Domestic Abuse Good Cause

Assembly Bill (AB) 2277 requires counties to waive appropriate program requirement(s) for survivors of domestic abuse when good cause exists. This is intended to help ensure safety, family stability, and remove barriers unique to those experiencing the effects of past or present domestic abuse.

Good Cause

Good cause exists when CalWORKs Social Worker (SW)/Domestic Violence (DV) Advocates determine there is a condition or other circumstance that temporarily prevents or significantly impairs the survivor's ability to be regularly employed or to participate in WTW activities.

Every three months, CalWORKs SW/DV Advocates must review good cause waiver determinations as the survivor's needs change. Waivers must continue to be granted to survivors when the effects of domestic abuse are still impacting the family.

Reminder: Adults who are ineligible for CalWORKs benefits are not eligible for a good cause waiver (examples: adults who receive Supplemental Security Income (SSI), non-needy caregiver relatives, and ineligible non-citizens).

Retroactive Requests

Good cause waivers may be granted retroactively for up to three months prior to the date the victim of past or present abuse requests a domestic abuse waiver.

Good cause waivers may be granted retroactively for more than three months when the failure to grant a waiver was due to an error by the county. In that circumstance, the waiver may be retroactive to the date that the domestic abuse participant established that they were a survivor of domestic abuse, including via a sworn statement, and the error should be documented in the Journal Detail page.

The approved retroactive dates will be entered on the "CalWORKs Domestic Abuse Participation Status" form (SCD 1554).

Program Eligibility Requirements that Cannot be Waived

The following program eligibility requirements CANNOT be waived due to domestic abuse:

Deprivation
Property (real and personal)
Income
Homeless Assistance eligibility criteria.

Program Eligibility Requirements that Can be Waived

EWs can waive all other program eligibility requirements for survivors including:

Time limit on aid
Paternity establishment
Child support cooperation
Proof of age-appropriate immunizations for all children in the assistance unit (AU) under the age of six.

EWs must determine which program eligibility requirement(s) to waive in discussion with the survivor. Waived requirements must be based on the needs of the survivor and adjusted as necessary to provide support.

Domestic Abuse Exemption/Extender Review

When a client has been approved a Domestic Abuse Exemption/Extender, the CalWORKs SW/DV Advocate must review the case prior to the expiration date to determine appropriate action.

The CalWORKs SW/DV Advocate will review the pending expiration date, provide a recommendation on a new "CalWORKs Domestic Abuse Participation Status" (SCD 1554), and forward to EWs and ECs for review.

Coding TOA Exemptions in CalSAWS

An individual who has been approved a Domestic Abuse Exemption/Extender is also exempt from WTW participation.

In order for a Domestic Abuse Exemption/Extender to record correctly in CalSAWS, the following actions must be taken by the EW and EC prior to running EDBC/Authorizing results.

Domestic Abuse Exemptions

EW:

Adds the case flag "Domestic Abuse" and enters an end-date 30 days out.

EC:

Refer to the DA Exemption sub-section of the Welfare-to-Work (WTW) Waiver Time Frames topic in CWES Handbook Chapter 17.

Domestic Abuse Extenders

EC:

Refer to the DA Extender sub-section of the Welfare-to-Work (WTW) Waiver Time Frames topic in CWES Handbook Chapter 17.

TOA Exemption Priority

The domestic abuse exemption takes precedence over all other exemptions.

When a domestic abuse exemption expires and will not be extended, EWs must review the case for any other exemption for which the client may qualify. Once ECs complete the WTW pages, EWs must run EDBC and end-date the "Domestic Abuse" case flag.

Reminder: The domestic abuse exemption stops the 60-month CalWORKs clock and the clock status on the Cash Aid Time Limit Month List page should display as “Exempt.”