IPV Penalty Period - On or After January 1, 1998

Individuals who are found by a state or federal court or by an administrative disqualification hearing, including any determination made on the basis of a plea of guilty or nolo contendere (no contest), to have committed a fraudulent act on or after January 1,1998 are penalized for the following periods.

Six (6) - Month Penalty

A 6-month penalty is applied to any individual who committed, upon the first occasion, ANY of the following acts:

Made false or misleading statements or misrepresented, concealed, or withheld facts.
Committed any act intended to mislead, misrepresent, conceal, or withhold facts or propounded a falsity.

Twelve (12) - Month Penalty

A 12-month penalty is applied to any individual who committed for the second occasion, ANY of the following acts:

Made false or misleading statements or misrepresented, concealed, or withheld facts.
Committed any act intended to mislead, misrepresent, conceal, or withhold facts or propounded a falsity.

Two (2) - Year Penalty

Individuals have a 2-year penalty period when:

Convicted of a felony in state or federal court, including any determination made on the basis of a plea of guilty or nolo contendere (no contest), that does not meet the permanent penalty criteria and the overpayment is less than $2,000.
Found to have committed fraud, upon the first occasion, by submitting more than one application for the same type of aid for the same period of time, to receive more than one grant of aid, in order to establish or maintain the family’s eligibility for aid, or increase, or prevent a reduction in the amount of that aid.

Four (4) - Year Penalty

Individuals have a 4-year penalty period when found to have committed fraud, upon the second occasion, for submitting more than one application for the same type of aid for the same period of time, to receive more than one grant of aid, in order to establish or maintain the family’s eligibility for aid, or increase, or prevent a reduction in the amount of that aid.

Five (5) - Year Penalty

Individuals have a 5-year penalty period when convicted of a felony in state or federal court, including any determination made on the basis of a plea of guilty or nolo contendere (no contest), that does not meet the permanent penalty criteria and the overpayment is more than $2,000 but less than $5,000.

Permanent Penalty

An individual who has committed ANY of the following acts is permanently penalized from receiving CalWORKs:

Made fraudulent statements or representations regarding their place of residence, in order to receive assistance simultaneously, from two or more states or counties.
Submitted false documents for nonexistent or ineligible children.
Received cash benefits in excess of $10,000 through fraudulent means.

An individual who is convicted of a felony in state or federal court, including any determination made on the basis of a plea of guilty or nolo contendere (no contest), who received cash benefits in excess of $5,000 though fraudulent means is permanently penalized from receiving CalWORKs.

An individual is permanently penalized if this is the third occurrence of ANY of the following acts:

Making false or misleading statements or misrepresenting, concealing, or withholding facts.
Committing any act intended to mislead, misrepresent, conceal, or withhold facts or propounded a falsity.
Submitting more than one application for the same type of aid for the same period of time, for the purpose of receiving more than one grant of aid, in order to establish or maintain the family’s eligibility for aid, or increasing or preventing a reduction in the amount of that aid.

Overlapping Penalty Period

If the fraudulent act is committed over a period of time which begins prior to January 1, 1998 but extends beyond January 1, 1998, the fraud penalties listed above must be applied.