Caretaker Relative

Eligible Child

An eligible child must meet the following requirements:

Be age eligible, and
Have deprivation, and
Be needy and
Live in the home of a caretaker relative.

The home of the caretaker relative is a family setting maintained or in the process of being established for a child. A child is considered to be living in the home of a caretaker relative even when:

The child is under the jurisdiction of the court and is living in the home of a relative (e.g., receiving probation services or protective supervision); or
The child's legal custody is held by an agency that does not have physical possession of the child.

A CalWORKs eligible child must be both deprived and needy. The eligible child must meet the requirements of all necessary linking and non-linking factors.

Linking Factors

Linking eligibility factors are those single conditions that link an applicant to a categorical program. These factors are: blindness and deprivation of parental care or support.

Non-Linking Factors

Non-linking eligibilty factors are those factors that establish whether an individual is entitled to assistance under the program to which the applicant is linked. The non-linking eligibility factors are: age, property, residence, financial status and institutional status.

Caretaker Relative Requirements

[EAS 82-808]

The caretaker relative MUST be related to the applicant or eligible child. The caretaker relative may be any relation by blood, marriage or adoption who is within the fifth degree of kinship to the applicant or eligible child.

The mandatory inclusion rules do not supersede the caretaker relative relationship requirement. The caretaker relative MUST have the acceptable degree of relatedness.

Biological Relatives

An acceptable caretaker relative is the:

Parent (1st degree)
Grandparent or sibling (2nd degree)
Great grandparent, uncle or aunt, niece or nephew (3rd degree)
Great-great grandparent, great uncle or aunt, or first cousin (4th degree)
Great-great-great grandparent, great-great uncle or aunt, or first cousin, once removed (5th degree).

Example Example If Dick and Jane are first cousins, Jane's children are first cousins once removed to Dick, and Dick's children are first cousins once removed to Jane. Dick's and Jane's children are second cousins.

Note: Second cousins are not within the 5th degree of kinship and therefore do not have appropriate caretaker relative status.

Essential and Optional Persons

Essential Person

[EAS 44-209.3]

An essential person is a stepparent, a California domestic partner of the child’s parent, or ASP who is not an otherwise federally eligible person and who:

Is related to a child determined to be federally eligible, or
Is related to a child who is either receiving SSI/SSP or sanctioned by CWES who would otherwise be federally eligible.

Optional Person

[EAS 82-828]

The following persons who are not otherwise required to be in the AU may be included upon the request of the applicant/recipient:

Any non-parent relative who has been determined to be the caretaker relative of the child.
Any essential person, who meets the necessary requirements (e.g., the stepparent, California domestic partner of the eligible child's parent or ASP).
Any other eligible children, including but not limited to a grandchild, niece or nephew.

Number of Caretaker Relatives

An AU may have more than one caretaker relative. However, an eligible child has only one caretaker relative at a time.

Example Example A family consists of a mother, her three children and the child of her oldest child (the grandchild). The AU contains all five persons, with both the mother and the minor parent being caretaker relatives. Each caretaker relative is responsible for different persons.

Minor Parent/Caretaker Relative

A child who is a caretaker relative is not considered a child to establish eligibility for a senior parent.

Example Example A minor mother and her child live with the senior mother. The minor mother cannot be considered a child in her mother’s AU. If the senior mother is the caretaker relative for both the minor mother and the minor mother’s child, then they would all be in the same AU, with both the minor mother and her child being considered children. If the minor mother is the caretaker relative of her own child, then only the minor mother and her child are aided.