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Requirements and Limits
[63-501]
Requirements And Limits
Categorically Eligible (CE) Households [63-301.7]
CE households are NOT subject to CalFresh resource limits. Refer to CE HH Determination [63-301.7] for additional information.
Modified Categorically Eligible (MCE) Households
Households that have been conferred MCE eligibility are not subject to resource limits. Refer to Modified Categorical Eligibility (MCE) for additional information.
Non-Assistance (NA) Households [63-409.12]
NA households, that are not conferred MCE, must not exceed the maximum allowable non-exempt property limit for liquid and non-liquid resources combined. Refer to the Chart Book, which contains the current CalFresh maximum resource limit values for each of the following types of households described below:
- Elderly and/or Disabled household is a household with a member who is 60 years of age or older OR has a member in the household who is disabled, including one person households. Refer to Elderly or Disabled [63-102(e)(i)] for the definition of disabled used for resources.)
- All other households, including one person households.
New Applicant Households [63-503.11, 63-503.211]
Determine the value of a new applicant household's resources as of the date of the eligibility interview. Do not use the application filing date.
Important: The following examples do not contain current maximum resource limits, for current resource limits refer to the Chart Book Handbook Chapter 2.
A household applies for CalFresh on July 25 and is interviewed on
August 3. The household had $2,500 in resources on July 25, but after paying rent and other bills, has only $1,500 left on the day of the interview. The household does not have anyone 60 or older. The household is resource eligible for both July and August because its resources are below the $2,250 limit on the date of the interview.
A household whose resources exceed the limit on the date of the eligibility interview must be denied. This applies even when the household expects to “spend down” its resources to an amount lower than the CalFresh resource limit later in the same month. The household should reapply when its resources are below the limit.
A household applies for CalFresh benefits on March 3. The household is interviewed on March 10. At that time, it has $2,400 in resources. No one in the household is 60 or older. The head of household expects to pay $300 in bills on March 11. This will bring its resource total down to $2,100 below the $2,250 limit. Deny the March 3 application on March 10 due to excess resources. The household should reapply on March 11, since it will be resource eligible then.
Currently Certified Households
Property eligibility is only determined every six months. Determine the value of a currently certified household's resources as of the last day of the data month. If property/resources reported on the SAR 7, together with resources already used to establish eligibility, exceed the property limit, the EW must discontinue the household at the end of the SAR Submit Month, with a timely and adequate notice. However, if the household provides verification prior to the effective date of discontinuance that their resources have dropped below the resource limit, the discontinuance must be rescinded and benefits reinstated.
Note: No other assessment of property eligibility can be made for that SAR Payment Quarter. The EW must not act on voluntarily reported mid-period changes in property that decrease benefit or result in discontinuance.
If the household acquires property in excess of the property limit during the SAR Submit Month, or the first month of the upcoming SAR Payment Period, the household remains eligible for the entire SAR Payment Period.
(SAR Period January through June)
The CalFresh household submits a timely and accurate SAR 7 for May on June 5. The EW determines that the recipient is property eligible in the SAR Data Month of May. On June 20, the household receives $3,000 as a gift. The $3,000, if considered, would make the household ineligible. However, the household is not required to report the money until the next RC is due (in December). If the household reports the money sooner, the EW cannot take any action to discontinue the case for exceeding the property limit; therefore the household remains eligible for the SAR Payment Period of July through December.
Excluded Persons [63-503.44]
Include the resources of the following excluded household members in the property reserve:
- Ineligible ABAWD
- Ineligible non-citizens.
- SSN disqualified household members.
- Persons disqualified for Intentional Program Violation.
- Persons disqualified for failure to comply with work requirements.
- Fleeing felons, probation and parole violators.
- Disqualified felony drug convicted household members.
Non-household Members
Exclude the resources of non-household members, unless jointly owned with household members.
Joint Ownership
A jointly owned resource will be considered available in its entirety to the CalFresh household, unless the household can demonstrate that the resource is inaccessible.
If the household can demonstrate that it has access to only a portion of the resource, only the value of that portion of the resource will be considered for CalFresh eligibility.
If the total joint combined resources have been used to determine SSI/SSP eligibility, the joint resources are not used when determining CalFresh eligibility based on inaccessibility of those resources. If the portion of used to determine SSI/SSP eligibility is unknown, divide the total resources to determine eligibility in the CalFresh by the total number of household members (including the SSI/SSP recipients) and multiply by the number of FS eligible members.
The resource will be considered totally inaccessible to the household if the resource cannot practically be subdivided and the household's access to the value of the resource is dependent on the agreement of a joint owner who refuses to comply.
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