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Aid Payments
[EAS 44-301 - 309]
Aid payments are payments:
- Delivered to the recipient or family or to the legally appointed guardian or conservator of the recipient's estate, with no state or county control over the use of the funds.
- Made to a substitute payee who is serving as the representative of the recipient or family.
- Made directly to a person or agency supplying goods or services to the recipient or family. These most often occur in Homeless Assistance payments and in Employment Services sanction cases.
Receipt of CalWORKs
A person is considered to have received a CalWORKs payment even if the grant for the AU is reduced to zero to adjust or offset a prior overpayment.
Reminder: An individual who receives Medi-Cal only or Refugee Cash Assistance (RCA) is not considered to have received a CalWORKs cash grant.
General Principles
Each CalWORKs individual or family has the right to:
- Manage their own affairs.
- Decide how to use their funds, including their aid payment, in a manner which will best serve their interests.
- Make their purchases and enjoy the same rights and responsibilities as all other members of the community.
Aid payments are for the benefit of the recipient only, and are not income to any other person.
Exceptions
Aid payments are made following the above principles, except when protective payments must be made due to an authorized sanction because the person has failed, without good cause:
- To cooperate with Employment Services, or
- To meet their responsibilities in the child support process.
Payee and Issuance Methods
Either parent may be the designated payee. However, the payee is assumed to be the person responsible for managing and administering the CalWORKs grant and may therefore be responsible for any overpayment which occurs in this AU.
Aid payments are delivered only to the eligible child’s parent or caretaker, or to a substitute payee or vendor if the parent or caretaker consents. In an emergency situation, the payment may be delivered to a person acting temporarily for the payee.
Cash payments can be issued by one of the following methods:
- Paper Warrants (referred to as “checks” when generated through CalSAWS and issued to the client on the same day by the District Office Fiscal Clerk. Warrants cannot be mailed outside of the United States.
- EBT
- EFT/Direct Deposit
However, effective November 2002, payments for cash assistance are being issued via EBT, unless the client qualifies for an exemption. [Refer to Common-Place Handbook, “ Exemption from Cash EBT,” page 16-46.]
Payment Schedule
Payments issued via EBT are available to clients on their stagger day. Payments issued via EFT are available on the first of the month. Warrants are mailed in a timely manner so that they are available to clients on the first of the month, or on the previous day, when the first of the month falls on a Sunday or holiday.
Vendor Payments
Vendor payments are payments issued directly to a person or agency (such as a landlord). They are most commonly used and issued as part of the Permanent Housing Homeless Assistance payment or due to the Vendor Payment requirement for sanctioned clients.
Refer to Vendor Payment and/or Designated Alternate Cardholders [EAS 44-303.34 & 44-307.12] for detailed policy information on the VP requirement for ES sanctioned clients.
[Refer to “VENDOR PAYMENT PROCESS,” page -1] of the Business Process for detailed process information.]
Duplicate Warrants
When a client reports the loss of a warrant and is issued a duplicate warrant, a stop payment is issued for the first warrant. If the county then determines that this individual has cashed the first warrant, then the second warrant is an overpayment and the EW must take prompt action to notify the client and begin the adjustment process.