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What is CalFresh?
Summary of basic eligibility
How the CalFresh program is structured
County and State operational responsibilities
Using CalFresh EBT benefits
Who is eligible to receive CalFresh benefits?
Households receive CalFresh benefits
People on SSI, CalWORKs, General Assistance or Medi-Cal, or with a prior felony drug conviction
People who leave the CalWORKs program
Immigrant eligibility for CalFresh benefits
Counting “quarters of work” for legal immigrants (if at all)
Special rules for farm workers
Special rules for the homeless
Special rules for students
Special rules for strikers, roomers, boarders, residents of shelters and drug-treatment locations, and others in unusual situations (Chart)
Special rules for the “elderly” or “disabled”
How “elderly” and “disabled” are defined
People who cannot get CalFresh benefits and how to count their income and resources
Applying for CalFresh benefits
Getting and filling out an application form
Authorized representatives
People who do not speak English
CalWORKs diversion payments should not interfere with CalFresh applications
After the household files its application
The interview process
Verifications the CalFresh office requires
How the CalFresh program verifies information
Common Verification problems
Social Security Number requirements
Finger imaging | Finger printing
Notification the household either is eligibile or is being denied
Failure of the CalFresh program to act on an application within 30 days
What is “income”?
Definition of “Income”
Income limits
30+ things that are NOT income
Money that counts even when the household does not get it as income
How student aid is counted
How self-employment income is counted and what business expenses can be deducted
Treatment of income (and resources) of persons excluded from the CalFresh household (Chart)
Money a boarder pays the household
Income (and deductions) of ineligible immigrants in mixed households
Income of an immigrant’s sponsor
Child support payments made by a household member to someone not in the household
What are “resources”?
Definition of “resources”
How many resources a household can have
Resource exclusions
Vehicles don’t count as a “resource” in the CalFresh program
Selling or giving resources away
How to calculate the monthly grant amount
Applicant budgeting rules
Prospective budgeting for Semi-Annual Reporting (SAR) households
Budgeting for “change-reporting” households
Income deductions for CalFresh households
Medical expense deductions
First, calculate household income
Second, use net income to determine the monthly CalFresh allotment
Example 1 – household with an elderly or disabled member
Example 2 – household with an unemployed adult
Example 3 – household with legal immigrants
Example 4 – household with both documented and undocumented immigrants
What does the household actually get?
How much in CalFresh benefits a household gets each month
How much is the household’s allotment the first month it applies?
How households get their CalFresh benefits
Electronic Benefits Transfer (EBT) system
Expedited (emergency) Calfresh benefits
Getting food assistance after a disaster or household misfortune
Requirements for keeping CalFresh benefits
CalFresh time limits
How to keep getting CalFresh benefits (certification periods)
Failing to fill out or submit the Semi-Annual Report form (SAR 7)
Coming in for an interview before the certification period is over
Restoration of “non-assistance” CalFresh benefits after curing the basis for termination
What happens if the household moves
Replacing CalFresh benefits if something happens to them
Non-work program penalties
What are the CalFresh work requirements?
Work rules and requirements
Exemptions from work requirements
Able-Bodied Adults Without Dependents (ABAWADs)
Waiver of the ABAWD requirements
Work programs for people subject to ABAWD requirements
Registering for work
Non-compliance with a work requirement
Work supplementation programs
Underpaid or overpaid benefits
Underissuances: Getting too few CalFresh benefits
Overissuances: Getting too many CalFresh benefits
Overissued … because of an agency (“administrative”) error
Overissued … because of a mistake the household made (“inadvertent” household errors)
Overissued … because the County welfare office thinks the household committed fraud
What is the correct amount of a CalFresh overissuance?
How the CalFresh program collects overpaid benefits
The overissuance Demand Letter / Notice of Action
Fraud Claims
What counts as an “intentional program violation” (IPV)?
What is a “disqualification consent agreement” or “waiver” of the IPV hearing?
The IPV fraud hearing
What happens if a person loses the fraud hearing, or signs a hearing “waiver” or “disqualification consent agreement”?
Being taken to court on a fraud claim
Restoring CalFresh benefits after an IPV
CalFresh Integrity Plan
ALERT cases and process
Work Number verification system
Notices and fair hearings
The written notice required when the county plans to stop someone’s benefits
What to do if the CalFresh office has done something wrong
Requesting a fair hearing
What the CalFresh program must do when the household asks for a fair hearing
Continuing benefits while waiting for a fair hearing
Specific rights a household has in a fair hearing
What happens after the household wins the hearing
What happens after the household loses the hearing