Determining Caretaker Relative

Care and Control

Determine who the caretaker relative is by reviewing the actual circumstances in each case to determine who exercises care and control for a child. Possible factors to be considered in making this determination are which person:

Decides where the child attends school.
Deals with the school on educational decisions and problems.
Controls participation in extracurricular and recreational activities.
Arranges medical and dental care services.
Claims the child as a tax dependent.
Purchases and maintains the child's clothing.

Other similar factors may also be considered. A single action may not be determinative. All factors must be considered.

Convicted Offender Caretaker

A convicted offender who is serving a sentence while living at home and who is considered the absent parent may be the caretaker relative, if that individual otherwise meets the definition of caretaker relative. Refer to Caretaker Relative.

Alternating Arrangements

When a child stays alternately for periods of one month or less with each of his/her parents who are separated or divorced, the following rules apply:

The parent with whom the child stays for the majority of the time is the caretaker relative in most instances. The temporary absence of the parent or the child from the home does not affect this determination.
The parent with whom the child stays for less than the majority of the time may be the caretaker relative, if that parent can establish that he/she has the majority of the responsibility for the care and control of the child.

Equal Amount of Time with Each Parent

When the child spends an equal amount of time with each parent and each parent exercises an equal share of care and control responsibilities, the parent who applies for aid is the caretaker relative, provided that the child's other parent is not currently applying for or receiving aid for the child.

Equal Responsibility

When each parent exercises an equal share of day-to-day care and control responsibilities, and each has applied for aid for the child, the caretaker relative is determined in the following order:

The parent designated in a current court order as the primary caretaker for purposes of public assistance, under Civil Code Section 4600.5(h) which states:
- “In making an order of joint physical custody or joint legal custody, the court may specify one parent as the primary caretaker of the child and one home as the primary home of the child, for the purposes of determining eligibility for public assistance.”
When no court order designation exists and only one parent would be eligible for aid, the parent who would be eligible is the caretaker relative.
When both parents would be eligible the parents must designate one parent as the caretaker relative. The agreement must be documented on the “Caretaker Parent Agreement” (CW 13). One copy is Imaged in the case record and one copy given to each parent.

If the parents cannot reach agreement on the designation of a caretaker relative, the parent who first applied for aid for the child is the caretaker relative.

The parent who has been determined to be the caretaker relative of a child who stays with the other parent for alternating periods of one month or less remains the caretaker relative during the period when the child is with the other parent.

Alternating Periods of One Full Calendar Month or More

[EAS 82-808.42]

When the child stays alternately for periods of one full calendar month or more with different persons who are not living together, the caretaker relative is the person with whom the child is staying at the time. The child is not considered temporarily absent from the home of the caretaker who does not have the child.

Example Example The parents do not live together and share custody of their child. There is absent parent deprivation. The child stays three months with the other parent and then three months with the mother. Either parent could apply for aid for the child. In this situation, the other parent is employed full time and is not needy. The mother, who is needy, may apply for aid as of the date the child begins to stay with her.