General Assistance Clients - Board and Care Facility

Due to the fact that payments for GA clients who are residing in a State Licensed Board and Care facility are paid directly to the facility in the following month, after the facility bills the County, it is necessary to exempt these payments from EBT. There is no programming to exempt this aid type automatically. All GA cases in which the client resides in a State Licensed Board and Care Facility MUST be exempted manually. To manually exempt these cases, the EW must complete the required fields in the [Capture EBT Exemption] and EBT Account Detail page. Refer to “Process a Cash EBT Exemption Request” in Help for complete instructions.

Drug/Alcohol Treatment Centers

Drug/Alcohol Treatment Centers may be approved as FNS retailers. EBT cards for clients residing in rehabilitation Treatment Centers are sent to the AR, not the client. The AR is assigned a PIN for each resident’s card. Each facility will have a POS device, if FNS approved. If so, the AR will swipe each card, transferring the client’s CalFresh benefits to the Treatment Center’s account. If the Treatment Center takes all the benefits on the first (1st) of the month, the Center MUST process a return credit to the client if he/she leaves the home prior to the 16th of the month.

Note: Treatment Centers are being encouraged to swipe the card on the 1st of the month for ONLY half of the CalFresh benefits and again on the 16th of the month for the remaining half. This will prevent the Treatment Center from having to credit back benefits for clients who leave the facility prior to the 16th of the month.

Issuing the EBT Card/PIN to the Treatment Center

To avoid confusion, Treatment Centers have decided to use the same PIN number for all residents; therefore, when issuing a card to the facility, select “Don’t Issue Pin” from the drop down menu in the EBT Card Detail page. When the EBT card is received, the AR of the facility can enter the PIN through the ARU or by coming into the District Office.

Client leaves the Treatment Center PRIOR to the 16th of the Month

When a client leaves the Treatment Center PRIOR to the 16th of the month, the Treatment Center is entitled to half of the CalFresh allotment for that month, and the client is ONLY entitled to the other half of the benefits. In order to ensure that the Treatment Center receives their half of the CalFresh benefits, clients cannot be issued a new card until the day AFTER their stagger day.

ExampleExample Rick calls his worker on 12/4 and reports that he left the treatment center. His stagger day is the 9th of every month. The EW must wait until 12/10 to issue the client a new card.

The following procedure must be followed when a client leaves the Treatment Center PRIOR the 16th of the month:

The Client notifies the EW that he/she has left the facility.
The EW:
1. Documents the client’s request in the Journal Detail page.
2. Calls the AR of the facility and confirms the client has left the facility.
3. Informs the AR that the EBT card will be statused (deactivated) the day AFTER the stagger day, and reminds the AR to be sure to swipe their half of the benefits on the stagger day.
4. Marks his/her calendar to issue the client a new card the day after the stagger day.
5. AFTER THE CLIENT’S STAGGER DAY:
  1. Deactivates the facility’s EBT card via CalSAWS. Refer to "To Deactivate EBT Card" in Help for procedure.
  2. Enters an Effective End Date in the Collect Authorized Representative Detail window for the AR of the facility. Refer to "Delete Authorized Representative/Protective Payee" in Help for complete procedure.
  3. Issues the client an EBT card. Refer to "To Issue EBT Card" in Help for the procedure to issue an initial EBT card.

Client leaves Treatment Center AFTER the 16th of the Month

When a client leaves a Treatment Center AFTER the 16th of the month, the Treatment Center is entitled to the entire CalFresh allotment for that month. The client is NOT entitled to any benefits for that month. The following procedure must be followed when a client leaves the Treatment Center AFTER the 16th of the month:

The Client notifies the EW that he/she has left the facility.
The EW:
1. Documents the client’s move in the Journal Detail page.
2. Calls the AR of the facility and confirms the client has left the facility.
3. Informs the AR that the EBT card will be statused (deactivated) the next day and that the AR MUST swipe the card immediately if there are any remaining benefits in the account.
4. The following day:
  1. Deactivates the facility’s EBT card via CalSAWS. Refer to "To Deactivate EBT Card" in Help for procedure.
  2. Enters an Effective End Date in the Collect Authorized Representative Detail window for the AR of the facility. Refer to “Delete Authorized Representative/Protective Payee” in Help for complete procedure.
  3. Issues the client an EBT card. Refer to “To Issue EBT Card” in Help for the procedure to issue an initial EBT card.

CalFresh Restaurant Meals Program

The CalFresh Restaurant Meals Program enables elderly and/or disabled individuals and their spouses, or homeless CalFresh households to use EBT CalFresh benefits in order to purchase prepared meals at participating restaurants. “CalFresh Restaurant Meals Program,” page 35-1. These households must have their EBT card coded appropriately, in the EBT Card Detail page, by entering a “Y” in the Referred for Restaurant Meals [Y/N] field in CalSAWS, in order for them to be able to purchase prepared meals from participating restaurants with their EBT CalFresh benefits.