Transitional Nutritional Benefit (TNB Program)

Assembly Bill 1811 reverses the CalFresh eligibility policy known as cash-out, under which recipients of SSI/SSP are ineligible for CalFresh. Effective June 1, 2019, individuals receiving SSI/SSP are eligible for CalFresh, provided all other eligibility criteria are met.

AB 1811 also creates two state-funded nutrition benefit programs intended to “hold harmless” existing CalFresh households negatively affected by the policy change. The two state-funded programs, known as the SNB and TNB Programs, will provide CalFresh households with nutrition benefits to mitigate the reduction of CalFresh benefits or CalFresh ineligibility, respectively.

Throughout this Update, “SSI recipients” refers to both recipients of SSI/SSP and SSP-only. Additionally, use of the term “CalFresh” or “CalFresh benefits” throughout this ACL also includes recipients of the CFAP benefits, as applicable.

Household Effective Date

Effective June 1, 2019, currently excluded SSI member(s) will be added to the existing case as an included household member at the household’s SAR 7, Recertification, or when voluntarily requested. This rolling implementation date is referred to as the household effective date. Households who would lose CalFresh will receive TNB when their SAR 7 or RC is processed after June 1, 2019. The TNB Programs will provide eligible CalFresh households with state-funded nutrition benefits to the extent that state funding is available. The TNB Program benefits are not entitlement benefits.

Eligibility

TNB eligibility is only determined on the household’s effective date. CalFresh households are eligible for the TNB Program if they:

  • Are receiving CalFresh benefits and include at least one excluded SSI/SSP recipients on the implementation date, and
  • Become ineligible for CalFresh when any of those previously excluded SSI recipients are added to the household at the household’s effective date (i.e., at SAR 7/RC/Voluntary Request).

Note: A three-or-more person household that becomes eligible for zero benefits on the household's effective date is considered ineligible for CalFresh and may be eligible for the TNB Program.

In determining whether a household is eligible for the TNB Program, the EW does not need to determine whether CalFresh ineligibility was caused solely as a result of adding the previously excluded SSI/SSP recipient(s) to the household. The EW must only determine that the CalFresh household includes an SSI recipient excluded from the household on the implementation date and that the household became ineligible for CalFresh when any of those previously excluded SSI/SSP recipients were added on the effective date.

ExampleExample

A household consists of a mother and an excluded SSI child as of 6/1/2019 submits June SAR 7 on 6/10/2019. The household reported a Mom’s new income. When the excluded SSI child and the new income are added to the case, the household exceeds the net income limit for its household size becomes ineligible for CalFresh. The household is eligible for TNB effective July 2019.

Ineligibility for TNB

The following households are not eligible for the TNB Program:

  • Households that include an SSI recipient and become ineligible for CalFresh after the household’s effective date.
  • If the household’s only SSI recipient at the household’s effective date is not one of the same SSI recipients excluded from the household on the implementation date (i.e., June 1, 2019).
  • An SSI recipient in suspense status receiving CalFresh benefits on the implementation date is not considered “excluded for the TNB Program eligibility determination, as they were an eligible member of the CalFresh household.

Note: Note: Households that are eligible for and receive TNB Program shall not, at any point, be eligible for SNB, regardless of any change in household circumstances.

ExampleExample

A household consists of a mother, a father, and one SSI child in May 2019. The SAR 7 is due in Oct. 2019. The household reports on their SAR 7 that the SSI child moved out of the home in August and the father as approved for SSI beginning in September. When added the father’s SSI payment, the household’s income exceeds the limit and is no longer ineligible for CalFresh. The household is not eligible for TNB since the same excluded SSI child is not in the home at the time of the household’s effective date (Oct. 2019).

Transitional CalFresh (TCF)

CalFresh household receiving TCF benefits may be eligible for the TNB Program if at the household’s TCF recertification the County implements the reversal of the case-out policy and determines that the household became CalFresh ineligible when the previously excluded SSI recipient is added to the household.

TNB Program Benefit Table

The TNB benefit allotments are determined on the household’s effective date as follows:

  1. The new household size when the previously excluded SSI recipient(s) is added to the household (vertical axis).
  2. The number of previously excluded SSI recipients added to the household (horizontal axis).

Refer to Chart Book for the TNB Program benefit amounts.

Note: CalFresh household composition rules determine the TNB Program household size. All household members excluded under CalFresh rules in effect on the household’s effective date will be excluded when determining the TNB Program household size. For example, an ineligible student excluded from the household on the household’s effective date must also be excluded from the TNB Program household.

Note: If on a continuing CalFresh household’s effective date, the previously excluded SSI member, who holds the case number (i.e., is the primary payee), becomes the only household member (i.e., all the previously included members are reported to have left the household at the same time) and no additional members are added, it is possible to have a TNB Program household of one.

Refer to Chart Book 2.5

Continuing Eligibility

TNB-eligible households will remain eligible as long as:

  • The household includes at least one of the same SSI recipient(s) excluded from the household on the implementation date and added to the household on the household’s effective date,
  • That same individual continues to receive SSI/SSP, and
  • The household is ineligible for CalFresh.

Reporting Requirements and Mid-Period Action

TNB household is not required to report mid-period or complete a period report to maintain TNB Program eligibility.
The County is not required to act on information received regarding the household circumstances during the TNB Program certification period, regardless of whether the information is received through an electronic data match or reported to the County.

Exception: If an ongoing household is determined CalFresh eligible because the household is determined CalFresh eligible because the household applied for CalFresh separate and apart from the TNB Program. In this case, the TNB must be discontinued during the certification period. At that time, the household must be informed of their TNB Program discontinuance by a Notice of Discontinuance for the Transitional Nutrition Benefit Program (TNB 6).

 

If a TNB Program household voluntarily reports a change of address and/or contact information during the TNB certification period, the County must update the household’s case record.

Related Topics

Certification Period