County Initiated Mid-Period Actions

In addition to making mid-period adjustments to benefits as a result of mandatory and voluntary recipient reports, the county must also act on certain changes in eligibility status at the end of the month in which timely and adequate notice can be provided, even if it results in a decrease or termination of benefits. The changes in eligibility status listed below are considered county-initiated and these actions may occur at any time during the semi-annual period. They include, but are not limited to:

Sanctions or financial penalties;
Failure of a member of the household to comply with a Quality Control Review;
Discontinuances due to the termination of a CalWORKs inter-county transfer;
Benefits are applied for and approved for a household member in another household or for the household;
CalWORKs is approved in mid period;
Change from state funding CFAP to federal SNAP which must be seamless to the client;
COLAs for the CalFresh, CalWORKs, General Assistance and for those COLAs administered by the Social Security Administration;
Adjustments due to erroneous or incomplete recipient SAR 7 or mid-period reports of information or lack of action by the county on the SAR 7 or mid-period recipient reports;
The three-month limit for an ABAWD ends or an ABAWD who is not exempt and doesn’t reside in an area with an ABAWD waiver who has regained eligibility and subsequently stops meeting the work requirements;
The county discovers Transitional CalFresh recipients have moved out-of-state and are receiving public benefits (TANF and/or SNAP) in another state; and
A member of the household receives SSI/SSP benefits.
Adding a sanctioned person back to the household the month following the expiration of the disqualification period without a request from the household, if the household is otherwise eligible.
TCVAP benefits and services are terminated as a result of:
- The individual’s application for a T visa has been finally denied;
- The individual has not applied for a T Visa within one year; or
- The individual is certified by the Office of Refugee Resettlement and transferred to the federally-funded program.

Move Out of State

If the county determines that the household is no longer or will not be residing in the state, CalFresh benefits must be terminated in mid-period at the end of the month in which a timely notice can be sent. An OI may be established if the household was residing out of state and continued to receive benefits from California.

Transitional CalFresh

If TANF grants of SNAP benefits are received out-of-state while transitional benefits are received in CA, Transitional CalFresh must be discontinued, and there would be an OI if SNAP benefits were concurrently issued in another state. However, if public benefits are not received out-of-state while transitional benefits are received in CA then the TCF benefits would continue for the full duration of the TCF benefit period.

Joint CalWORKs/CalFresh Application

When a joint CalWORKs and CalFresh application is taken and Public Assistance eligibility is pending, if CalWORKs is granted after CalFresh has been paid, the new CalWORKs income must be used to recompute CalFresh benefits mid-period. This is considered a County-Initiated Action. Refer to PA Grant [63-509(h)(3)(B)] for additional information and examples of the treatment of a CalWORKs grant.

LATE SAR 7

A mid-period benefit adjustment is also initiated if such an adjustment is necessary as a result of a late SAR 7 being submitted by the recipient. Submission of a late SAR 7, may require that benefits be reduced for the SAR Payment Period. However, if benefits cannot be decreased due to an inability to provide 10-day notice, benefits for the first month of the SAR Payment Period must be released at the prior level. The EW must take action to reduce benefits effective the first day of the next month in that SAR Payment Period when 10-day notice of decrease in benefits can be provided.

An IHE overissuance MUST be established when a recipient submits a late SAR 7 (after the 11th of the SAR submit month) which results in the household receiving more benefits than to which it is entitled because of the county’s inability to decrease benefits due to the 10-day notice requirement.

If the SAR 7 is received timely (by the 11th of the Submit Month) but was not processed or was processed incorrectly by the county, then an AE overissuance must be established if the household will receive more benefits than to which it is entitled for the SAR Payment Period.
If the SAR 7 is submitted late (after the 11th of the Submit Month), but before the NOA cut-off; however was not processed by the county until after the NOA cut-off, then an IHE overissuance must be established if the household will receive more benefits than to which it is entitled for the SAR Payment Period.
If the SAR 7 is submitted after the NOA cut-off, but by the Extended Filing Date, then an IHE overissuance must be established if the household will receive more benefits than to which it is entitled for the SAR Payment Period.

Process the SAR 7 as if it had been received before NOA cutoff. Follow the chart below when determining the amount of benefits. IF

If benefits will increase or remain the same, then
- Revise the budget.
- Issue benefits in a timely manner.
- Send an appropriate NOA.
If benefits will decrease, then
- Issue benefits for at least the same amount as was indicated on the last valid NOA sent.
- Revise the budget for the remaining months of the Payment Period to decrease benefits.
- Establish an overissuance for the 1st month of the SAR Payment Period which occurred due to the inability to decrease benefits with a 10 day notice.

Refer to Complete SAR 7 Received After NOA Cutoff [63-508.65] for more details.

Third Party/Known to the County Information

Under certain circumstances, information will be “known to the county” or will be provided to the county through a third-party. Such information should be used by the county to:

Calculate an OP/OI when the information received was a mandatory report and is obtained after benefits have been issued in the wrong amount, such as in the case of IEVS matches; and
Take prospective action to change benefits mid-period or at the beginning of a semi-annual period if the county learns that the recipient failed to accurately report changes on a mandatory mid-period report or on the SAR 7 or RC forms.

All third party information that is received by or known to the county must be acted upon in accordance with SAR rules.