.Purpose

Policy

Background

Release Date:

August 10, 2021

Definitions

Requirements

Verification Docs

Term

Description

Semi-Annual Reporting Cycle

A cycle comprised of six consecutive months that constitute a SAR Payment Period.  The length of the SAR Payment Period remains the same, regardless if the SAR cycle follows the submission of an initial application, a
SAR 7, or an RC form.

1.    SAR Data Month – The month for which the HH reports all information necessary, including the income, expenses, and any other change that happened after the initial certification or RC.  The SAR Data Month is the fifth month in a SAR cycle or the month before the SAR Submit Month.

2.    SAR Submit Month – The month in which the
SAR 7 form is due.  SAR Submit Month is the sixth month in a SAR cycle or the month after the SAR Data Month.

3.    SAR Payment Period – The six months immediately following the SAR Submit Month.  This is the 
six-month period after the BDA.

IRT

The level of income that triggers the need for a HH to make a mandatory mid-period report of a change in income. 

Confer

Grant or bestow.

Mandatory Mid-Period Report

A mandated report that a HH must make mid-period when a HH’s gross income reaches a certain threshold limit for its HH size.

Three mandatory mid-period reports must be made by the HH within 10 calendar days of the date the change becomes known to the HH.  These three changes are as follows:

1.    HH’s income exceeds the IRT for its HH size;

2.    When work hours are reduced below 20 hours per week or 80 hours per month for the Able-Bodied Adults Without Dependents (ABAWD); and

3.    Substantial lottery and gambling winnings which is over the resource limit of $3,500.

Note: CalFresh HHs certified with gross income above 130% of the Federal Poverty Level (FPL) do not have an IRT.

PB

Budgeting methodology that uses RAI for the upcoming payment period to determine current and future benefits for the HH.

RAI

Income that the HH is reasonably certain will be received within the upcoming payment period in which both the amount of gross income and the exact date of receipt are known. 

VUR

The information provided is not questionable, the provider is the primary source of the information, and no further information is needed to take action. 

Voluntary
Mid-Period Report

A voluntary report that a HH makes mid-period when a change occurs in the HH’s circumstance.

SARA

HHs in which:

1.    All adults are elderly and/or disabled with or without earned income; or

2.    Reside on Indian Reservations with or without children under the age of 18 who do or do not have income.

ESAP

HHs in which all members are elderly and/or permanently disabled with no earned income.

NACF HH

A HH that receives CalFresh benefits only or receives CalFresh and either Medi-Cal, CAPI, or is a mixed HH.

Public Assisted CalFresh (PACF) HH

A program funded under Title IV-A of the Social Security Act of 1935 as amended or matching State funds for public assistance programs. The programs must be means-tested. A CalFresh HH in which all members receive or are authorized to receive some type of public assistance in addition to CalFresh, including CalWORKs, Tribal Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), Supplemental Security Income (SSI)/State Supplementary Payment (SSP), and General Relief (GR).

Mixed HH

A CalFresh HH in which less than all members receive CalWORKs benefits. For purposes of these regulations, mixed HH’s must be considered non-assistance HH's and must be subject to the same procedures as non-assistance HH’s, unless otherwise specified.

Questionable

Inconsistency of information provided by the applicant/participant, current or previous application, or another source. 

Good Cause

Good Cause exists in the following situations:

1.    The HH has a mental or physical condition that prevents it from submitting a timely report.

2.    The late report is directly attributable to county error.

3.    The district office finds that other extenuating circumstances might have contributed to the HH’s inability to submit a timely report.

CalFresh HHs are assigned a SAR cycle number upon the approval of their initial CalFresh benefits (SAR Cycle Numbers #1 thru #6) and have two consecutive SAR cycles in a twelve-month certification period.  The chart below displays SAR cycles (two consecutive six-month periods) for each SAR cycle number in a CalFresh certification period:

Elimination of Change Reporting HHs

Prospective Budgeting

Under SAR, HH’s circumstances including HH composition, income, and expenses are determined at Intake and RC.  During the initial application and RC, income and expenses are anticipated over the length of the certification period.

Income and Expenses

Income and expenses must be updated when:

1.    The HH submits a change on a SAR 7.

2.    The HH makes a voluntary mid-period report.

3.    There is a county-initiated action.

4.    The HH makes a mandatory report.

5.    The HH submits a change on the RC application.

Income Starting or Ending Mid-Period

Under SAR, income that is starting or ending mid-period will not be averaged over every month of the payment period.  The income will only be counted in the months the income is reasonably anticipated to be received.

Determining Eligibility at Intake

A HH’s eligibility must be determined for the month of application as of the date of the interview:

1.    Information reported after eligibility has been determined, but before the benefits have been authorized, will be treated as a mid-period report.

2.    A new HH member is reported before the benefits have been authorized, the new HH member is included in the HH effective the date the HH’s application was received.

3.    If the report of the new HH member occurs after the application has been approved/authorized, it will be treated as a voluntary mid-period report.

SAR 7 Outreach

Effective November 2019, CalFresh HHs receive outbound calls, emails, and text messages notifying them of their SAR 7 status, excluding those cases marked as Domestic Violence.  The following chart displays the outreach efforts being made:

SAR 7 Submission Method

HHs may submit their SAR 7 report:

1.    In-person at a district office or drop-box;

2.    By mail;

3.    By phone by calling Customer Service Center (CSC);

4.    By fax; or

5.    Online via Your Benefits Now (YBN) at:

yourbenefits.laclrs.org.

Eligibility Status Report,
SAR 7

Information Required on SAR 7

The SAR 7 form captures Data Month information required for continued eligibility. It also captures any RAI and expense changes for the upcoming SAR Payment Period that are known to the HH during the SAR Data Month.

Timely and Late SAR 7

The SAR 7 is due by the fifth calendar day of the SAR Submit Month; however, the SAR 7 is still considered timely if it is received by the 11^TH calendar day of the SAR Submit Month.

The SAR 7 is considered late if it is received after the 11^th calendar day of the submit month.

Completion Criteria

For CalFresh, the SAR 7 is considered complete if all the criteria below are met:

1.    The form is signed and dated by the person(s) specified as the Head of HH, Authorized Representative (AR), or any responsible HH member.

2.    All CalFresh questions are fully answered and information on the SAR 7, together with the attached documentation, provides sufficient information to determine eligibility and benefit level.

Note: Questions 5 and 7 on the SAR 7 only require an answer if a change occurred.  Questions 4 and 13 are only required for CalWORKs.  If questions 4 and 13 are left blank on an NACF SAR 7, the SAR 7 must not be returned as incomplete.

3.    Required verification/documentation must be attached for answers marked “Yes,” if applicable per policy.

4.    HHs are required to report any unverified changes that were reported voluntarily mid-period (occurring before the Data Month but after the submission of the last SAR 7 report or RC).

5.    If a prior mid-period report was verified, the SAR 7 should not be considered incomplete if the same information is not re-reported on the SAR 7.

Note: The requirement for the SAR 7 to be signed no earlier than the first day of the submit month of the SAR period for the SAR 7 to be considered complete has been eliminated.

Verification

Verification is only required if the HH reports new or changed income or expenses.

Under SAR, during the initial application and RC, income and expenses will be anticipated throughout the length of the certification period.

Income and expenses may be updated mid-period when the HH submits a change on a SAR 7, makes a voluntary mid-period report, at RC, or there is a county-initiated action.  The following verification requirements will also apply under SAR:

1.    When the SAR 7 is submitted and the HH reports no changes to the income and/or expenses, the income and/or expenses will remain unchanged.

2.    Verification is not required for information that is consistent with what was previously reported mid-period and was previously verified.

3.    For unearned income change of $100 or less from the same source, no new verification is needed.

4.    For earned income decrease of $50 or less from the same source, no new verification is needed.

Restoration

When a HH re-applies or requests restoration of benefits during the calendar month following discontinuance for failure to submit a complete SAR 7, the district office is required to determine if the HH has Good Cause first.  If the district office determines that the HH has a Good Cause for failure to submit a SAR 7, eligibility will be determined based on the information on the SAR 7, the case is rescinded, and benefits will be issued for the entire month if the HH is found otherwise eligible.  The HH’s SAR cycle and RC will remain unchanged. 

If the eligibility staff determines that there is no Good Cause, the case should be processed under the restoration of benefits policy.  Please refer to
Administrative Release 5492, CalFresh Restoration of Eligibility and Benefits, for complete instructions.

HHs are mandated to report the following changes within 10 calendar days of the date the change becomes known to the HH:

1.    If income is over CalFresh IRT for the HH size, the following rules apply:

a.    Some HHs are subject to report mid-period when their income exceeds their IRT:

                        i.        HHs that are certified with income 130% FPL and under will have an IRT and must report when their HH’s gross income exceeds their IRT level. 

                       ii.        HHs that are certified with income between 131% FPL and 200% FPL do not have an IRT, and no mandatory mid-period report is required. 

The following table displays the different IRTs for the various HH types:

To determine the CalFresh IRT, the HH size must not include the following:

a.    Roomers;

b.    Live-in Attendants;

c.    Individuals who share living quarters with the HH, but are not CalFresh HH members;

d.    Undocumented members; or

e.    Ineligible Students (income excluded).

Also, although all of the following excluded HH members’ incomes are counted, the excluded members listed below are not to be included in the HH’s size for the IRT:

a.        IPV;

b.        Fleeing Felon, Parole or Probation Violators; or

c.        Workfare or Work Requirement Sanctions.

Note:  The IRT for HH containing ineligible noncitizens is based on the gross income of the eligible members and the prorated earnings of the ineligible noncitizen.

2.    ABAWDs who are meeting the work requirement through employment will be required to report within 10 days when hours of work are reduced below 20 hours per week or an average of 80 hours monthly.

Note: ABAWD requirement is currently under a waiver until June 30, 2022.

Voluntary Mid-Period Reports

The HHs may choose to voluntarily report income, expenses, HH composition, or other HH circumstance changes at any time during their certification period.  If the voluntary mid-period report change is verified, the HH’s benefits may increase, decrease, discontinue, or remain unchanged.

Unchanged Benefits

The HH will be informed via a CW 2200, Request for Verification, in the participant’s threshold language, that they have 10 calendar days to provide verification.  The HH will receive a “No Change” NOA when:

·         The voluntary mid-period report is not verified; or

·         The voluntary mid-period report is verified but does not cause any change in the benefit amount.

An exception applies when:

·         A HH composition change is reported and the mandatory verification, such as income, is not provided.  The case will be discontinued.

Address Change

Address changes are voluntary mid-period reports.  When a HH makes a mid-period report of an address change, timely action must be taken.

Note:  Changes in the address are mandatory reports on

            the SAR 7 and RC.

VUR

VUR means reported changes or information that is complete and received from a primary source, is not questionable, and does not require further information/ verification to take action. Eligibility staff is responsible for acting on reports of VUR to reduce, increase, or discontinue benefits at any point during the certification period.

A. The following information from the primary source is  

    considered VUR:

1.    Beneficiary Earnings and Data Exchange (BENDX) and State Data Exchange(SDX) from Social Security Administration (SSA);

2.    Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlement (SAVE) from the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS);

3.    Unemployment compensation for the Employment Development Department (EDD); or

4.    Workers’ compensation from the State agency.

B.     The following internal agency information is also        

        considered VUR:

1.    State agency determination of an IPV.

2.    Information gathered and used by other programs to make eligibility determination that affects CalFresh (e.g., CalWORKs, GR, Medi-Cal (MC), etc.).

3.    Information from a State, county, or local work agency that a participant failed to comply with work requirements.

C.     Household Composition

Reports of HH composition changes by the
Head-of-HH or a responsible adult HH member is

 considered VUR and must be acted on.

D.     Mandatory reports for other public assistance   

         programs:

When a HH is required to report a change on another public assistance program (e.g., mandatory mid-period report for CalWORKs/GR/MC) and the other program takes action, CalFresh must act on the reported information.

Exception:  When a HH is required to report a change to another public assistance program, and that program does not act and the report is mandatory for the public assistance program, no action is taken on the PACF case.  If the case is NACF, the information is considered VUR and must be acted upon.

Note: When the information received from a primary source or a third party is found questionable, then it must be clarified with the HH.