or exception to the 60-month time limit shall
include, but is not limited to, the following: (a) A
description of the exemptions to the 60-month time limit, provided in
§42-302.21, and a description of the 60-month time limit exceptions, provided
in §42-302.11. | |