Shelter Costs

Limit [63-502.35]

Excess shelter costs are limited to the chart values in “Charts, Tables, and Miscellaneous,” except that there is no limit to excess shelter costs for households which include a member:

Age 60 or over, or
Receiving Social Security Disability.

Allowable Costs

Refer to Shelter Deductions for an explanation of allowable shelter costs, Shelter Cost & Utility Costs [63-509.132 & 63-509.133] for budgeting of shelter costs for a SAR household.

Budgeting Expenses [63-503.251, 63-503.252]

Deductions for medical, dependent care, and shelter expenses are based on amounts the household expects to be billed rather than payments.

Calculate expenses based on those for which the household expects to be billed during the certification period.
Use the most recent month's bills, unless the household is reasonably certain a change will occur.

Dependent Care [63-509.131 & 63-502.34]

CalFresh households, including those with an elderly and/or disabled member may claim the dependent care deduction if the dependent care is necessary to allow a household member to accept or continue work, or to attend school or training to prepare for work. Households may claim and deduct actual costs for dependent care, including child care or care for an elderly and/or disabled member regardless of age. There is no cap on the dependent care deduction (7 CFR 273.9(d)(4)).

Note: Households may claim both the dependent care and medical deduction; however, the same expense cannot be used to claim both the dependent care and medical deduction. That means a single expense can only be a dependent are expenses or a medical expense.

Dependent care deductions will be determined as follows:

Prospective Budgeting

A deduction should be allowed only in the month the expense is billed or otherwise becomes due, regardless of when the household intends to pay the expense. For example, a dependent care expense which is due each month should be a deduction even if the household has not yet paid the expense. Amounts carried forward from past billing periods are not deductible, even if included with the most recent billing and actually paid by the household. In any event, a particular expense may only be deducted once.

Anticipating Expenses

A household’s expenses should be calculated based on the expenses the household expects to be billed for during the certification period. Anticipation of the expense should be based on the most recent month’s out-of-pocket expenses, unless the household is reasonably certain a change will occur.

If the household just started with a provider and has not yet paid for dependent care, the household’s expenses based on the out-of-pocket payments the household expects to pay during the certification period should be calculated.

Fluctuating Expenses

Some recipients may have child care expenses that vary from month to month. Current CalFresh rules allow households to elect to have expenses which are billed less often than monthly averaged forward over the interval between scheduled billings. If there is no scheduled interval, households can elect to have expenses which are billed less often than monthly averaged forward over the period the expense is intended to cover or over the remaining months of the certification period.

Expenses paid on a weekly or bi-weekly basis should be converted to a monthly deductible expense by multiplying the weekly or bi-weekly expense by 4.33 or 2.167 as appropriate if income is also multiplied by these conversion factors. Document the rationale of the determination of the anticipated expense deduction in the case file.

Verifying Questionable Information

To be considered questionable, the information on the application must be inconsistent with statements made by the applicant and/or inconsistent with other information received by the county. When determining if information is questionable, the county must base the decision on the household’s individual circumstances.

A household’s report of no income while still meeting its financial obligations could require additional verification. These circumstances may not, in and of themselves, be grounds for a denial. The EW must explore with the household how it is managing its finances, whether the household receives excluded income or has resources and how long the household has managed under these circumstances.
Where verification is required to resolve questionable information, the EW must document why the information was considered questionable, or at a minimum indicate where in the case file the inconsistency exists, and what documentation was used to resolve the questionable information.

Medical Expenses

For qualifying households deductions for medical expenses are determined as follows:

If...	And...	Then...
Recurring medical expense	is billed monthly,	Budget the medical expenses as billed.
Recurring medical expense	fluctuates from month to month and is declared and verified at certification or recertification or during the certification period,	The HH may choose to have the expenses allowed in the month billed, or in the month the bill becomes otherwise due, or averaged over the certification period.
Non-recurring medical expense ***(Is one time only)	The HH chooses to have the expense deducted in the month billed or in the month the bill becomes otherwise due,	Prospectively budget.
Non-recurring medical expense ***(Is one time only)	The HH chooses to have expense averaged over the remainder of the certification period,	Averaged medical expenses MUST be Prospectively budgeted.
***NOTE: Any medical expense which occurred, was reported and verified during the certification period but was not anticipated and deducted MUST be considered a one-time only (non-recurring) expense.

Shelter Cost

Shelter costs are determined at application and recertification and must remain fixed unless the household moves or reports a change.

Medical Expenses [63-509.131]

For SAR households medical expenses will be determined as follows:

Determine the expense amount that is reasonably anticipated in the certification period.
Medical expenses paid on a weekly basis shall be converted to a monthly deductible expense by multiplying the weekly expense by the
4.33 conversion factor if the income is also multiplied by the same conversion factor.
Medical expenses paid on a bi-weekly basis shall be converted to a monthly deductible expense by multiplying the bi-weekly expense by the 2.167 conversion factor if the income is also multiplied by the same conversion factor.
Document in the case file the determination of the anticipated expense deduction.

Shelter Cost & Utility Costs [63-509.132 & 63-509.133]

Shelter costs are determined at application and recertification and must remain fixed at the determined amount unless the household moves or reports a change on the SAR 7 or makes a voluntary mid-period report.

If a mid-period reported change in shelter costs results in an increase of benefits, the benefits must be increased mid-period. The change does not need to be reported on the next SAR 7.

If a mid-period reported change in shelter costs results in a decrease of benefits, the benefits must not be decreased mid-period. A “NO Change” NOA must be sent to the household with a reminder to report the new change on the next SAR 7.