Exempt Income

Exempt payments from the Agent Orange Settlement Fund or any other fund established in connection with settling liability claims concerning Agent Orange.

DO NOT exempt VA benefits for Agent Orange-caused disabilities.
Refer to Agent Orange.

One-time payments of $250 paid to recipients of:

• Social Security
• SSI/SSP
• Railroad Retirement and
• Veterans Disability Compensation or Pension benefits.

Exempt CalWORKs funded housing assistance VENDOR paid by the Housing Authority on behalf of the household.

These funds are ONLY excluded if paid directly to the vendor. If the funds are received by the household, they are counted as unearned income.

Exempt if not issued as a reimbursement for normal living expenses. Exemptions include:

• Special transportation (work or medical)
• Housekeeping services
• Special telephone service/equipment for medical reasons
• Occupational or trade tools
• Distilled water for medical reasons
• Work-related clothing required by an employer, such as uniforms, hard hat, steel toe boots.

Exception: Therapeutic diets and Pregnancy Special Need payments count as unearned income in the CalFresh budget.

Exempt only those payments from the following sources. (The exemption applies only to the individual who incurs the cost of child care, and does not apply to the child care provider.)

• At Risk Block Grant
• Child Care and Development Block Grant
• CalWORKs child care program payments issued to the client as a reimbursement.

Exempt if child is:

• Under 18, and
• Under parental control (Refer to Parental Control [63-102p(1)), and
• At least a half-time elementary or secondary (high school) student.

For this exemption, the child must be under the “parental control” of another household member. Refer to Parental Control [63-102p(1).

Note: If the child becomes 18 during the certification period, the child’s earning should be counted effective the month following the month in which the child turns 18. Changes are treated as county-initiated mid period action.

Exempt when the PA CalFresh household must turn over child support (including court-ordered arrearages) to maintain CalWORKs eligibility, regardless of whether the C/S is actually turned over to the DCSS.

Note: Direct child support payments are considered unearned income and are not exempt for non-assistance CalFresh households, CalWORKs/ CalFresh applicants, Tribal TANF/ CalFresh applicants and recipients.

Exempt if the income meets the CalWORKs income exclusion specified under the CalWORKs Other Exempt Income [EAS 44.111.4]  policy AND the fund is not a government source. 

Example
MedAssist program cannot be excluded as income because the payment is funded by a government source (County of Santa Clara) and does not meet the CW exemption criteria. 

Exempt:

• Federal major disaster and emergency assistance issued under the Disaster Relief Act of 1974, and
• Comparable assistance provided due to a major disaster by state and local governments, and disaster assistance organizations.

Paid only when a natural disaster has been declared by the President of the United States. (Checks have a “greenish” background.)

Note: Disaster Unemployment payments are limited to 26 weeks. This income can be verified through the MEDS system, which is used to determine existing UIB.

Received as a one-time payment or received so infrequently that it cannot be reasonably anticipated to continue.  

Exempt any benefits received by CHILDREN under the following programs:

• Child and Adult Care Food Program
• Commodity Distribution Programs School
• Breakfast Program
• School Lunch Program
• Special Milk Program
• Summer Food Service Program for Children

Direct services provided to such families are excluded as income. Also payments made to a vendor or third party on the behalf of the household for an expense, are excluded as income.

Exception: Any cash paid directly to the CalFresh household would be treated as income.

Exempt if not issued as a reimbursement for normal living expenses. Exemptions include:

• Therapeutic diets
• Special transportation (work or medical)
• Housekeeping services
• Special telephone service/equipment for medical reasons
• Occupational or trade tools
• Distilled water for medical reasons
• Work-related clothing required by an employer, such as uniforms, hard hats, and hansel-toe boots.

Payments from GI projects and pilots that contain some amount of funding received from non-governmental entities. 

Note: Payments that are fully government-funded cannot be excluded from CalFresh. 

Refer to the CDSS GI Program website for a list of GI projects and pilots approved prior to March 2024.

• Earned income of a child derived from participating in the JTPA. (See Child’s earnings for definition of child.)
• All payments, other than earnings, to a child which are derived from participation in JTPA programs.
• Payments to an adult which are derived from participation in JTPA programs to the extent the payment reimbursements do not exceed actual expenses.

Exempt all loans other than deferred educational loans. (Only verify if questionable.)

A statement signed by both parties stating that the payment is for a loan that must be repaid is sufficient.

Exempt a portion of military pay only if paid to military personnel deployed to a designated combat zone, and was not received immediately prior to serving in the combat zone.

Only exempt the portion of military pay, which exceeds the amount of pay which was being issued prior to deployment.

Refer to Combat Zone for further information.

EXEMPT:

This applies to income from:

• Serve America American Conservation and Youth Corps Higher Education Program
• Service-Learning Program
• AmeriCorps State and National
• NCCC
• AmerCorp VISTA (only for individuals who are receiving CalFresh at the time they joined VISTA)
• Summer for Safety Program
• School-to-Work Opportunities Program
• Youthbuild Program.

Exempt payments made under the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act of 1990 for certain diseases caused by radiation exposure

• R&P funds disbursed as a one-time payment, or issued in more than one payment in the same calendar month, it is considered a non-recurring lump sum payment and a resource in the month received.
• R&P funds disbursed as vendor payments are excluded income. An expense paid with vendor payment is not allowed as a deduction for the month the payment is intended to cover.
• Income “earmarked” by the VOLAG to be used for specific purposes (rent, utilities, furniture, etc.) are considered excluded income.

Note: Acceptable VOLAG verification must include information to determine if the R&P income received by the refugee was required to be spent for a specific purpose.

Exempt if:

• Paid to a third party for a household expense by a person or organization outside of the household, AND
• Not legally obligated to be paid to the household.

Refer to Vendor Payments.

Exception: WIA on-the-job training earnings are only exempt for a dependent household member who is: 

• Less than 19 years of age, and
• Under parental control.

Exempt only those payments issued under the following program:

• Title I of the Domestic Volunteer Services Act, only if the individual was already receiving CalFresh or federal CalWORKs when they joined the volunteer program. Include payments from:
• AmeriCorps*VISTA payments
• University Year for Action
• Urban Crime Prevention Program.
• Title II of the Domestic Volunteers Act, including:
• RSVP
• Foster Grandparents
• Senior Companion Program.
• SCSEP under Title V of the Older Americans Act, including:
• Green Thumb
• National Council on Aging
• National Council of Senior Citizens
• AARP
• U.S. Forest Service
• National Association for Spanish-Speaking Elderly
• National Urban League
• National Council on Black Aging.