SB 380 Questions and Answers

Basic Eligibility

Question 1

Mom applies for herself and three children: Children A, B and C. Child A is a half-sibling to Children B & C, who are full siblings. Mom requests to exclude Children B & C to keep the child support she receives on their behalf. Can mom choose to exclude only one of the siblings, B or C? What if child B’s child support is less than the Child MAP, but child C’s allocation meets the requirement?

Answer 1

Mom can choose to exclude Child B and/or C from the AU’s MAP as long as Child A (the half-sibling) is an eligible child living in the home and the child support allocated for each Child B and/or Child C is greater than the cash aid amount for each child. If the child support received for one of the children is lower than the cash aid the AU would receive for the child, the parent/caretaker relative will not have the option to exclude that child from the AU’s MAP.

Child Support

Question 2

How often will the CW 2.1 (NA)-Notice and Agreement for Child, Spousal and Medical Support and CW 2.1 (Q) Support Questionnaire be required?

Answer 2

For new applicants, the CW 2.1 NA and CW 2.1 Q are required for all children, including those whose needs are considered in the AU MAP calculation as well as those whose needs will be excluded from the MAP in order to receive child support in lieu of the grant. At redetermination, a new CW 2.1 Q will only be required if circumstances change (i.e., new information regarding the non-custodial parent becomes available, or if a new child is born or comes into the home and one of that child’s parents is not in the home or if both parents are in the home but are not married, or if a parent of an aided child leaves the home). The rules regarding the use of the CW 2.1 Q did not change with SB 380.

A new CW 2.1 NA is needed when a family leaves aid and later returns, in which case the custodial parent (CP) would need to agree to cooperate again with the Department of Child Support Services (DCSS) or claim good cause. A new CW 2.1 NA would also be needed any time a parent/caretaker relative wishes to change their initial good cause designation (i.e., claiming good cause or indicating their good cause reason no longer exists and that they will cooperate).

For example: The parent/caretaker relative signed a previous CW 2.1 NA agreeing to cooperate with the DCSS/child support requirements, a few months later the non-custodial parent (NCP) becomes threatening and the parent/caretaker relative now out of fear that harm could be done to them or the child(ren), wish to claim good cause for non-cooperation. In this situation, a new CW 2.1 NA would be needed claiming good cause and refusal to cooperate.

Cooperation

Question 3

K1/3F families are not required to comply with child support requirements. For SB 380, are the CW 2.1 NA and CW 2.1 Q forms still not required for a K1/3F family requesting that a child be excluded?

Answer 3

Correct, the forms are not required for K1/3F families because they are exempt from cooperation with child support rules. SB 380 did not change the process for these families except for the treatment of the child support and other income or resources that belong to the step/half-sibling whose needs are excluded from the MAP determination. Under the K1/3F rule, child support and any income of the child is counted when reasonably anticipated, but under SB 380, income is excluded for the SB 380 child as well as for a K1/3F child participating under the SB 380 policy.

Good Cause

Question 4

The rule states that the CW 2.1 NA and CW 2.1 Q are still required under SB 380, unless there is good cause.

How do we handle those situations in which good cause exists? What situation would require good cause while the client would be getting direct child support?
If the client is getting direct child support from the absent parent, and “good cause is allowed,” can SB 380 be approved or does a referral need to be made to DCSS?
At application, when a referral is made, can we still approve SB 380 even if the client has not been interviewed by the DCSS and the child support case hasn’t been set up yet? Or should we wait until the child support case is set up to exclude the child’s needs from the MAP.
What if the client refuses to cooperate with the DCSS? Is that grounds for not approving the SB 380 request?

Answer 4

SB 380 did not change how good cause is determined. Good cause rules, reasons and determination are done in the same manner and using the same policies and procedures as if the child were aided.

A family receiving direct child support must still be referred to the DCSS unless good cause exists. If the NCP is voluntarily paying or complying with a court order to pay, it is unlikely there would be a good cause reason such as, danger to the child or CP. Other good cause reasons may exist. Follow existing procedures for evaluating requests for good cause for child support non-cooperation.
Good cause has not changed under this policy. Follow procedures for every other CalWORKs case with good cause.
A child who meets all eligibility conditions can be approved for SB 380 before the parent/caretaker relative is interviewed by the DCSS the same as any other CalWORKs case would be approved with only the referral. If the parent/caretaker relative later refuses or fails to cooperate with the DCSS, this does not affect SB 380 eligibility. Normal CalWORKs rules and penalties (25%) would apply to the AU’s grant amount if the DCSS determines non-cooperation exists.
Refusal or failure to cooperate does not affect SB 380 eligibility, however, if may affect the AU’s grant amount. If the DCSS determines the parent/caretaker relative is not cooperating with child support rules, a 25% penalty would be applied to the AU’s grant amount.

“Unticking” Time on Aid

Question 5

In regard to SB 380, is the child support collected by the DCSS and forwarded to the Au for a voluntarily excluded child used to untick TOA months?

Answer 5

No, the child support passed-through to the family for any reason and not retained to repay the family’s cash aid does not untick time on aid.

Court Orders and Direct Support

Question 6

If a client requests at SAR 7 or redetermination to have their child’s needs excluded per SB 380 but does not submit verification until after the new payment period has begun, can we take action mid-period to exclude the child from the AU MAP?

For example, the RD takes place November 2018, but the client needs to obtain an unallocated child support order. In January 2019, the client gets a new allocated court order which shows the child meets the SB 380 criteria. Would the child be removed effective January 31, 2019, with a 10-day NOA? Or would we wait until the next pay period to remove the child from the AU MAP because the child can only be opted into child support during SAR 7 or RD? Would the same apply at application?

Answer 6

For unallocated child support orders, the CW 52 request shall be denied (follow instructions to determine if a child support order is truly allocated before denying the request). The denial reason has been added to denial NOA M82-832H with the language “Child support orders from the court must show how much child support is given to each child.”

Parents/caretaker relatives should be advised to submit a new CW 52 when their child support order has been allocated by the court and it is their next SAR 7 or redetermination, whichever comes first, if the allocated child support amount is more than the CalWORKs cash aid they would receive for the child.

Question 7

Is a child support court order required to opt a child into child support per SB 380? It was understood that the client needed to provide a current child support court order in addition to the Monthly Statements of Collections and Distributions. Is that correct?

Answer 7

No, neither a court order for child support nor a Monthly Statement of Collections and Distributions is required. Although a court order or printout from the DCSS is the best form of verification, it is not the only acceptable verification allowed. However, the parent/caretaker relative must be able to verify that the individual amount of monthly child support received on behalf of the qualified step/half-sibling must exceed the grant amount that child is receiving or would receive.

Question 8

For direct child support, what if there are three kids from one dad receiving direct support? Do we divide the total amount by three?

Answer 8

No, only the family courts can determine the amount of child support each child is allocated when there is a child support order. If the child support received directly from the NCP and there is no court order, a written statement from the NCP designating the dollar amount for each child will be needed as verification of the amount received per child. Families can qualify with direct child support.

Parents/caretaker relatives receiving direct support must verify that the child support exceeds the grant amount for the step/half-siblings they wish to exclude for the MAP calculation. However, because of the child support cooperation requirement, it is likely that a child support court order will be established for families initially receiving direct support. SB 380 families are required to cooperate with child support and will be referred to the DCSS unless they have an approved good cause reason for
non-cooperation.

Child Support Income and Disregards

Question 9

How will child support be paid to the parent? Will the DCSS still collect and distribute the child support payments?

Answer 9

Child support will continue to be paid to the parent in the same manner they currently receive child support or the pass-through. If the DCSS collects and distributes the child support payments, they will continue to do so. If the payments are received directly from the NCP, they will continue to come directly for the NCP until the DCSS receives the referral and establishes a child support case. Once the child support case is established, the DCSS will begin collections on behalf of the child.

For example, if a client receives direct child support, it will continue unless the custodial/aided parent requests child support services, an account is established and the DCSS takes over collections or the child is added back to the CalWORKs family’s MAP amount, at which time the DCSS will accept the referral and initiate child support services. At application, all children, including SB 380 children, will be referred to the DCSS through the child support referral process, which should result in the establishment of a child support court order unless there is a good cause reason for non-cooperation.

Question 10

The client and the NCP have a child support “agreement”. Example: Mom with 2 children and 2 NCPs who wants to exclude one child stating Dad pays $500 of her rent (or car payment, braces, etc.) and they consider this the child support payment. The NCP pays directly to the landlord. The $500 is more than the amount of cash aid the child would receive. Can this child be excluded?

Answer 10

Yes, the $500 would be considered child support because that is the agreement between the NCP and the custodial/aided parent/caretaker relative regardless of who receives the payment. The child is eligible for SB 380 because the amount is greater that the cash aid the child would receive, and the half-sibling is in receipt of cash aid in the AU.

Question 11

Are the DCSS going to give an additional disregard payment? Example: Mom and 2 children with 2 NCP’s wants to exclude 1 child because she receives direct child support of $250 per month. The child is eligible to be excluded. The DCSS is collecting $100 in child support per month for the 2nd child, is the DCSS going to send her a $50 disregard? We already “counted” the $50 disregard in the first child’s calculation, and they already kept the full child support, so it seems that they would not get it again. Does that mean the DCSS will no longer give the disregard to parents who have opted to exclude a child(ren)?

Answer 11

The child support disregard would not be considered an “additional” disregard payment. The disregard amount was only used as a test to determine if the child receives enough child support to exceed what the child would receive if included in the AU’s MAP determination. DCSS will continue to pass through the disregard of any child support collected for children receiving a cash aid payment in the AU. An AU is only entitled to receive one disregard payment per month regardless of the number of children receiving child support or the number of child support payments received for that month.

Other Income and Resources

Question 12

If a child has a joint bank account with the custodial parent, would that account be included as a resource?

Answer 12

Because the excluded step/half-sibling’s income and resources are excluded from consideration against the remaining AU members, the child’s portion of the joint account/property cannot be counted. Follow existing CalWORKs rules/regulations to determine how to treat joint property.

Question 13

When determining the grant amount to decrease, is it to be based on the MAP or would it be based on the actual grant amount for when the AU is receiving some income and they do not receive the entire MAP?

Answer 13

For purposes of simplicity, when determining eligibility for SB 380, income to the AU will not be a factor. The Child MAP was created to assist in determining the amount of cash aid the child would receive if their needs were included in the AU’s MAP determination.

Question 14

The rule states that all required verifications shall be gathered at application as if the step/half-sibling were receiving cash aid to be able to meet the 10-day time-frame if a request were made to have a step/half-siblings’ needs considered in the MAP determination mid-period. There should be no delay or denial of the CalWORKs cash aid for the AU while gathering information for SB 380 children. How do we treat applicants that fail to provide information on the excluded child?

Answer 14

For CalWORKs verifications, use existing time frames when requesting verifications and allow a reasonable amount of additional time for parents/caretaker relatives who may be having difficulty obtaining them. As a reminder, it is our duty to assist applicants/recipients in obtaining verifications needed to establish eligibility.

Additionally, regulations do allow sworn affidavits for some verifications (excluding citizenship and SSN). Actual verification is always preferred, however, if after a good faith effort is made and the county is also unable to obtain the verification, a sworn statement must be accepted.

CW 52 Actions

Question 15

The statute requires the request to participate in SB 380 in writing. Does a verbal request from a client have to be processed and denied for “not requesting in writing”?

Answer 15

Eligibility for participation in SB 380 requires the parent/caretaker relative to submit the request to exclude the child from the AU’s MAP amount in writing. Verbal requests for participation in SB 380 are not required to be processed, therefore, the denial reason on the CW M82-832H denial NOA, “You did not request in writing” will be removed.

If an applicant/recipient makes a verbal request for a child to participate in SB 380, the worker should explain to the applicant/recipient that the request must be in writing and offer the CW 52 (for recipients, the reminder of the written request must be made at SAR 7 or redetermination only). If the verbal request is made over the phone, the worker should offer to provide the CW 52 to the client.

When the applicant/recipient cannot make requests in writing, the county must ensure the client receives the reasonable accommodations they are entitled to.

Question 16

Clients that provide unallocated court orders for child support must be told to return to court to have the orders allocated. There is not a denial reason on the NOA to deny the CW 52 request when the client is asked to have the court order allocated. What should be done with these requests? Can a sworn statement be used temporarily?

Answer 16

The CW 52 request should be denied because these court actions can take four to six months depending on the county and court caseload. The following denial reasons have been added to the M82-832H denial NOA: “You did not give us the proof we asked you for”, and “Child support orders from the court must show how much child support is given to each child”. The first is to be used for a lack of verifications in general, and the second reason is to be used for unallocated court orders. When using the first reason, include a list of the proof that was requested and not received. As a reminder, the original request for verification should have been made using the required CW 2200.

Although direction has been given that sworn statements are acceptable, after a good faith effort has been made to obtain evidence (in most cases other than citizenship, etc.), the DCSS confirmed they will not pass-through child support for clients who have unallocated court orders based on a sworn statement regarding the amount each child receives. Only a judge can make that determination. Determine if a child support order is truly unallocated before denying the CW 52 application.

Question 17

The rule states that clients may choose to opt their child(ren) into/out of SB 380 at application, SAR 7 and at their redetermination. What do we do with the CW 52 request if the client submits a late SAR 7 (such as the following month)? Late redetermination (same scenario)? Is the CW 52 denied (i.e., is it now considered past the SAR 7 or redetermination month)?

Answer 17

The request to opt the child into SB 380 can be processed as part of the SAR 7 or redetermination as long as the SAR 7 or redetermination has not been processed and completed. If the recipient’s SAR 7 or redetermination is late and processed per current regulation, but the client later states they meant to submit the CW 52 as part of the SAR 7 or redetermination, the CW 52 cannot be accepted and processed because the SAR 7 or redetermination has been completed.

If the SAR 7 or redetermination is late, resulting in a break in aid which requires a new application, the client may submit the CW 52 at that time because CW 52s are allowed “at application”. This is acceptable as long as the application has not been processed and completed/granted prior to the submission of the CW 52 as in the scenario above.

Question 18

If a CW 52 is received with the adult’s name on the child name field, do we need to generate the denial NOA? If the answer is yes, then which NOA should be used?

Answer 18

If the parent/caretaker relative made a mistake and placed their name in the child’s name field the denial reason would be: “Not the half/step-sibling of a CalWORKs eligible child”. If the form was submitted by a recipient it is good practice to inform the parent/caretaker relative of the error and advise them to submit a new CW 52 if they would like to proceed with the request.

If the adult is someone who is 18 years of age or older or a child who is age 18 years of age and not enrolled in and therefore ineligible for CalWORKs, a new reason will be added to the M82-832H denial NOA to say, “is not a child under 19 years of age attending school and expected to graduate before his/her 19th birthday who would be eligible for CalWORKs”.

Question 19

Will the CW 52 be sent out again or should the worker send it out again?

Answer 19

The rules state the CalWORKs applicants/recipients shall be informed of the provisions of SB 380 in writing at application and at the time of each annual redetermination, or sooner if requested.

Opting In/Out and Mid-Period Actions

Question 20

When a child is added back due to the child support decreasing or stopping, the change is made effective the beginning of the month the change is reported after verification is received. Does the child’s other income (if they have any, such as SSA) count for the month? Remainder of the SAR period?

Answer 20

Yes, when a person’s needs are considered in the cash aid payment, their income is also considered (unless the income is otherwise excluded by CalWORKs rules or federal law). Since the payment for the child is effective back to the first of the month, the income should be considered for the entire month as well as the remainder of the SAR or AR/CO period.

Question 21

When clients report a change, clients are given 10 days to provide verification and when it is regarding a decrease in income, the grant will be increased within 10-days of receipt of verification effective the first of the month in the month in which the change was reported. Example, a client reports on 9/5 that child support has decreased or stopped and submits verification by 9/15. Action would be taken to increase the grant to add the child’s portion no later than 9/25 effective back to 9/1. What if the client reports on 9/5 that the child support has decreased or stopped but does not submit the verification until 10/10 (in the following month)? Is the child’s portion restored effective 9/1 or 10/1?

Answer 21

The statute explicitly states it is the first of the month in which the change is reported. The effective date would be 9/1, however, action cannot be taken until verification is received.

If the child has other income that would decrease the AU’s MAP amount or if adding the child to the AU’s MAP mid-period would otherwise decrease the AU’s MAP amount for any reason, the child cannot be added back to the AU’s MAP until the beginning of the AU’s next SAR payment period for SAR AUs or the beginning of the following month after timely (10-day) and adequate notice is given for AR/CO AUs.

Question 22

When requesting proof of loss of child support for a previously excluded child, if the client does not turn in verification, can the change be acted upon? Does a No-Change NOA need to be issued? If they do provide verification, when is the child added back to the AU MAP? First of the month? First of the following month?

Answer 22

If a parent/caretaker relative does not submit the required verification/proof then action cannot be taken on the case and a No-Change NOA should be issued. If the step/half-sibling was SB 380 eligible and verification was submitted late, they should be added back on the first of the month that the change was reported within 10 days of actual receipt of the verification.

Question 23

If there is no loss or decrease of child support, when can the child be added back to the AU’s MAP determination?

Answer 23

The child’s needs can be added back to the AU’s MAP determination at the next SAR 7 or redetermination.

Question 24

Is it the county’s responsibility to add the child back to the AU’s MAP if they find out the parent stopped receiving child support?

Answer 24

No, the child can only be added back mid-period at the request of the parent/caretaker relative for the AU. Once a parent/caretaker relative has chosen to exclude a child’s needs when determining the AU’s MAP amount under the SB 380 rule, mandatory inclusion rules no longer apply to that child. A county-initiated action can be taken at the next SAR 7 or redetermination, whichever occurs first, if there is knowledge that the child no longer meets the eligibility crier.

Question 25

What happens if the only SB 380 eligible child ages out?

Answer 25

If an 18-year old is enrolled in school and expected to graduate by their 19th birthday, they must continue to be considered a child for the purposes of CalWORKs until they graduate or reach their 19th birthday, whichever comes first, and the step/half-sibling whose needs are excluded remains eligible for SB 380 as long as the 18-year old remains in the AU.

Whenever a case with an SB 380 child has an AU and the CalWORKs child who receives the cash aid leaves the AU for any reason (ages out, moves away, etc.) mid-period, we cannot initiate a mid-period action to discontinue the case or add the SB 380 child to the AU’s MAP. The parent/caretaker relative must continue to be aided until the end of the SAR or AR/CO pay period, depending on the case type.

At the end of the payment period, action must be taken regarding the SB 380 child because they no longer meet the eligibility requirements to participate in the Child Support in Lieu of Cash Grant Option. If it is the end of the first SAR payment period and the SAR 7 is due, outreach must be done to the parent/caretaker relative to provide them with the options available. Because it was required to collect all the required information and verifications for the child at application (or the child was previously considered in the AU’s grant determination before participating in SB 380), this contact can be done by telephone and documented by case note. The parent/caretaker relative should be instructed to make the choice on their SAR 7 form. No additional form is needed. If the SAR 7 has already been submitted, the choice of the parent/caretaker relative may be documented in the case note when the contact is made. If additional verifications are needed, for example, updated immunizations, the request for verifications is to be by using the CW 2200 giving the standard due dates to return the verifications for on-going recipient eligibility.

The two options available to the parent/caretaker relative are to either add the SB 380 child into the AU’s MAP determination, or to discontinue the entire case. If the parent/caretaker relative chooses to add the child to the AU’s MAP determination the child must be added the first day of the new SAR payment period and adequate notice must be given. If the parent/caretaker relative declines to have the child aided at that time, a timely 10-day adequate NOA to discontinue the case must be issued. This notice should coincide with the end of the SAR payment period, unless the SAR 7 was late, or the parent/caretaker relative did not respond timely to the request to choose an option. If a 10-day notice cannot be given in time to stop the aid payment from going out, the case should discontinue as soon as a 10-day notice can be given and an overpayment established for any aid that was paid and the AU was not eligible to receive it (following overpayment establishment rules).

For AR/CO cases or SAR cases at the end of the second SAR period (annual redetermination), the conversation regarding options and choices will take place during the interactive interview. The same time frames would apply.

The only time a mid-period action may be taken is when the amount of child support received decreases or ceases for the SB 380 child and the parent/caretaker relative requests they be added to the AU mid-period. Follow existing CalWORKs rules to add other eligible children to the AU moving into the home or born into the family mid-period.

Miscellaneous

Question 26

If an entire family applies for CalWORKs and also applies to opt a child into SB 380 (submits a SAWS 2 Plus and CW 52), can one denial NOA be sent or are two required?

Answer 26

Two NOAs are required. One is needed for the CW 52 application request and one is needed for the CalWORKs application. These are two separate requests, therefore, they must be considered and dispositioned separately.