CALFRESH

63-402.22 Fleeing Felons and Probation or Parole Violators

Purpose

(    ) To release a new policy

(    ) To release a new form

( X ) To convert existing policy to new writing style only – No concept changes

(    ) Revision of existing policy and/or form(s).

Policy

Effective December 1, 2015, the definitions for both populations, Fleeing Felons and Probation/Parole Violators changed.  For purposes of CalFresh eligibility, an individual is now defined to be a fleeing felon when all of the following applies:

Ø  A warrant is presented to the counties by a law enforcement agency in an effort to obtain information about this individual for their arrest or when the information is discovered in the Fleeing Felon Match (FFM) report;

Ø  The warrant falls under one of the specific National Crime Information Center (NCIC) codes below:

o   Escape-Code 4901;

o   Flight to Avoid (prosecution, confinement, etc.) Code 4902; or

o   Flight-Escape-Code 4999

An individual is defined to be a probation or parole violator when both of the following applies:

Ø  It is determined by a neutral party such as a judge or officially sanctioned tribunal that the individual is in violation of a condition of his or her probation or parole imposed under federal or State law; and

Ø  A law enforcement agency (federal, State or local) is actively seeking the individual to enforce the conditions of the probation or parole.

These definitions allow for certain individuals, under those populations, to be eligible for CalFresh benefits. The Fleeing Felons and Probation or Parole Violators that do not fall under the new definitions will continue to be ineligible to CalFresh benefits and are to be treated as Excluded Household (HH) Members.  The following section will explain the new definitions for both Fleeing Felons and Probation or Parole Violators.

Background

Prior regulations set forth on the 1996 Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996, Public Law 104-193 (PWRORA) disqualified all Fleeing Felons and Probation or Parole Violators from participation in the CalFresh Program.  The intent of this law was to prohibit individuals who were intentionally fleeing to avoid prosecution or imprisonment from receiving CalFresh (and cash) benefits, and to aid law enforcement officials actively seeking to apprehend those fleeing to avoid persecution or custody by providing them with needed information as allowable under federal law. 

This law was amended to provide a specific and uniform definition for Fleeing Felons and for Probation or Parole Violators.  This was done to ensure agencies are using a consistent use of procedures to disqualify individuals as Fleeing Felons Or Probation Or Parole Violators.

Definitions

N/A

Requirements

Fleeing Felons

The basic guidelines for determining if an individual is a fleeing felon are as follows:

Ø  The individual has an active warrant for arrest;

Ø  The individual must be fleeing to avoid prosecution, custody or confinement after being convicted of committing a crime, or attempting to commit a crime that is a felony under the law; and

Ø  It is not required that the individual have knowledge of such warrant.

Furthermore, an individual is considered a fleeing felon when a federal, State or local law enforcement agency presents an outstanding felony arrest warrant, or when the warrant information is discovered from the FFM Report.  The warrant information must conform to the following specific National Crime Information Center (NCIC) Uniform Offense Classification Codes:

Ø  4901 – Escape;

Ø  4902 – Flight to Avoid (prosecution, confinement, etc.); or

Ø  4999 – Flight/Escape.

The above codes make an individual ineligible for CalFresh benefits.  On the other hand, if a warrant arrest conforms to all other NCIC offense codes, then that individual would be eligible for CalFresh benefits, if otherwise eligible.  To better illustrate this concept please refer to the following chart and table:

                                          Fleeing Felon Policy Table

Note:  The table above assumes that the warrant for arrest is active. 

Welfare Fraud Prevention & Investigation (WFP&I) Section is responsible for identifying the different offense codes that an individual falls under and will share this information with district office staff via existing procedures.

Fleeing Felon Policy Chart

Probation or Parole Violators

A probation or parole violator is someone who violates the conditions of his/her probation or parole imposed under federal or State law.  The decision for this violation must be made by an impartial party, such as a judge or an officially sanctioned tribunal.  Welfare Fraud Prevention & Investigation (WFP&I) Section gets informed of this decision from a law enforcement agency.  The new definition for Probation or Parole Violators sets the following specification:

Ø   The law enforcement authorities must be actively seeking the Probation or Parole Violator to enforce the conditions of the individual’s probation or parole violation.

If the above conditions are met, this individual will be ineligible to CalFresh benefits.  However, the State extends a specific process to be followed to verify if the law enforcement agency is actively seeking the violator.  If it is found that the individual is not being actively sought, then this individual will be eligible for CalFresh benefits, if otherwise eligible.

Note: The actual assessment of individuals meeting the required criteria will continue to be the responsibility of WFP&I Section.  WFP&I will then notify the district office via the WFP&I, 369 FLEEING FELON CASE IDENTIFICATION INFORMATION form to make the final eligibility determination and to update LRS accordingly.

To better illustrate the policy changes, the tables and chart on the following pages are provided to show the process of how the assessment is made.

Probation or Parole Violator Policy Tables:

The action to take next will be based on the information gathered from the law enforcement agency by following the next set of guidelines:

Once the 30-day period has expired, WFP&I Section will need to contact the law enforcement agency once more to confirm if it acted towards seeking the individual.  Action to take next will be based on the response received and by following the next guidelines:

                                    Probation or Parole Violator Policy Chart

Verification Documents

N/A