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Collection of Claims
[63-801]
Responsible Persons
Claims collection will be initiated against all ADULT household members (including excluded members) who were members of any household which received an overissuance, even if that adult moves to another household.
Note: Although SSI/SSP recipients may be responsible for the O/I, repayment cannot be demanded from the SSI/SSP benefits.
An overissuance occurs in a household with one adult (the father) and two children. The father leaves the home, and the mother moves in and is added to the household as payee. The overissuance cannot be adjusted from the current CalFresh household because the father, who was the only adult household member when the overissuance occurred, has left the household. The father should be referred to the Public Assistance Collections Unit, which will pursue repayment of the overissuance with him.
An overissuance occurs in a household in which there are five adults: two brothers, their wives, and the mother of one of the wives. The household breaks up and CalFresh is discontinued.
The mother moves in with her son. The son's household receives CalFresh. The overissuance which occurred in the original household must now be adjusted from the son's household.
An overissuance occurs in a household consisting of three adult sisters and five children all receiving CalFresh. The overissuance collection activity begins. Two of the adult sisters and their children move out of the home leaving only one sister and two children active in Case A.
One sister moves in with her boyfriend who is receiving CalFresh with his mother and brother (Case B). Collection activity now begins in Case B as the sister that was active in Case A is now active in Case B.
Household Members Age 18 to 21
Any household member over the age of 18 through 21 is considered to be an “adult child” and must be jointly and individually liable for the value of any overissuance of benefits to the household. If an “adult child” begins to receive CalFresh on his/her own case, the county can collect repayments from this person’s benefits.
Sponsored Noncitizens
A sponsor of a noncitizen and the sponsored noncitizen shall be held jointly and/or individually liable for repayment of an IHE or IPV overissuance that results from incorrect information provided by the sponsor.
A sponsor is contacted to determine the amount of earned income the sponsor's family receives. The father reports and verifies his income, but the wife's income is not reported.
An overissuance occurs when it is discovered that the wife's income was not reported. The sponsored noncitizen would not have been eligible. Collection action shall be initiated against both the sponsored noncitizen and the sponsor.
- Inform the noncitizen's sponsor that neither the sponsor nor his/her spouse shall be held responsible for repayment of the overissuance if the sponsor can demonstrate that he/she had good cause or was not at fault for the incorrect information having been provided to the County.
- A sponsor will be without fault or have good cause for not providing correct information only when the sponsor has met all of his/her responsibilities in providing correct information, but the noncitizen has not.
Trafficking Claims
In instances of trafficking, any person who is connected to the household, such as an authorized representative, who actually traffics or otherwise caused an overissuance or trafficking, is liable for the repayment of the trafficking claim.
Institutional Authorized Representatives
The AR of an eligible institution is solely responsible for the repayment of an overissuance which occurs while that person is the household's AR.
A resident of an eligible institution begins working part-time as a cook for the institution and is paid as an employee. The authorized representative does not report this income.
An overissuance occurs because this income was not reported. Collection action should be initiated only AGAINST THE AUTHORIZED REPRESENTATIVE OF THE INSTITUTION. The resident is not responsible (refer to Treatment Center Responsibilities [63-503.476] in the chapter “Institutional Residents” of CalFresh handbook).
Limitations [63-801.62]
Claims established PRIOR TO DECEMBER 1, 1986 can only be collected from a household that contains at least half the total number of persons who were members of the household at the time of the overissuance. These households may consist of adults (s) and children, children only, or adults (s) only.
Claims established DECEMBER 1, 1986 OR LATER shall be collected from responsible adults, sponsors, or authorized representatives.
Repayment Requirements
Administrative Error (AE) O/Is Which Occurred Prior to 10/1/96
Only voluntary repayment is permitted for AE O/Is that occurred prior to October 1, 1996. The household may CHOOSE how to repay the overissuance.
Under the “Aktar v. Anderson” court order, AE O/I, which occurred prior to October 1, 1996 can NOT be collected by any involuntary means including, but not limited to:
- Administrative Collection Notices
- Tax intercept
- Civil Collection procedures (small claims court).
Administrative Error (AE) O/Is that occur ON OR AFTER October 1, 1996
The household must repay an overissuance that occurred on or after October 1, 1996 that was caused by AE.
- For active cases, use allotment reduction after 30 days if the repayment agreement is not returned by the client.
- For closed cases, refer to Public Assistance Collections.
AE and IHE O/I that occur ON or AFTER December 31, 2023: SB 490
Administrative Error (AE) and Inadvertent Household Error (IHE) claims for active and inactive households with at least one elderly and/or disabled member must be compromised. AE and IHE claims must be reduced according to household composition and participation status at the time of discovery as follows:
- AE and IHE claims for all active and inactive households consisting solely of members who are elderly and/or disabled at the time of the discovery of the claim will be reduced by 100 percent.
- AE and IHE claims for all active and inactive households that include at least one member who is not elderly and/or disabled, but only the elderly and/or disabled household members are responsible household members at the time of the discovery of the claim will be reduced by 100 percent.
- AE and IHE claims for all active households that include at least one member who is elderly and/or disabled and at least one member who is not elderly and/or disabled and is a responsible member of the household at the time of the discovery of the claim will be reduced by 50 percent.
A CalFresh household consists of an elderly mother and a non-elderly/disabled daughter. An OI is discovered due to a senior mom's income not being reported. The adult daughter and the senior mother would be held responsible for the OI and considered liable individuals for the OI claim. We would reduce the OI claim amount by 50% in this case.
The new OI compromise policy is applied based on household composition at the time of discovery, regardless of whether the household included elderly and/or disabled members for any month in which the OI occurred.
A household consisted of an elderly mother and an adult daughter (who is not disabled) when the Overpayment (OI) occurred. However, the adult daughter has left the home, and the elderly mother is the only household member when the OI is discovered, the county should reduce the OI by 100%.
Reminder: The date of discovery is defined as the date the county determined by computation that an overissuance occurred.
Verification of Elderly Status
For elderly status, active and inactive cases must be based on the household member’s age at the time of discovery using the date of birth in the case record.
Verification of Disability Status
Disability status for active cases must be based on the most recently verified information known to the County at the time of discovery.
Inactive Cases
Household members who become disabled or elderly during the collection of an OI must be eligible for a reduction. The household must inform the County and must have their elderly/disabled status verified by the County to have the remaining balance of their OI claim reduced.
Disability status must be based on a household member's disability status the last month they received CalFresh benefits if more current disability information is unavailable.
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