Family Services (FS) Homeless Prevention

Welfare-to-Work (WTW) families who are at risk of homelessness or experiencing temporary homelessness, and who have self-sourced potential housing but require help with a singular event or set of circumstances to prevent their homelessness will be referred to either the Family Stabilization Housing Assistance Program or the At-Risk Office of Supportive Housing (OSH) Prevention Services for financial assistance with their housing costs.
Being at risk of homelessness includes, but is not limited to: 

• Experiencing housing instability, including recipients who have not yet received an eviction notice, for whom housing instability would be a barrier to self-sufficiency or child well- being.
• Having no subsequent permanent residence secured.
• Lacking resources or support networks needed to stabilize a recipient's unique housing situation and secure subsequent permanent housing.

Note: In addition, a family experiencing temporary homelessness may be eligible for Temporary Homeless Assistance (THA).

Family Services (FS) Program Family Stabilization Housing Assistance

The Family Stabilization Housing Assistance program is primarily designed as a homeless prevention measure to stabilize housing needs for eligible CalWORKs Employment Services (CWES) clients and ultimately engage and increase their participation in WTW activities to help them towards their path to self-sufficiency.

Eligible Families

To be eligible for the Family Stabilization Housing Assistance program, the CWES client must:

• Be an active CWES client (registrant), OR
• Be in Good Cause status, OR
• Have a Family Reunification case, OR
• Be in an Exempt status, OR
• Agree to cure their WTW Sanction and sign a curing sanction plan (if the client is in a sanctioned status).

Note: A participant in Cal-Learn must be in an Assistance Unit (AU) with an FS eligible adult; a participant in Cal-Learn cannot be the qualifying adult to establish eligibility for FS.  

Homeless/Housing Condition for Program Eligibility

Eligible CWES clients must meet one or more of the conditions below to be eligible to apply for the Family Stabilization Housing Assistance program and must provide verification of eviction, past due rent, or homelessness at the time of application:

• In receipt of an eviction notice.
• Is behind in rent and may be subject to eviction.
• Be at risk of homelessness and in possession of supporting documentation.
• Be homeless and in the process of securing self-sourced housing.

Homelessness Definition

Families experiencing homelessness include, but are not limited to:

• A family with a primary nighttime residence that is a public or private place not designed for, or ordinarily used as, regular sleeping accommodation for human beings, including a car, park, abandoned building, bus or train station, airport, or campground;
• A family living in a supervised publicly or privately operated shelter designated to provide temporary living arrangements (including congregate shelters, transitional housing, and hotels or motels paid for by charitable organizations or by federal, state, or local government programs for low-income individuals;
• A family who will imminently lose their primary nighttime residence (in receipt of an eviction notice).

A complete definition of homelessness can be found at the Code of Federal Regulations website.

Services Offered

The Family Stabilization Housing Assistance program includes, but is not limited to, the services listed below:

• Payment of security deposit, which may include first month's rent, deposit and/or last month’s rent (“Double deposit” - first/last/deposit) if required to secure housing.
• Past due rent/late fees.
• Emergency lodging/hotel assistance payment.

Note: Refer to the FS Supervisor or Manager for approval guidelines, if needed.

• Utility payments needed to retain/obtain housing, such as deposits to move in, past due payments to prevent eviction and for utility shut-off.

Note: Name must be on the billing statement.

• Moving costs.
• Referrals/assistance with locating housing.
• Financial literacy/education referrals.
• Other service referrals to support housing stability such as housing-related fees.

Application

The client must complete the Family Services Program Request & Application (SCD 2417), including completion of housing-related questions and budget information. The SCD 2417 is used for both the Family Stabilization Housing Assistance and CalWORKs Housing Support Programs.

When the Family Stabilization Housing Assistance criteria is met, the FS Associate Employment Counselor (AEC)/Employment Counselor (EC) completes the Family Stabilization Housing Assistance referral (SCD 2416) and sends it to Imaging. 

Authorization and Vendor Payment

Family Stabilization Housing payments are limited to homeless prevention assistance. The FS AEC/EC approves the service need request by completing the SCD 2416 and forwards the form and additional supporting documents to the FS Supervisor and the Social Services Program Manager (SSPM). The FS Supervisor and/or the SSPM reviews, approves, or denies the request. At the time of referral,  the client must meet sustainability. Supporting documents, such as the lease/rental agreement, must be attached to the SCD 2416.

Payment Limits

The payment can be up to $2,500.00 with a lifetime cumulative of $5,000.00. Additional requests must be escalated by the FS AEC/EC to management for review.

Referral Outcomes

Upon receipt of the SCD 2416 from the FS Supervisor or the SSPM with Part C completed, the DEBS Referral Application, Outcome fields are updated with one of the following:

• Completed
• Invalid Referral, OR
• Withdraw.

Authorization/Payment 

On a case-by-case basis, payments are issued through CalSAWS by the FS AEC/EC via warrant or Electronic Benefit Transfer (EBT) directly to the client using one or more of the following Family Stabilization Housing Service Arrangement Payments:

• Ancillary/Other Services
• Rental Assistance
• Security Deposit
• Utility Payment
• Moving Cost Assistance
• Hotel/Interim/Temp Housing and FS Stabilization Hotel Assistance in the Description field
• Hotel/Interim/Temp Housing and FS Stabilization Eviction in the Description field
• Hotel/Interim/Temp Housing and FS Stabilization Homeless in the Description field
• Other and FS-Other in the Description field.

Authorization and Payment Process

Follow the steps below when processing the Family Services Request & Application: