Santa Clara County
Social Services Agency
page 1
Date:
11/1/16
References:
ACL 16-66
Cross-References:
None
Clerical:
No
Handbook Revision:
Yes
Update 2016-14: CalWORKs
Revised: Repeal Of The Maximum Family Grant (MFG) Rule
Background
The Maximum Family Grant (MFG) rule provides that, for the purpose
of determining the maximum aid payment (MAP), the number of needy
persons in a family shall not include any child born into a family that
has received cash aid continuously for ten months immediately prior to
the child’s birth. This rule continues to apply until the family has not
received aid for at least 24 consecutive months while the child was
living with the family or until one of the exemptions to the rule have
been met.
Changes
Effective January 1, 2017, due to the enactment of Assembly Bill (AB)
1603, no child will be denied aid because he/she was born into a family
that received cash aid continuously for ten months immediately prior to
their birth. This rule applies to children currently designated as MFG
and future children born to the AU.
This change will not be applied retroactively. The number of needy
persons in a family shall not include the needs of a child subject to the
MFG rule until 1/1/17.
New Rule
Children with MFG status will no longer be excluded by law, and their
needs must be included in the cash grant effective 1/1/17. Children
previously determined as MFG, who have been excluded from the
Assistance Unit (AU), shall have their needs included when
determining the MAP effective 1/1/17, if all other conditions of eligibility
are met.
The change in MFG status will be treated as a county-initiated
mid-period change that must be acted upon with timely and adequate
notice, even if the change results in a mid-period decrease to the
family’s grant.
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Update 2016-14: CalWORKs
Note:
Child Support
If removing the MFG status from a child and counting their
income results in a decrease to the grant amount, the change
must still take effect on 1/1/17, even if January is in the middle of
their semi-annual reporting (SAR) period.
As of 1/1/17, cases with former MFG children will be subject to child support
requirements and shall be referred for child support services and collection.
These families will only receive the first $50 of child support paid. Because
the child support will be retained by the county and no longer provided
directly to the family, this income cannot be reasonably anticipated and
should not be used in the grant calculation.
Safety Net, Long Term Sanction, Fleeing Felon and Ineligible non-citizen
cases (K1/3F) cases with former MFG children will continue to directly
receive any child support payments collected by the Local Child Support
Agency (LCSA). Any reasonably anticipated child support income beyond
the $50 disregard must now be counted as unearned income against the
child-only grant. The changes described in this paragraph are
county-initiated mid-period actions.
Informing
Eligibility Workers (EWs) must explain the changes to the child support
requirements and collections to families with newly eligible child(ren) so that
the family is aware that the amount of child support payments they receive
will change and the penalties and sanctions that apply if they fail to follow the
rules and. In addition, “Changes To The California Work Opportunity And
Responsibility To Kids (CalWORKs) Maximum Family Grant (MFG) Rule”
(TEMP 2260) is being mailed to all active CalWORKs clients in the month of
November.
CW 2.1
For recipients, a new Child Support Questionnaire (CW 2.1Q) form or
referral to the LCSA is not needed if the child is already identified on an
existing CW 2.1Q. As a condition of eligibility, the parent must agree to
assign support rights in order to avoid the 25% child support penalty or
sanction. The adult will also be required to cooperate with the LCSA in
determining the paternity for the child and complying with the child support
enforcement, unless good cause is found to exist.
Other Income
MFG children with unearned income, excluding child support, shall not have
their income considered in the MAP until the beginning of the next reporting
period, unless the income puts the AU over the Income Reporting Threshold
(IRT).
Update 2016-14: CalWORKs
page 3
IRT
When the AU size increases, the AU’s Tier Two Income Reporting Threshold
(IRT) will also increase. As a reminder, recipients must be informed of their
new IRT amount anytime it changes.
CalFresh
CalFresh (CF) benefits will be recalculated for those households whose CWs
grants have been adjusted. As a result of the recalculation, the amount of CF
benefits may decrease mid-period. CF households must receive an
adequate notice of any change to their benefits as a result of the
recalculation.
CalWIN
A mass update (MU) will occur on 12/10/16 to trigger programming to add
MFG children back to their respective cases as of 1/1/17. A listing
(DSR34861 CW MFG Children v2) will be provided to District Offices (DOs)
that will identify the pending and active CWs cases that include MFG
children. The cases identified on this report must be reviewed in order to
verify and correct CalWIN data entries prior to and after the MU.
The following windows must be reviewed and, if necessary, corrected prior to
12/31/16 to ensure that CalWIN programming is able to properly remove
MFG coding:
STEP
ACTION
Collect Case Individual Detail
Review the Collect Case Individual Detail
window to verify that the Requesting
Assistance field is completed indicating “Y” to
requesting aid for the MFG child. If necessary
make corrections.
Collect
Student Detail
Review the Collect Student Detail window to
verify that all mandatory fields regarding
school attendance are completed. If
necessary, contact the client to confirm current
school information.
Collect
Individual Immunization Detail
Review and complete the Collect Individual
Immunization Detail window with the current
immunization information for children under
the age of 6 years. If necessary, request
verification of the current immunization status.
Display Absent
Parent
Summary
Review the Collect Absent Parent
Information window to ensure that the CW 2.1
Agreement Singed [Y/N] field has been
completed. If there is no CW 2.1 on file the
client must be provided the opportunity to
complete the form and comply with the child
support requirement.
[Refer to “Child Support [EAS 44-113.7],” page
28-10
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Update 2016-14: CalWORKs
STEP
ACTION
Display Child/
Spousal Income
Summary
The Display Child/Spousal Income
Summary window must be updated with an
Effective End Date (EED) of 12/31/16 for AUs
who receive direct child support on behalf of a
MFG child. A new income window must be
created with an Effective Begin Date (EBD) of
1/1/17 to reflect the $50 disregard that the AU
will receive.
[Refer to “Child Support [EAS 44-113.7],” page
28-10
Display Unearned Income
Summary
Any unearned income received directly by the
MFG child must be terminated with an EED of
12/31/16. On the Display Unearned Income
Summary window create a new unearned
income window with an EBD of 1/1/17 and set
the Use Effective Month (UEM) for the
beginning of the next payment period.
Collect Case Special
Indicators
On the Collect Case Special Indicators
window, remove the Batch AU Exception-CW
with an EED of 12/31/16.
The “Request For Verification Form” (CW 2200) must be used when making
verification request to clients.
Reminder:
Any unearned income received directly by the MFG child will not
decrease the grant mid-period unless the income puts the AU
over the IRT.
Intake
Intake Eligibility Workers (EWs) must review cases containing MFG children
to ensure that the necessary updates and changes have been made to the
required windows and fields during the course of the application processing.
Reminder:
Former recipients who reapply for aid prior to 1/1/17 will not have
the needs of a child subject to the MFG rule considered in
calculating the cash aid grant until the new law goes into effect.
Continuing
Continuing EWs must review cases containing MFG children to ensure that
the necessary updates and changes have been made to the required
windows and fields during the regular course of business and/or at any point
of contact with the client. DSR34861 CW MFG Children v2 will be provided
to DOs to review existing cases that have been identified as containing an
MFG child.
Update 2016-14: CalWORKs
page 5
Handbook
Revision
The CWs Handbook Chapter 8, Redeterminations, and Chapter 48,
Maximum Family Grant (MFG), will be updated to reflect the change to MFG
status.
DSR34861
Listing, DSR34861 CW MFG Children v2, has been created to identify all
active and pending cases that contain a child who is currently subject to the
MFG rule.
Forms
The following forms have been modified and will be available in CalWIN:
TEMP 2260
“Changes To The California Work Opportunity And Responsibility To Kids
(CalWORKs) Maximum Family Grant (MFG) Rule (TEMP 2260) was created
to inform CWs AUs of the changes to the MFG rule, effective January 1,
2017. This is a required form with no substitutes permitted.
CalWIN will be mailing the TEMP 2260 to all active CalWORKs cases on
November 1, 2016. The form will be mailed in English and included th
“Notice of Language Services” (GEN1365).
TM44-314
“Maximum Family Grant Repealed” (TM44-314) is a notice of action that is
used to send to a CWs AU when their AU size has increased due to the
inclusion of a child who was previously deemed subject to the MFG rule.
This NOA message also informs AUs that their monthly grant has changed
due to the inclusion of an additional AU member.
Required
Forms
The following forms were revised to remove language referencing the MFG
rule:
•
•
•
•
Obsolete
Forms
“Support Questionnaire” (CW 2.1Q),
“Notification of Intercounty Transfer” (CW 215),
“Reminder For Teens Turning 18 Years Old” (CW 2103, and
“Rights, Responsibilities And Other Important Information For the
CalWORKs Program (Non-needy Caretaker Relative With Relative
Foster Child)” (CW 2218)
The following forms and NOA messages are obsolete as of January 1, 2017
as a result of the repeal of the MFG rule and should no longer be used:
•
•
•
•
•
“Maximum Family Grant, Approval” (M44-314),
“Maximum Family Grant, Other” (M44-314A),
“Maximum Family Grant, Change” (M44-314B),
“Maximum Family Grant, Change” (M44-314C), and
“The Maximum Family Grant (MFG) Rule For Recipients Of Cash Aid”
(CW 2102)
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Update 2016-14: CalWORKs
Implementation The information provided in this Update is effective 1/1/17 except for the
changes necessary to CalWIN in coordination with the MU scheduled for
12/10/16.
Other
Programs
The changes identified in this Update apply to the CalWORKs and CalFresh
programs as mentioned above.
DENISE BOLAND, DIRECTOR,
Department of Employment and Benefit Services
Contact Person(s): T. van den Akker, ADSS II, (408)755-7540.