Expedited Service

Overview [63-301.5]

Expedited Service (ES) provides faster processing of a CalFresh application for certain households. If households meet the eligibility criteria for ES, they will receive CalFresh benefits within three calendar days after they file their application. The CalFresh verification requirement, except for identification, can be postponed when it is necessary to issue an allotment by the three-day timeline.

This three-day processing timeline for households entitled to ES includes contacting the household to conduct an interview or schedule an interview, collecting mandatory verifications, and issuing benefits to the household’s EBT account.

Eligibility [63-301.51]

Eligible households must meet one of the following criteria to qualify for ES:

The household has less than $150 gross monthly income and $100 or less in liquid resources.
1. Disregarding resources under Modified Categorical Eligibility (MCE) does not apply to ES determination. Liquid resources (cash on hand, checking or savings accounts, savings certificates, and lump sum payments) must be counted and considered for ES determination.
  1. Note: Households should not be required to verify resources for ES determination.
The household's monthly rent/mortgage and utilities exceed its combined gross monthly income and liquid resources. If the household is not billed separately for utilities then only rent/mortgage should be used in the calculation to determine entitlement to ES.
1. When this criteria is used to determine ES, the Standard Utility Allowance (SUA) must be used if the household is entitled, even if the actual expenses are higher than the SUA amount. If not eligible for SUA, LUA or TUA can be used.
“Destitute” migrant or seasonal farmworker households with liquid resources of $100 or less.
1. Migrant – A migrant for CalFresh purposes is an individual who travels away from home on a regular basis, usually with a group of laborers to seek employment in an agriculturally related activity. A migrant household is a household that travels for this purpose.
2. Seasonal Farmworkers- a person who is employed in agricultural employment of a seasonal or other temporary nature and is not required to be absent overnight from his permanent place of residence when:
  - Employed on a farm or ranch performing field work related to planting, cultivating, or harvesting operations; or employed in canning, packing, ginning, seed conditioning or related research or processing operations, and transported or caused to transported, to or form the place of employment by means of a day-haul operation.
  - Destitute means that the household’s only income for the month of application was:
    - Received before the date of application and it was from a terminated source, or
    - Received from a new source and no more than $25 will be received by the tenth calendar day after the date of application, or
    - A combination of (a) and (b).

Refer to the Destitute Household section below for more information.

Destitute Households

The term “destitute” applies only to migrant or seasonal farmworker households whose sole income in the month of application is from a new or terminated source as shown in the chart below. Migrant households may be considered destitute at initial application and at recertification, while seasonal farmworker households may only be considered destitute at initial application.

INCOME SOURCE*	DEFINITION
Terminated	Income that is normally received monthly or more often, and will not be received again from the same source during the rest of the month of application, or in the following month. For households that normally receive income less often than monthly, that income is considered terminated when it will not be received in the month when the next payment would normally be received.
New	Income of $25 or less will be received from the new source by the 10th calendar day after the date of application.
New and Terminated	Income of $25 or less from the new source will be received by the 10th day after the date of application, and income from the terminated source was received prior to the date of application.

* The migrant worker's source of income is considered to be the grower, not the contractor. Therefore, if a migrant worker travels with the same contractor, but moves from grower to grower, the income received from a new grower is considered to be from a new source.

Determining ES Entitlement

The County must use the ES criteria above to determine households’ eligibility for ES at screening at any time during the application process.

Application

When the CalFresh application indicates that the household meets one of the three ES criteria, the application must be processed under the ES timeframe. Completion of the ES questions on one of these forms constitutes an application for ES:

“INITIAL APPLICATION FOR CALFRESH, CASH AID, AND/OR MEDI-CAL/HEALTH CARE PROGRAMS (SAWS 1), page 1 of 2,
"APPLICATION FOR CALFRESH, CASH AID, AND/OR MEDI-CAL/HEALTH CARE PROGRAMS" (SAWS 2 Plus), page 1 of 18,
“Application for CalFresh Benefits” (CF 285), Page 1 of 10, or
MyBenefits CalSAWS, Expedited Service Section of the online application.

Partially Completed Applications

A partially completed application that contains the applicant’s name, address, and signature is considered filled and can not be rejected. However, if the household does not provide sufficient information for the County to determine ES entitlement (ES questions are not answered and income and resource information is not available), the application must be processed under the normal 30-day processing timeframe.

Important: If the EW subsequently discovers the household is entitled to ES, CalFresh benefits must be issued within three days from the date the household is determined to be entitled to ES.

Informing Requirements

The ES regulation requires counties verbally inform all potential CalFresh applicants of the right to ES and the availability of assistance in filling out the application. Counties are required to identify households entitled to ES at the time the household files a paper or an on-line application.
Effective January 1, 2013, Assembly Bill (AB) 1359 requires counties to screen all CalFresh applications to determine if applicants meet the criteria for ES, even if they did not request for ES by answering the ES questions either on the CF 285, SAWS 1, SAWS 2 Plus, or online application form.

Screening All Applications for ES Entitlement

All CalFresh applications must be screened to determine the household’s entitlement to ES when the application is filed and at any time during the application process.
Screening ES shall not be limited to specific questions on the application. The entire application should be reviewed for ES criteria as information may be listed in other areas of the application.
The County Use Section pertaining to ES must be completed by the EW to indicate that:
The case was evaluated for ES, and
ES was approved or denied.
The reasons for denial should be documented in the case record.

Applications screened as not entitled to ES

The ES questions are not answered, and after reviewing the application, the household did not provide sufficient information on income and resource questions to determine ES entitlement and then process the application under the regular 30-day timeframe.

Late Determinations [63-301.533]

Applications that are screened out because the household did not provide sufficient information in order for the County to make a determination for ES entitlement must be routed and scheduled for standard processing. If the application is screened as ineligible for ES but ES entitlement is discovered at the interview or any time during the application process, the ES time clock starts from the date the County became aware the household was entitled to ES (this is the date of discovery). In this circumstance, the three-day processing standards must be calculated from the date of discovery not the date the application was filed.

Example:
On May 1, an application is submitted and screened for ES entitlement. The household is not entitled to ES therefore, the County schedules the household for a normal processing interview appointment on May 10. The household shows up for their interview and informs the eligibility worker that their circumstances have changed and provide sufficient information which makes them entitled to ES, along with proof of identity (May 10 becomes date of discovery - day one). Applicant comes back the following day to pick up EBT card with benefits and PIN number (day two). The case documentation must show that ES eligibility was discovered on May 10, and that CalFresh was approved within three days.

Example:

An applicant files a completed CalFresh application and is screened ES entitled on Friday, September 1 (day zero). The county schedules an interview for September 4 (after the weekend which is counted as one day). The household misses the interview scheduled on September 4 (day two). The County sends the NOMI to the household. The household contacts the County two days later and schedules a second interview on September 10. On September 10, the household shows for their interview and complies with the requirements to complete the interview process. If the applicant is still entitled to ES, the application must be processed under the ES time line (this becomes day one).

Agency Conference for Households Not Entitled to ES

While there is no requirement that applicants be notified of their ineligibility for ES, state and federal regulations require counties to offer an agency conference.

The agency conference is a process that allows the household the right to request a face-to-face meeting with an eligibility staff to informally resolve any dispute as to whether the household meets ES criteria. The agency conference cannot supplant or interfere with a state hearing request.

The County must provide information about the right to an agency conference at the same time the household is informed of possible ES entitlement and processing.

The agency conference must be scheduled within two working days of the request, unless the household requests that it e scheduled later or states that they do not wish to have an agency conference. If the EW is unable to contact the household to schedule the agency conference, the application will continue under normal application process (i.e., 30 days). The EW should document in the case file the client’s request for an agency conference, including the scheduled date and the results of the conference.

Interview Requirements

PACF households must be informed that they may apply for CalFresh benefits at the same time and must be required to complete only a single application for both programs. PACF households are not required to have two separate interviews for CalWORKs and CalFresh; however, the only exception to conducting a separate CalFresh interview is to prevent any delay in the processing of ES.

Processing Application Found Entitled to ES

Scheduling Interview Appointment

If the household has been determined entitled to ES, the EW must attempt to contact the household to conduct an interview, collect the required verifications, and issue benefits within the three-day timeframe. If the household cannot be reached by phone when the EW calls the household, the EW must leave a message for the household on the date and time of the scheduled interview appointment. When leaving a message, the staff must adhere to the confidentiality policy. If the household cannot complete an interview when the EW calls, an interview appointment must be scheduled with the client.
The EW must document in the case file when the call was made to the household and what information was left, including the date and time of the interview.
For households that did not provide their phone number or email address, an interview must be scheduled for the third day from the application filing date, and an appointment letter must be mailed immediately after receiving the application.

An application is received on Monday and is screened as ES eligible. The household did not provide a contact phone number or email address. The EW schedules an interview for Thursday and mails the appointment letter on Monday.

Missed Interview

If the client fails to attend the interview, a Notice of Missed Interview (NOMI) must be sent to remind the household to reschedule their interview prior to the 30th day after application. When an interview appointment is missed, and the County cannot process ES because a household fails to complete the application process, the application is processed under the regular 30-day processing timeframe.

Example

An applicant completes and submits an online application for CalFresh benefits on the afternoon of Friday, September 1 (day zero). The EW screens the application for ES entitlement and determines that the household is ES entitled. The EW immediately calls but cannot reach the applicant, so the EW leaves a detailed message with the specific date and time of the initial scheduled interview. The interview is scheduled for the morning of Monday, September 4 (day two). The household misses their interview and later that day the EW mails the NOMI to the household on a mail batch run the following day (still day two) to inform the household that they have missed their scheduled interview appointment and to inquire if the household is still interested in receiving CalFresh benefits. If so, the NOMI provides that they must contact the county to reschedule the interview. That same day the application is routed for the 30-day standard processing. Because of the missed interview, the household contacts the County two days later and is scheduled for a second interview on September 10. On September 10, the household appears for their interview and the household complies with the requirements to complete the interview process and with the information provided, the household is determined ES entitled (this is day one for ES tracking). If the EW determines ES entitlement and eligibility, provides the household with a loaded EBT card and PIN number available to access their benefits for the household to use the same day, the County has met their ES timeframe on day one Issuance Deadline.

Timeliness Standards

The County must provide households with an active EBT card and PIN number made available to access benefits that have been posted onto their EBT account and made available for use within the ES issuance time line.
The County must post benefits to the household’s EBT account and mail or have EBT cards available for pick-up in time to ensure that the recipient can access his/her benefits by the three day ES timeframe. Mailing time does not count toward the ES three day timeframe.

An applicant files his/her application on Monday (day zero) and is determined eligible for ES. The EW calls the applicant and completes the interview on Tuesday (day one). The same day the EW informs the applicant to come into the office to pick up his/her EBT card and select their PIN number to access their CalFresh benefits. The applicant is having car trouble so he/she asks the EW to mail the card instead. The EW mails the EBT card and PIN number separately to the applicant household that afternoon. The ES clock stops when the EW mails the EBT card and PIN number to the household. The household receives the EBT card on Thursday (day two) and PIN number on Friday (day three). The County has met the ES timeframe on day one when both the EBT card and PIN number where put in the mail at the household’s request.

For applications completed with an interactive interview, and a telephonic signature is acquired, the filling date is the date of the interview. The three-day ES timeline begins from the date TS is captured.

No Show

If the client fails to complete the interview, then the application is processed within the 30 day time frame as regular CalFresh.