CalWORKs - Failure to Cooperate

CalWORKs — Sanction/Penalty Procedures

EAS 82-510

The parent/caretaker relative may be penalized or sanctioned for failure to cooperate in the various child and medical support enforcement activities. If the parent is sanctioned and removed from the AU, the child remains eligible. Aid for the child may be established or continue in the form of protective payments. Refer to CalWORKs Handbook Chapter 34 Aid Payment Principles for the protective payment procedures.

Exception: Sanction/Penalty procedures do not apply to Safety Net and Fleeing Felon cases, aid codes K1 and/or 3F. Applicants/recipients with aid codes K1/3F are no longer required to assign support rights or cooperate with child support requirements as a condition of eligibility for CalWORKs.

Failure to Assign Support Rights

When the parent or caretaker relative marks on CW 2.1 N&A that they refuse to assign support rights to the county, that individual is sanctioned (ineligible for cash aid). This parent is considered a non-AU member. Under the Certification and Agreement section of the CalSAWS Absent Parents page, update the Assign Child/Spousal Support Rights field to "I refuse to assign child/spousal support rights."

If the parent caretaker/relative complies with the assignment of support rights requirement, that person is added to the AU the month following the date that person complies with the requirements, or the date the person meets all eligibility conditions, whichever is later. In order to assign support rights, the appropriate box on the CW 2.1 N&A must be marked and the client must sign and date the form. Enter an End Date for the existing record in the Assign Child/Spousal Support Rights field, then add a new record for "I agree to assign child/spousal support rights."

Failure to Cooperate

When the parent or aided caretaker relative fails or refuses to cooperate in the child support enforcement process, the AU is penalized by having a 25% reduction in the computed grant amount. Failure to cooperate procedures are used when the applicant/recipient:

Refuses to complete any necessary forms, such as CW 2.1 N&A.
Fails to appear at the DCSS office or meet with the co-located DCSS staff as requested.
Fails to cooperate fully with DCSS.
Fails to establish Good Cause and still refuses to cooperate.

A client cannot be penalized for failure to provide essential information to DCSS without first being offered the opportunity to establish cooperation by signing the Attestation Statement at DCSS. If the client completes and signs the statement, that individual is considered to have cooperated with DCSS in meeting the requirement to provide requested information on the absent parent. This is completed by DCSS, not the EW.

Penalizing and/or sanctioning a client for not cooperating in the child and medical support enforcement process is completed on a prospective basis for intake and on the first of the future month for continuing cases, once an adequate and timely (10-day) NOA is issued. The EW must not go back and retroactively remove a person from an AU and declare an overpayment.

DCSS Determines Noncooperation

As a requirement for aid, each applicant or recipient must cooperate with both the SSA and DCSS in:

Establishing the paternity of a child of the applicant or recipient, and
Establishing, modifying or enforcing a support order for the child for whom aid is requested or received, unless a Good Cause determination has been made.

If the applicant/recipient signs under penalty of perjury that the requested information cannot be provided, DCSS determines if the individual could reasonably be expected to provide the information. DCSS considers all of the following:

The age of the child for whom support is sought.
The circumstances surrounding the conception of the child.
The age and/or mental capacity of the parent or caretaker.
The time that has passed since the parent or caretaker had contact with the absent parent.

Cooperation includes the following:

Providing the name of the absent parent, as well as other information if known, such as address, SSN, telephone number, place of employment or school, and the names and addresses of relatives,
Appearing at interviews and legal proceedings, as long as reasonable advance notice is given and the client does not have good cause not to appear,
Submitting to genetic tests, if paternity is at issue, and
Providing any additional information about the absent parent that is reasonably obtainable by the applicant or recipient.

Child Support Penalty Task

When DCSS determines that a CalWORKs client has failed to cooperate, they will make the necessary entries in their system that will cause a "Child Support - Penalty Imposed" task to generate in CalSAWS. When the EW receives a "Child Support - Penalty Imposed" task on the case, the EW must contact the assigned CSO at DCSS to confirm that a penalty should be applied to the case.

Reminder: A roster for DCSS CSOs is available here. CSOs are assigned to cases based on the AP’s last name.

If the Client...

Then under the Certification and Agreement section of the CalSAWS Absent Parents page...

Failed to cooperate and there is time for a 10-day NOA,

Update the Child Support Cooperation field to "Do not agree to cooperate."

to apply the 25% child support penalty effective the following month.

Failed to cooperate but there is NO time for a timely 10-day NOA,

Enter an End Date for the existing record in the Child Support Cooperation field.
Add a new record for "Do not agree to cooperate" in the Child Support Cooperation field. Use the future future month for the Begin Date.

to apply the 25% child support penalty effective the future future month.

When the parent caretaker/relative fails to cooperate with DCSS, it is considered one instance of noncooperation regardless of the number of children he/she has. The 25% penalty is only applied once to a given parent caretaker relative.

Note: The 25% penalty is applied to the AU, even if the parent who fails to cooperate is not in the AU (i.e., undocumented alien parent, SSI/SSP parent, sanctioned parent). This also applies to aided caretaker relatives. The 25% penalty cannot be applied to non-needy caretaker cases.

Action if Client Agrees to Cooperate

If the client responds to the decrease notice and wishes to cooperate, the EW must take the following steps:

Send the client a new CW 2.1 N&A and CW 2.1Q.
Complete the CW 371 indicating that the client now wishes to cooperate in the child/medical support process.
Image all forms.
Remove the 25% penalty when a "Child Support - Penalty Lifted" alert is received by CalSAWS. This task is to inform the EW that the individual in this case has cooperated with DCSS and that the penalty should be removed.

Good Cause Claim after Notice of Noncooperation

If the recipient responds to the notice and requests a Good Cause determination because there is the belief that the child or caretaker is in jeopardy if DCSS referral process is completed, the EW must follow these steps:

Have the recipient complete a CW 51.
Follow the Good Cause referral procedures. Refer to Good Cause Determinations (EAS 82-512, 82-514, CCR 50175, 50771.5, 50185).
Remove the 25% penalty the first of the month in which the Good Cause claim was requested. Restore Medi-Cal eligibility effective the month in which good cause claim is requested. If the SSPM determines that Good Cause does not exist, take appropriate action.

Failure to Turn in Direct Support

If the recipient receives direct support and fails to turn it in to SSA, the EW must follow these steps:

Contact the client by phone or letter informing the individual of his/her responsibility.
Send a timely NOA.
Apply the 25% penalty to the AU.
Continue Medi-Cal for the individual until a determination can be made whether the applicant/recipient is willing to cooperate with the Medical Support requirements. The EW must contact the client and explain the need to cooperate and the consequences of noncooperation.

Action When Recipient Agrees to Turn in Direct Support

If the recipient is penalized for failing to turn in direct support, the EW must remove the 25% penalty when:

The recipient begins turning direct support payments over to the State Disbursement Unit (SDU), or
The absent parent begins making support payments to the SDU, or
The recipient certifies on the SAR 7 or on a "Sworn Statement" (GEN 853) that no child/medical/spousal support payments from the absent parent are being received.

The penalty is removed the first of the month in which one of the above cooperation actions occurred. Medi-Cal for the individual must be restored effective the month of cooperation if it was terminated for noncooperation.

Action for Failure to Assign Support Rights and Noncooperation

If the client is sanctioned for refusing to assign support rights and also fails/refuses to cooperate in the child support enforcement process, the parent or caretaker relative must be sanctioned (excluded from the AU) and a 25% penalty must also be applied to the AU’s grant (for failure to cooperate).

Medi-Cal eligibility for the individual will continue until a determination can be made whether the applicant/recipient is willing to cooperate with the medical support requirements. The EW must contact the client and explain the need to cooperate and the consequences of noncooperation.

Missed Appointment

When the EW receives notification from DCSS that the client has failed to cooperate and the EW is aware that the client had a good reason for not keeping the appointment, the EW must:

Contact DCSS using the "Social Services Agency (SSA)/Local Child Support Agency (LCSA) Communication Form" (SCD 1603),
Provide the reason why the appointment was missed, and
Ask DCSS to reschedule the client's appointment.

Good reasons for a missed appointment include the client or the client’s family illness, hospitalization, or another acceptable reason.

Paternity Penalty

In establishing paternity when both parents are living in the home, the 25% penalty is applied only for the parent who fails or refuses to cooperate. If neither parent cooperates in this process, two 25% penalties must be applied. First, apply one 25% penalty and then reduce the remainder of the computed grant by another 25% for the second failure to cooperate. Update the Child Support Cooperation field under the Certification and Agreement section of the CalSAWS Absent Parents page for each parent.

Senior Parent/Minor Parent Case

If both the minor parent and the senior parent are aided and fail to cooperate in the child support enforcement process for their respective children, then two 25% penalties are applied. A 25% penalty is first applied, and the remainder of the computed grant is reduced by another 25% for the second failure to cooperate. Update the Child Support Cooperation field under the Certification and Agreement section of the CalSAWS Absent Parents page for each absent parent.