Inter-County Transfer (ICT) Overview

The California Counties, in collaboration with the CalSAWS Consortium, State Partners, and the County Welfare Directors Association (CWDA), have established a standard for Statewide inter-county transfer (ICT) process and protocol, which includes the electronic inter-county transfer (eICT).

The purpose of the standardized statewide protocol is to provide a seamless transfer of case data and imaged documents from one California County to another without a break in benefits.

The standardized document, CalSAWS Intercounty Transfer Protocol (CalSAWS-ICT Protocol), ensures the smooth and uninterrupted transfer of case data and imaged documents when a client moves from one California county to another. The CalSAWS-ICT Protocol serves as a formal agreement to guide counties through the ICT business processes. All California counties have endorsed the contents of this protocol as the standardized approach for managing benefit transitions within the state.

Note: The primary method of sending an ICT should be electronically, while manual ICTs should only be used as an exception.

CalSAWS ICT Functionality 

The following programs are supported by CalSAWS ICT functionality: 

  • CalFresh 
  • Transitional CalFresh (TCF)
  • CalWORKs 
  • Medi-Cal 
  • Nutritional Benefit: 
    • Supplemental Nutritional Benefit (SNB)
    • Transitional Nutritional Benefit (TNB)
  • Refugee Cash Assistance (RCA)

Important: Inter-County Transfers for Foster Care (FC) cases do not use the eICT process. For a detailed description of FC ICT, refer to Foster Care Handbook Chapter 31 Intercounty Transfers.

Standards Outlined In the CalSAWS-ICT Protocol

Refer to the following sections in the CalSAWS-ICT Protocol for information related to:

  • Regulations
  • Time frames
  • Annual Re-evaluation (RE)

    • Note: For information on SAR 7, see the Common Place Handbook topic Re-evaluations & SAR 7 During ICT.

  • Partial ICT
  • Companion Cases
  • Address Changes
  • File Clearance Processes
  • Domestic Abuse ICT Process
  • Child Support Good Cause
  • Homeless
  • Documents
  • Cancellation Process
  • Foster Care
  • Overpayment/Overissuance Claims
  • Communication
    • Escalation Process

    • Note: For information on the escalation process, see the Common Place Handbook topic ICT Escalation Process. 

  • Welfare-to-Work (WTW)

Note: Additional guidance may be found in the subsections of the sections that are listed above.