Financial Eligibility Determination

All linking and non-linking factors of eligibility must be evaluated at application and on a semi-annual basis. Any time the EW receives information which may affect a recipient’s eligibility, a prospective determination must be made as to whether the AU has continuing eligibility. Prospective budgeting requires interaction between the EW and the client to determine the best available information to determine the AU’s reasonably anticipated income.

A prospective financial eligibility determination is used:

  • At the point of application AFTER passing the Applicant Gross Income Test.
  • When processing the SAR 7 with income to determine if the recipient will be financially eligible in the payment period based upon the information reported on the SAR 7.
  • At any other time to determine if there is ongoing eligibility when the recipient has made a voluntary or mandatory Mid-Period report, or if the EW becomes aware of a change in the recipient’s situation.

Example Example A recipient, who receives CalWORKs for herself and two children (AU of 3), reports on her March SAR 7, received on April 7th, that she started working full-time on April 1st. She also reports she will have gross monthly earnings of $3,000 per month beginning May. The EW determines the AU ineligible for the next payment period because her monthly income is in excess of Tier 2 for an AU of 3. CalWORKs is discontinued on April 30th. Continuing eligibility for Transitional Medi-Cal (TMC) is determined and the client must be referred to the Child Care Hotline 793-1204. 

Note: Based on SAR regulations, there is no Overpayment for March or April.

Income Eligibility

[EAS 44-207.1]

MBSAC

The MBSAC is the amount of money which is necessary to provide an AU with:

  • Housing
  • Clothing
  • Food
  • Utilities
  • Items for household operations, education and incidentals, recreation, personal needs, and insurance
  • Essential medical and dental care not covered by public expense.

The MBSAC figure is only used in the Applicant Gross Income Test. It is not used in the Recipient Financial Eligibility Test or for grant computation.

Source of Income

Apply the Applicant Gross Income test at the time of application:

  • To determine financial eligibility for the current month, or
  • To determine financial eligibility for the next month when the applicant does not pass the test in the current month.

Related Topics

Applicant Gross Income Test

Recipient Net Income Test

Income Reporting Threshold (IRT)

MAP Levels

Examples of MAP Status

Federal Financial Participation

State-Only Payments