.Purpose

Policy

Background

Release Date:

6/17/2025

Definitions

Requirements

Verification Docs

CalWORKs

44-315.8 Zero Basic Grant

Purpose

(  ) To release a new policy

(  ) To release a new form

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

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

 

What Changed?

 

Effective July 1, 2022, a CalWORKs case is discontinued when the CalWORKs family’s Net Nonexempt Income (NNI) exceeds the Tier 2 Income Reporting Threshold (IRT). Previously, a CalWORKs case was discontinued when the CalWORKs family’s gross income exceeded the Tier 2 IRT.

 

Aside from the above change, the following changes were made because of policy changes implemented the last several years that were updated in other Administrative Releases (ARs) and Call-Outs: 

 

·     

Effective May 1, 2022, the existing CalWORKs 48-Month Time Limit increased to a 60-Month Time Limit.

·     

Effective June 1, 2022, the $550 Recipient Earned Income Disregard (EID) for CalWORKs participants increased to $600.

·     

Expanded on Homeless Assistance available with a Zero Basic Grant (ZBG) eligibility.

·     

Effective May 19, 2024, CalSAWS was updated to include Temporary Assistance for Needy Family (TANF) Time Limit exemption code 378, used when a participant receives ZBG and the family is employed, and exemption code 379, used when the participant receives ZBG and the family is unemployed.

·     

CalWORKs families where all children are removed by the Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS) may be eligible to receive Family Reunification (FR) services as long as the CalWORKs case is active with ZBG, and the aided parents or aided needy caretaker relatives at the time of the children’s removal are in the Assistance Unit (AU), and the DCFS FR plan stipulates that the family would benefit from these provisions.

·     

All references to the Welfare Data Tracking Implementation Project Tracking Recipients Across California were replaced with the Statewide Cash Aid Time Limit (SCATL).

 

Note:  Changes are shown highlighted in grey throughout the document.

Policy

A month in which a case is active, but the family does not receive a CalWORKs payment, is considered a “ZBG” month. ZBG months include the following:

 

·          

Grant Under Ten Dollars: the grant amount is less than ten dollars, and there is no grant issued;

·          

Overpayment: the grant for the AU is reduced to zero to adjust for a recoupment made towards a prior overpayment;

·          

Penalty: a payment not issued due to a penalty which reduced the payment to zero;

·            Family Reunification: families whose children are removed by DCFS are eligible to continue receiving a cash grant as long as DCFS initiates an FR plan that includes the provision of a cash grant. Families who have an FR plan that includes FR services only (not the cash grant) are considered a ZBG family; and 

·            Net Income exceeds the Maximum Aid Payment, but does not exceed the Tier 2 IRT: 

 

o   Effective June 1, 2020, the grant amount is reduced to zero because the family’s net countable income exceeds the Maximum Aid Payment (MAP), but the gross income does not exceed the Tier 2 IRT (130 percent of the Federal Poverty Level [FPL]). From June 1, 2020 – June 30, 2022, the gross income was used to determine CalWORKs ineligibility, if the income exceeds the IRT (not used to determine the CalWORKs grant).

 

o   Effective July 1, 2022, the grant amount is reduced to zero because the family’s NNI exceeds the MAP, but the NNI (not the gross income) does not exceed the Tier 2 IRT. 

 

Cases with a ZBG month may be entitled to special needs and services, such as homeless and recurring special need payments, provided they meet the specific need/service criteria. The criteria are that the cases:

 

·          

Are not discontinued; and

·          

Remain active cases at the ZBG level.

Background

As a result of Senate Bill (SB) 80 (Chapter 27, Statutes of 2019), effective June 1, 2020, families whose countable income exceeds the MAP, but whose income remains below the Tier 2 IRT, will be considered a ZBG case. Once the family exceeds the Tier 2 IRT, the family is ineligible to CalWORKs, and the case must be discontinued. The gross income was used to determine eligibility from June 1, 2020 – June 30, 2022. 

 

As a result of Assembly Bill (AB) 172 (Chapter 696, Statutes of 2021), effective July 1, 2022, a CalWORKs case is discontinued when the CalWORKs family’s NNI exceeds the Tier 2 IRT. Previously, a CalWORKs case was discontinued when the CalWORKs family’s gross income exceeded the Tier 2 IRT.

 

Additional CalWORKs Policies

 

As a result of SB 80 (Chapter 27, Statutes of 2019) effective:

 

1.    June 1, 2020, the EID increased from $225 to $500;

2.    June 1, 2021, the EID increased from $500 to $550; and

3.    June 1, 2022, the EID increased from $550 to $600.

 

As a result of AB 79 (Chapter 11, Statutes of 2020), effective May 1, 2022, the CalWORKs Time Limit increased from a 48-Month Time Limit to a 60-Month cumulative lifetime limit for adults receiving CalWORKs benefits.

Definitions

Term

Definition

ZBG Population

SB 80 ZBG Criteria

 

Effective June 1, 2020, an additional ZBG case type was created which included cases with net countable income that exceeded the MAP, but the gross income was below the Tier 2 IRT. 

 

·          

These cases will remain active until their gross income exceeds the new CalWORKs Tier 2 IRT, even though they are not eligible to a CalWORKs grant.

·          

The intent of this rule was to maintain the case in an approved status with ZBG, so that the family remains eligible to CalWORKs Benefits and Services.

·          

This change only applies to approved cases. If the family does not pass the Recipient financial test at Intake, the case is not approved.

·          

A ZBG family can request to close their CalWORKs case at any time.

 

AB 172 ZBG Criteria

 

Effective July 1, 2022, the policy in relation to the ZBG case type established as a result of SB 80 was slightly modified. The cases are established when the net countable income exceeds the MAP, but the NNI is below the Tier 2 IRT. 

 

The difference in ZBG criteria for SB 80 and AB 172 are:

 

·          

SB 80: The AU’s gross income was used to determine if the income exceeded the Tier 2 IRT, from June 1, 2020 – June 30, 2022.

·          

AB 172: The AU’s NNI, not the gross income, is used to determine if the income exceeds the Tier 2 IRT, effective July 1, 2022.

 

The cases will remain active until their NNI exceeds the Tier 2 IRT even though they are not eligible to a CalWORKs grant. The other policies noted above under SB 80 remain applicable under AB 172.

NNI

NNI is the total gross earned and unearned income for the family, less all applicable income exemptions and income disregards.

 

Income exemptions  include:

 

·          

College work-study monies;

·          

Income tax refund;

·          

Loans;

·          

Grants;

·          

Any award and/or scholarship provided by a private or public entity to, or on behalf of, a dependent child; and

·          

Income earned from temporary census employment; etc.

 

Income disregards include:

 

·          

Self-employment standard or actual deduction;

·          

Child support disregard payments; and

·          

The $600 Recipient EID, which is effective June 1, 2022;

 

o    

After applying the EID, 50 percent of the remaining earned income is disregarded.

 

See AR 44-111 Payments Excluded/Exempt from Income, and AR 44-111.23 Earned Income Disregards.

IRT

Under the Semi-Annual Reporting (SAR) and Annual Reporting/Child-Only (AR/CO) reporting systems, CalWORKs participants are required to report certain changes in their income or family circumstances mid-period. One mandatory report is when the AU’s total gross income exceeds the IRT. There are two tiers of the IRT under SAR and AR/CO reporting, the lowest of which will be the AU’s current IRT amount:

 

·    

The Tier 1 is 55 percent of the FPL for a family of three, plus the amount of income last used to calculate the AU’s monthly grant amount; and

·    

The Tier 2 IRT renders a CalWORKs family ineligible.

 

o    

Prior to June 1, 2020, a family was ineligible to CalWORKs when the countable income exceeded the MAP for the AU size.

 

o    

Effective June 1, 2020, a family was ineligible to CalWORKs when the gross income exceeded 130 percent of the FPL.

 

o    

Effective July 1, 2022, a family is ineligible to CalWORKs when the AU’s NNI exceeds 130 percent of the FPL.

 

See AR 44-316.324 CalWORKs Income Reporting Thresholds for additional information.

Requirements

Requirement

Limit/Condition

ZBG Month

Instances when a month is considered a ZBG month and the impact to the CalWORKs and TANF 60-Month Time Clock are listed below.

 

If…

Will the CalWORKs 60-Month Time Clock Tick?

Will the TANF

60-Month

Time Clock Tick?

·         The family’s NNI results in a grant under ten dollars and the family is receiving supportive services and employed

·         The family’s NNI results in a grant under ten dollars and the family does not receive supportive services and is employed

·         The family’s NNI results in a grant under ten dollars and the family does not receive supportive services and is unemployed

·         The family’s NNI results in a grant under ten dollars and as a result the family is eligible for clock stopper exemption

 

Note:

Eligibility staff will need to manually add subsequent TANF exemptions.

No

No

·         The family’s NNI results in a grant under ten dollars supportive services and unemployed

No

Yes

·         The County begins to recoup an overpayment or impose a penalty and the family is receiving supportive services and employed

·         The family’s NNI results in a grant under ten dollars, and the family receives Homeless Assistance

·         The family is eligible to ZBG as a result of an overpayment recoupment or imposed penalty, such as a child support non-cooperation penalty and employed

 

Note:

The CalWORKs Time Clock would not tick if the participant is eligible for another exemption that stops the CalWORKs Time Clock.

Yes

No

·         The County begins to recoup an overpayment or impose a penalty and the family is receiving supportive services and unemployed

·         The family is eligible to ZBG as a result of an overpayment recoupment or imposed penalty, such as a child support non-cooperation penalty and unemployed

 

Note:

The CalWORKs Time Clock would not tick if the participant is eligible for another exemption that stops the CalWORKs Time Clock.

Yes

Yes

 

Note:

Under CalWORKs, only “grant under ten dollars” ZBGs are exempt from the CalWORKs Time Limit. A grant is considered a “grant under ten dollars” only when the actual grant amount is under ten dollars and does not include any adjustments due to child support non-cooperation penalties or prior overpayment recoupments.

 

Additionally, if the beginning date of aid is after the first of the month, and the grant amount is prorated, which results in a grant under ten dollars, the application meets the ZBG criteria.

 

Federal TANF 60-Month Time Clock

 

The federal TANF 60-Month Time Clock will not tick if the AU is considered ZBG unless the AU is unemployed and receiving supportive services. 

 

TANF Time Limit Exemption Codes

 

There are scenarios where the CalWORKs Time Clock ticks, and the TANF Time Clock should not tick as there is a TANF exemption code. The TANF Time Limit exemption codes must be manually updated when the participant is receiving ZBG benefits and meets the following exemption codes until CalSAWS is programmed to not tick the TANF Time Clock for these scenarios:

 

Code

Scenario

378

The participant receives ZBG and the family is employed. No countable assistance is considered received.

379

The participant receives ZBG and the family is unemployed.

 

Note:

For exemption code 379, no countable assistance is considered received when there are no supportive services issued for the same month.

 

Instructions to add exemption months/codes may be found in CalSAWS Job Aid, Cash Aid Time Limits, Adding Exemptions.

 

CalWORKs 60-Month Time Clock

 

The system:

 

1.    Recognizes when the CalWORKs 60-Month Time Clock should not be ticked.

 

ZBG cases where the 60-Month Time Clock does not tick are identified with the following reason:  “377 – Grant Amount $10 or Less.”

 

 

2.    Sends the exemption records via the nightly batch to SCATL which is available through CalSAWS.

 

SCATL reflects the reason “377 – Grant Amount $10 or Less” on the Time Limit Summary page and Cash Aid Time Limit Month List page within the system.

 

Note:  The system is programmed in alignment with policy which is to recognize grants less than ten dollars; however, the system and SCATL verbiage display the exemption as “Grant Amount $10 or Less.”

 

See AR 42-300 Time Limit Requirements for further details.

CalWORKs Benefits and Services

When a month is considered a ZBG month, the AU is eligible to the following CalWORKs benefits and services, provided they meet the specific program eligibility criteria for those benefits and services:

 

·          

Homeless Assistance, which includes:

 

o    

Temporary Homeless Assistance;

 

o    

Permanent Homeless Assistance; and

 

o    

Homeless Assistance exceptions.

·          

Homeless Case Management;

·          

Welfare-to-Work (WtW) services (i.e., Ancillaries, Transportation, Diaper Allowance, Specialized supportive services in the area of Mental Health, Substance Use Disorder, Domestic Violence, etc.);

·          

CalWORKs Stage 1 Child Care;

·          

Pregnancy and other recurring and nonrecurring special needs;

·          

Home Visiting Program services; and

 

Note:

See AR 5881 Home Visiting Program for additional details.

·          

Eligibility to CalFresh and cash-linked Medi-Cal.

 

Note:

Although the AU is eligible to CalFresh, an AU receiving ZBG is not eligible for Transitional CalFresh and Work Incentive Nutritional Supplement.

Overpayment

ZBG can be established when the entire CalWORKs grant is kept as an overpayment adjustment.

 

ZBG families are still required to report anytime they are over the IRT. While in most scenarios, a failure to report income exceeding the IRT, there would be no overpayment for the CalWORKs cash aid, there may be an overpayment for any recoupments that were made for prior overpayments. 

 

An overpayment is the amount of aid payment the AU received to which it was not eligible. An overpayment may be all or a portion of an aid payment, which includes payments received for non-recurring special needs, including Homeless Assistance, supportive services, and recoupments made towards other overpayments even though the case is ZBG. If there was no eligibility as a result of the family exceeding the Tier 2 IRT, the family would not have been eligible to any of the aforementioned types of payments, including a recoupment for a prior overpayment.

 

See AR 44-350 Overpayments for additional details.

Penalty

CalWORKs penalties in combination with the family’s combined net income and other factors, such as collections/sanctions, may reduce the grant to less than ten dollars resulting in a ZBG month. The following are examples of penalties in the CalWORKs Program:

 

Type of Penalty

Limit/Condition

Immunization

The CalWORKs grant does not consider the parent/caretaker relative’s needs when they fail to provide verification of immunization for a child in the AU who is under the age of six and does not qualify for an exemption or Good Cause does not exist.

School

The CalWORKs grant does not consider a teen’s (age 16 or over) needs when they are a chronic truant and Good Cause does not exist.

Child Support

The CalWORKs grant is reduced by 25 percent when the applicant/participant fails to comply with the Child Support Services Department in the child support enforcement process.

Intentional Program Violation (IPV)

The CalWORKs grant is reduced by the applicant’s/participant’s needs when there is an IPV.

 

Note:    When the family’s net countable income results in the grant under ten dollars, the CalWORKs grant is not issued and the child support penalty or the overpayment adjustments are not applied, if applicable.

Reporting Requirements

ZBG families are required to comply with mid-period reporting requirements which include when income exceeds the IRT and for AR/CO cases, changes to the household circumstances, including the addition of a new member or changes in income without having to reapply for aid. 

 

The following ARs can be referenced for further details:

 

·         44-316.3 Mid-period Reports and County Actions

·         44-316.324 CalWORKs Income Reporting Threshold

Recurring Special Needs

Recurring special needs are included as part of the grant calculation. 

 

If an AU family’s countable income

And…

Then…

Exceeds the MAP plus the recurring special need

N/A

The AU continues to receive ZBG and is not entitled to receive a CalWORKs grant. 

Does not exceed the MAP plus the recurring special need

The difference between the countable income and the MAP plus recurring special need is ten dollars or more

The AU is entitled to a CalWORKs grant. 

 

 See AR 44-211.2 Recurring Special Needs for further details. 

 

Note: SB 80 did not impact the issuance of non-recurring special needs.

Greater Avenue for Independence (GAIN)

Participants are required, as a condition of CalWORKs eligibility, to participate in GAIN unless exempt.

 

GAIN staff should provide supportive services through WtW to eligible individuals in ZBG cases.

FR

FR services are offered to parents or needy caretaker relatives and their families as part of the DCFS FR plan when all of the following conditions are applicable:

 

·          

All CalWORKs eligible children are removed from the home and temporarily placed in out-of-home care by DCFS;

·          

The family’s CalWORKs case was active when all CalWORKs-eligible children were removed from the home;

 

 

Note:

If the CalWORKs case is active and ZBG eligible, the AU may be eligible for FR if they meet all the FR conditions.

 

 

o    

Ineligible - Unaided parents/caretaker relatives, such as Supplemental Security Income recipients, undocumented noncitizens, non-needy caretaker relatives, or timed-out parents who do not qualify for an extender are not eligible to receive FR cash aid or reunification services for themselves or their child(ren) because they are not eligible for cash aid.

 

o    

Eligible - WtW-sanctioned parents may participate in reunification services but are not eligible to the CalWORKs FR cash aid, unless the sanction has ended and the parent is added back to the case. GAIN Services Workers must follow the existing GAIN sanction cure process. Children in an FR plan will remain eligible for cash aid even if the adults are in WtW sanction status.

·          

An FR plan exists with the provision of CalWORKs FR cash aid, child care, and/or reunification services that DCFS or the court has determined necessary for the family to reunify.

 

See AR 82-812.67 Family Reunification for additional information.

Verification Documents

N/A