82-820 Assistance Unit

.Purpose

Policy

Background

Release Date:

5/2/2019

Definitions

Requirements

Verification Docs

CalWORKs

82-820 Assistance Unit

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

An Assistance Unit (AU) must have at least one of the following individuals:

·	One eligible child;
·	A Non-Minor Dependent (NMD);
·	A caretaker relative of a child who receives:
	o	Social Security Income (SSI)/State Supplementary Payment (SSP);
	o	Kinship Guardianship Assistance Payment (Kin-GAP); or
	o	Foster care payment (e.g., Adoption Assistance Program, Approved Relative Caregiver payments, Emergency Caregiver payments, etc.).
·	A pregnant woman; or
·	A relative of a child who is sanctioned by the Welfare-to-Work (WtW)/Refugee Employment Program (REP).

Background

N/A

Definitions

Term

Description

AU means a group of related persons living in the same home who have been determined eligible for CalWORKs and for whom cash aid has been authorized.

Filing Unit

Filing Unit means the group of persons required to be on the SAWS 2 PLUS, Application for CalFresh, Cash Aid, and/or Medi-Cal/Health Care Programs.

Mandatory Inclusion

Mandatory inclusion rules require that a parent, sibling or half-sibling be included in a Filing Unit or AU with the applicant or eligible child.

The AU must include the following persons when they are living in the same home.

·	The applicant child;
·	Any eligible sibling or half-sibling of the applicant child who meets the age requirement; and
·	Any parent (except for Alternatively Sentenced Parents [ASP]) of the applicant child or the applicant’s child’s eligible siblings or half sibling who meet the age requirement.

The case will be denied/discontinued when a mandatory person refuses to be included in the AU at Intake or Redetermination (RD).

Optional Persons

Optional persons are not otherwise required to be included in the AU but can be included at the request of the applicant/participant at any time. Examples include:

·	Non-parent caretaker relatives;
·	Essential persons (when they have not exceeded the 48-Month Time Clock) are:
	o	Stepparents (including same-sex spouses);
		§	Can opt out of the AU; however, their income and resources are still required to determine eligibility when there are no children in common.
	o	California Registered Domestic Partners; and
	o	ASPs who are convicted of a crime who are permitted to live at the home while serving a court-imposed sentence.
	Note: Adults that have reached the 48-month time limit are no longer optional and are considered excluded members.
·	Other eligible children:
	o	Nieces/nephews;
	o	Cousins; and
	o	Grandchildren.

For purposes of this release, an optional person as listed above is not considered an excluded member since these individuals have the option to be included in the AU, while excluded members do not.

See Administrative Release 82-832 Excluded Members for detailed information.

Excluded Members

An excluded member is defined as one of the following individuals:

Excluded by Law:

·	Fleeing felons;
·	Probation/parole violators;
·	48-month CalWORKs time expired adults;
·	Father of the unborn child with no other children in the home unless he is an essential person;
·	Sponsored noncitizens whose needs are met by the Sponsor or are unable to provide the Sponsor’s information; and
·	Ineligible noncitizens.

Sanctioned for:

·	Not complying with WtW/REP;
·	Being a Striker;
·	Refusing to Assign Child Support Rights; or
·	Failing to provide Social Security Number (SSN) or proof of application for SSN.

Recipient of another aid program such as:

·	SSI;
·	Cash Assistance Program for Immigrants;
·	Foster Care, including:
	o	Kin-GAP;
	o	Emergency Caregiver;
	o	Assembly Bill 110; or
	o	Approved Relative Caregiver.

See Administrative Release 82-832 Excluded Members for detailed information.

Parent

Parent means the biological parent, married or unmarried, of the child unless the child has been adopted or relinquished for adoption or the parental rights are terminated.

If the child is adopted, the person who adopts the child is the parent. If the child is relinquished for adoption or the parental rights are terminated, that parent is no longer considered the parent except for purposes of determining whether the person is related within the 5^th degree of relationship.

Parentage may also be established when the name of the Registered Domestic Partner (RDP) appears on the child’s birth certificate.

Eligible Child

Eligible child means a child who is considered a member of an AU.

Non-Minor Dependent

An NMD is a voluntary dependent or ward of the juvenile court who is at least 18 years of age but less than 21, in Foster Care under the responsibility of the County Welfare or Probation departments and is participating in a transitional independent living case plan or placed with a caretaker relative. An NMD may be eligible for CalWORKs in an AU of one when placed with a caretaker relative that is related within the 5^th degree of relationship and meets all other eligibility criteria.

Siblings

Any eligible sibling or half-sibling of the applicant child who meets the age requirement.

Stepparent

Stepparent means a person who is not the biological parent, but is either married to, or the Registered Domestic Partner of, the parent of the child.

Registered Domestic Partner

Registered Domestic Partner is an individual who:

·	Has a Declaration of Domestic Partnership registered with the California Secretary of State; and meets one of the following conditions:
	o	Two individuals of the same sex; or
	o	Two individuals of the opposite sex and at least one of which is over 62 years of age.
·	Is a member of a legal union, other than a marriage, of two persons of the same sex, validly formed in another jurisdiction, and substantially equivalent to a California RDP.

Out-of-State RDP

RDPs who are members of a legal union, which was validly formed out-of-state, are extended the same rights and responsibilities equivalent to an RDP in California.

Same-Sex Spouse

Same-Sex Spouse is a person married to someone of the same sex. Same-sex marriages occurring in California between June 16, 2008 and November 4, 2008, as well as marriages of same-sex individuals performed in California on or after June 13, 2013, are recognized as valid marriages by the State of California and therefore valid for the purposes of CalWORKs. Marriages occurring in other states valid in the state at the time in which the marriage was performed, are recognized as valid in California.

Unaided father of unborn

When the unaided father of the unborn is living in the home with a pregnant woman who is in an AU of one without an eligible child, the father is an excluded member and his income and needs are counted towards the Maximum Aid Payment.

See Administrative Release 44-205.6 Father of Unborn for detailed information.

Requirements

Requirement

Limit/Condition

Who Determines an AU

The County determines who is mandatorily included and excluded from the AU. The County and the applicant/recipient will determine whether an optional person will be included in the AU.

The CalWORKs application is denied or discontinued when a mandatorily included person refuses to be included.

Combining AUs

The following AUs are combined when there are two or more AUs in the same home:

·	A caretaker relative is married to another caretaker relative in another AU;
·	Two caretaker relatives in the home have separate children and have an eligible child in common with deprivation; or
·	There is one caretaker relative for both AUs.

Note: The AUs cannot be combined when one AU receives Tribal Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF); they must remain separated.

AUs may be combined at any time the change is reported via a mandatory report, such as a SAR 7, Eligibility Status Report, RD or a mandatory or voluntary mid-period report based on the AUs reporting responsibilities.

For Semi-Annual Reporting (SAR) cases, the AU is required to report changes in family composition at:

·	Intake; and
·	RD.

Note: If a voluntary mid-period report is received that decreases the CalWORKs grant, the AUs must be combined effective the next payment period (RD or SAR 7).

For Annual Reporting/Child Only (AR/CO) cases, mid-period changes in family composition must be reported within ten days of the date the change becomes known to the participant and at:

·	Intake; and
·	RD.

AUs are combined effective the first of the month after the change occurred with a ten-day Notice of Action (NOA) regardless if the mandatory report decreases or increases the CalWORKs grant. When the AR/CO AU reported the change timely but there is insufficient time to issue a ten-day NOA, an overpayment will not be established in the month after the change was reported. See Administrative Release 44-316.3 Mid-Period Reports and County Actions for detailed information.

Verification Documents

N/A