School Attendance Requirement

[40-105.5]

All children in the AU for whom school attendance is required by law (ages 6 through 17, 18 if applicable) must regularly attend school, as defined by the school district. The school attendance requirement applies to any child who is in the AU, whether or not the needs of that child are met.

Reminder: This requirement does not apply to children who are subject to Cal-Learn requirements (pregnant or parenting teens). Refer to Cal Learn.

If a child age 16 years of age or older has not been attending school and is deemed a chronic truant, the needs of the child shall not be considered in computing the grant of the family. This will apply for any month in which the EW is informed by a school district or a county SARB that the child did not attend school, unless at least one of the following exception criteria exists:

Evidence is provided that the child’s attendance records are not available;
Evidence is provided that the child has been attending school;
Good cause for school non-participation exists at any time during the month. Refer to Good Cause Criteria for examples.
Any member of the household is eligible to participate in Family Stabilization for any reason.
Evidence is provided that the child, parent, or caregiver is complying with requirements imposed by a SARB, county probation department, or the district attorney, or
A member of the household is cooperating with a plan developed by a county welfare agency such as Juvenile Probation, Child Protective Services, or Foster Care, etc.

Definitions

The following definitions are used in this section:

Regular School Attendance: For CalWORKs purposes, regular school attendance is defined by the local school districts. Generally this means that the child is attending 90% or more of the time.
Truancy: Because each school district has different school attendance requirements, the number of days a child should be in attendance and no longer deemed a chronic truant will be determined by the school district.

Informing Requirements

At intake, annual RD and when adding a child aged six and older to the AU, all CalWORKs applicants/recipients must be informed of the school attendance requirements and the importance of having their child(ren) regularly attend school.

The SAWS 2A SAR includes the school attendance requirement and must be reviewed with applicants at Intake and recipients at RRR.

Policy

All school age children are assumed to be regularly attending school unless deemed a chronic truant pursuant to Section 48263.6 of the Education Code. EWs shall inform applicants and recipients of California’s compulsory education law which requires everyone between the ages of 6 and 18 years of age to attend school, with the exception of 16 and 17 year olds who have graduated from high school or passed the CHSPE and obtained parental permission to leave.

Reminder: Be sure to complete or update the School Attendance Status Detail page in CalSAWS at application and redetermination to reflect current school enrollment information. [Refer to JA "School Attendance Information-Add or Edit" .)

Initiating the School Attendance Penalty Process

Children Ages 6-15

The CalWORKs grant will no longer be reduced when the EW becomes aware that a child under 16 years of age is not regularly attending school.

Teens Ages 16, 17, and 18

If a teen age 16 years of age or older has not been attending school and is deemed a chronic truant, the needs of the child are not considered in computing the family grant and the penalty is applied to the 16-18 year old child. This shall apply for any month in which verification is received from a school district, Student Attendance Review Board (SARB), or other public agency.

If it has been determined that a teen ages 16, 17 or 18 has not been attending school regularly the following steps shall be followed to initiate a referral to WTW:

Verification is received that the a teen is not regularly attending school.
EW updates the Student Attendance Status Detail page to identify that the teen is not regularly attending school.
Update the Work Registration Detail page to Register teen for Employment Services.
Complete referral to the CalWORKs Social Work Unit
1. [Refer to JA "School Attendance Information-Add or Edit" .)

Reminder: The needs of the individual are removed from the AU at the end of the month in which an adequate and timely (10-day) NOA can be given.

If the only child in the AU is the teen who is not regularly attending school and is penalized, the grant for the AU is zero. A teen, whose needs are not considered in the family grant, remains eligible for services that may lead to attendance in school. EWs shall document in the Journal Detail page that the family was informed of how to enroll the child in a school within the county.

Note: The needs of the individual are removed from the AU at the end of the month in which an adequate and timely (10-day) NOA can be given.

Removing the Penalty

Once the EW is notified by the CWES Social Worker, that a teen is attending school regularly, the EW must take appropriate actions to remove the penalty.

Example Example On January 23rd, the EW receives notification that the teen is attending school regularly. The needs of the teen are added back to the AU effective February 1st.

The needs of the penalized individual are added to the AU effective the first of the following month in which the verification is received (if otherwise eligible).

Example Example A mother and three children applied for CalWORKs on April 15th. Verification is received for the 17-year old child that he is not attending school regularly. The AU is determined eligible effective April 15th and CalWORKs is authorized, applying the school attendance penalty to the 17-year old. A referral is made to the CWES Social Work Unit. On April 29th, the mother brings in verification stating that the 17-year old child is currently attending school regularly. The penalty for the 17-year old is lifted effective May 1st.

Reminder: Once a 16/17-year old teen loses their exemption from CWES because that child is not attending school regularly, that specific exemption is never available to that child again.

Underpayments

If a penalty was imposed for failure to attend school regularly, and then verification is received that shows that the teen was attending school, the AU is entitled to a supplement for the penalized period. The worker must resolve any underpayments and issue a cash supplement as soon as administratively possible.

Good Cause Criteria

Prior to imposing a penalty, workers must inquire whether the child’s attendance issues are related to good cause. A child may be determined to have good cause for not enrolling in school when that child:

Has a serious illness, injury or incapacity which prevents the child from enrolling and attending school. The parent/caretaker relative must provide a written doctor’s statement concerning the illness, injury or incapacity and the inability of the student to currently attend school. This good cause criteria can not be used for longer than 90 days.
Has errors in his/her school records.
Has reasonable reasons that prevented the child from attending school (i.e. natural disaster.)
Is the victim of past or present domestic abuse that has caused the issue of non-cooperation.

If good cause exists, no penalty will be imposed.

Exception Criteria

If a child, age 16 years of age or older, has not been attending school and is deemed a chronic truant, pursuant to Section 48263.6, the needs of the child shall not be considered in computing the grant of the family unless at least one of the following exception criteria exists:

Evidence is provided that the child’s attendance records are not available;
Evidence is provided that the child has been attending school;
Good cause for school non-participation exists at any time during the month. Good cause shall be determined using the existing good cause criteria;
Evidence is provided that the child, parent, or caregiver is complying with requirements imposed by a SARB, Probation Department, or the District Attorney; or
A member of the household is cooperating with a plan developed by a child welfare agency such as Juvenile Probation or DFCS; or
Any member of the household is eligible to participate in the Family Stabilization program.

Refer to Referral to Family Services Program for more information.

Home Schooling

If the child is being home schooled, the statement from the parent is acceptable, as long as the parent also provides verification that an agreement has been entered into with the school district for this to occur. If the parent is unable to provide the supporting documentation, refer that AU to the CWES Social Work Unit.

Registration with Employment Services

Eligible children, 16 through 18 years of age, must be regularly attending high school or vocational/technical training or be registered with Employment Services, unless exempt. If enrolled in college, the child must be referred to Employment Services. Refer to CalWORKs Employment Services Program for exemptions.

The school determines what constitutes regular attendance and which vocational/technical programs are equivalent to high school. This requirement may not be met by correspondence course work.

A student enrolled in a full-time program is considered attending on a full-time basis until notification is received from the school that the child is not regularly attending.

The 16, 17 and/or 18-year old child is exempt from registration with Employment Services if that child is attending school on a full-time basis. If the 16, 17 or 18 year old child is not enrolled in school, then that child must be referred to Employment Services and the CWES Social Worker. Once the CWES Social Worker is successful in having the child enrolled in school, the EW will be notified and the penalty must be lifted.

Reminder: Once the 16, 17 or 18-year old child loses their exemption from CWES, because that child is not in school or training, then that exemption is never available again for that child.

If the EW receives notification from the CWES Social Worker or Employment Counselor to reapply a penalty to a 16, 17 or 18-year old child because that child is no longer enrolled in school or has not met the CWES requirements, the EW must immediately apply a penalty to that child (as soon as timely and adequate notice can be given).