Intentional Program Violation (IPV) - General

[CFC: 20-350]

A fraud penalty is applied when a determination is made that an individual has committed an IPV. This occurs when the individual intentionally:

Made a false or misleading statement or misrepresented, concealed or withheld facts, or
Committed any act intended to mislead, misrepresent, conceal or withhold facts, and
Committed these acts to establish or maintain CalWORKs eligibility, or to increase or prevent a reduction in the amount of the CalWORKs grant.

The penalty is applied ONLY to the person specifically identified as having committed the IPV.

Determination of IPV

An IPV may be determined by ANY of the following:

A state or federal criminal court.
A state or federal civil court.
A state ADH.
A determination made on the basis of a plea of guilty or nolo contendere (no contest).

The EW does NOT make the determination that an IPV has occurred.

An IPV cannot be established for a person who committed fraud prior to March 1, 1992. The individual must have been informed of the potential for an IPV before an IPV can be determined.

IPVs from Another State

Findings of an IPV from another state are valid in California. These must be implemented based upon the appropriate regulations, regardless of whether the finding was from the other state's court, an ADH, or a federal court finding.

Consent Agreement

An individual may sign a “Disqualification Consent Agreement” (ABCD 478A) which allows the disqualification penalty to be imposed without any further court or administrative hearings.

By signing the consent agreement, the client is voluntarily consenting to be penalized from the CalWORKs program. The EW is NOT involved in the review of the ABCD 478A nor the discussion between the client and the county's representative nor in the signing of the ABCD 478A.

Informing

EWs must:

Review the IPV penalties at Intake and Redetermination, as well as any other time when it is necessary to complete the SAWS 2A.
Insure that the client understands what an IPV is and the IPV penalty periods.

Effective Dates

The EE at IEVS must take immediate action to penalize a person once notification is received from the DA office. The EE must initiate the appropriate penalty period on active cases within 45 days from the date of the conviction and sends the client a timely and adequate NOA.

Note: The EE must not penalize anyone for an IPV until notification is received from the DA. This notification will include when the IPV was committed and who committed it. Only the individual is penalized.

NOAs

A NOA must be sent to the individual when it is found that the individual has committed an IPV, whether through the court process, the ADH process from another state, or the consent agreement.

When the EE receives notification of the IPV, the method of determination will be on the form, so the NOA can be completed correctly.

Budgeting Concerns

The penalized person continues as an AU member, is eligible for Medi-Cal and must comply with all other eligibility requirements, including participating with Employment Services. However, the needs of the penalized person are not allowed when determining the grant amount. If the penalized person has income, the appropriate income disregards are allowed, if applicable ($225 income disregard and 50% earned income disregard).

The grant adjustment for an IPV is determined by calculating 90% of MAP for the AU. The balance on an IPV overpayment must be adjusted before any other overpayment balances.

The resources and income of the penalized person are considered available to the AU.

Period of Ineligibility

If the AU or individual responsible for the IPV goes off aid prior to imposing or during the IPV penalty period, the IPV penalty is suspended until the individual is determined eligible for CalWORKs by joining another AU or reapplying at a later date. The individual must actually be penalized from CalWORKs for the appropriate number of months. The tracking of the IPV penalty period must be completed on the “Intentional Program Violation (IPV) Tracking” (SC 271) and Imaged into the case. Once the individual is again determined eligible for CalWORKs, the remainder of the sanction/penalty period must be applied.

Reminder: Intake workers must review the Sanction Summary page and the Journal page to see if the AU has an individual who was convicted for an IPV, but the penalty was not applied. The intake worker must penalize the individual for the appropriate number of months before approving cash aid.

Example Example An IPV penalty is for 6 months, beginning June 1st. The case is discontinued at the end of July for no SAR 7. The remaining four months of the penalty will not be applied until the client reapplies and the AU is determined eligible.

Example Example An IPV penalty is for 12 months. The CalWORKs case is closed. The EE sends the IPV NOA to client, but penalty cannot be applied. Once the client reapplies and is determined eligible, that individual is penalized and the penalty period starts.

Restoration of Needs

The needs of the penalized person are restored effective the first of the month following the end of the penalty period, if all other eligibility factors are clear. No new application is required, as the individual has been an AU member throughout the penalty period.

Example Example A mother is penalized for 6 months from July through December. On December 12th, the EW takes appropriate action to add her needs back to the AU, effective January 1st.