School Attendance Requirement

[40-105.5]

All children in an Assistance Unit (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.

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

Definitions

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.

Chronic Truant

For CalWORKs purposes, a child who is required to attend school, but has been absent from school without a valid excuse for 10% or more of the school days in one school year, from the date of enrollment to the current date, is deemed a chronic truant.

Informing Requirements

EWs shall inform CalWORKs clients 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.

All CalWORKs clients must be informed of the school attendance requirements and the importance of having their child(ren) regularly attend school at:

Intake,
Annual redetermination (RD), and
When adding a child aged six and older to the AU.

The Rights, Responsibilities and Other Important Information (SAWS 2A SAR) includes the school attendance requirement and must be reviewed with applicants at intake and recipients at RD.

Policy

EWs are not required to do the following at intake and annual RD:

Ask about school attendance.
Request CalWORKs clients to provide verification of school attendance.

All school-age children are assumed to be regularly attending school, unless the EW is informed that the child has been deemed a chronic truant by:

A school district, or
A School Attendance Review Board (SARB).

Important: Only a school district or SARB can deem a child a chronic truant. Clients cannot self-declare chronic truancy.

CalSAWS Entries

The EW must complete or update the CalSAWS School Attendance Status Detail page to reflect current school enrollment information.

From the Attendance Status drop-down list,

Select "Attending Full Time" for all school-age children, since it is assumed that they are regularly attending school.
Select "Chronic Truant" or "Not Attending School" to apply the school attendance penalty, only when the EW is informed by a school district or SARB that the child is a chronic truant, and an exception criterion or good cause does not exist. Refer to the School Attendance Penalty for Children Ages 16, 17, and 18 section below for additional details.

Refer to CalSAWS Job Aid: School Attendance Information - Add or Edit for more information on CalSAWS entries.

School Attendance Penalty for Children Ages 6-15

Effective January 1, 2015, 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.

School Attendance Penalty for Children Ages 16, 17, and 18

If a child 16 years of age or older is deemed a chronic truant by a school district or SARB, the needs of the child are not considered in computing the family grant, and the penalty is applied to the child. This will apply for any month in which the EW is informed by a school district or SARB that the child did not attend school regularly, 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. See the Good Cause Criteria sub-section below.
Any member of the household is eligible to participate in the Family Services (FS) program.
Evidence is provided that the child, parent, or caregiver is complying with requirements imposed by SARB, the county probation department, or the District Attorney.
A member of the household is cooperating with a plan developed by a county child welfare agency, such as Juvenile Probation, Child Protective Services, or Foster Care.

Example Example A father and one child applied for CalWORKs on January 24th. The father does not have a WTW sanction and is not timed out. SARB informs the EW that the 16-year old child is not attending school regularly. An AU of 1 (the father) is determined eligible effective January 24th, and CalWORKs is authorized, applying the school attendance penalty to the 16-year old.

Example Example An undocumented mother and one child are in an Annual Reporting/Child Only (AR/CO) case. SARB informs the EW on February 11th that the 17-year old child is not attending school regularly. The 17-year old is penalized, and effective March 1st, the case remains active on a Zero Basic Grant (ZBG).

The needs of the child are removed from the AU at the end of the month in which an adequate and timely (10-day) Notice of Action (NOA) can be given. A child, 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.

Good Cause Criteria

Prior to imposing a penalty, EWs 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 that 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 cannot be used for longer than 90 days.
Has errors in their 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.

Referral to Family Services (FS) Program

Anytime the EW learns that a child is a chronic truant, the family must be referred to the FS program for evaluation of FS eligibility requirements. Refer to Family Services.

Removing the School Attendance Penalty

Once the EW is notified by the school district or SARB that a teen is attending school regularly, the EW must take appropriate actions to remove the penalty.

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

Example Example A mother and three children applied for CalWORKs on April 15th. SARB informs the EW that the 17-year old child 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. On April 29th, SARB informs the EW that the 17-year old child is currently attending school regularly. The penalty for the 17-year old is lifted effective May 1st.

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 EW must resolve any underpayments and issue a cash supplement as soon as administratively possible.

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

Refer to CWES Handbook Registration with Employment Services for Students.