CWES Overpayment & Underpayment - Referral to Collections

Promptness Requirement

The EC is required to initiate recovery/collection within 30 calendar days from the date the overpayment is first discovered. Within this period, the EC must:

• Make a determination to defer or refer to Collections,
• Notify the overpaid individual in writing that he/she has an overpayment, and
• Notify the overpaid individual in writing that he/she must contact the county within ten (10) calendar days from the date the “Overpayment Notice” (WTW 11) and the “Supportive Services Repayment Agreement” (WTW 12) are mailed.

Collectable Overpayments

Each client-caused overpayment that is non-fraudulent and is under $250 will not be set up in CalSAWS. Each overpayment claim in the amount of $250 or more must be identified and processed in CalSAWS. When there are multiple overpayments, the $250 threshold applies to each claim, not the cumulative amount.

Example: In January, February and March there are non-fraudulent overpayments of $90 each month. The three $90 non-fraudulent overpayments will not be processed, because each claim is under $250.

ALL provider-caused overpayments must be identified and processed in CalSAWS regardless of the amount. The EC must compute the amount of the overpayment in CalSAWS and notify the individual of the overpayment by sending the appropriate notices.

Refer to CWES Overpayment & Underpayment - Suspected Fraud Overpayment.

Referral to Collections

A referral to Collections is made through CalSAWS via an interface between CalSAWS and Collections Solutions Software Impact (CSS Impact), a software application used by the Department of Tax and Collections (DTAC). When the WTW program is closed/denied/deregistered, an auto referral to Collections (DTAC) will take place by the system interface.

For CWES overpayments, a referral to Collections MUST be made in the following situations:

• All provider-caused overpayments where the provider failed to repay or did not consent to child care payment reduction within 30 calendar days from the Child Care Provider Notice and Consent (SCD 1788) was mailed.
• When the client no longer meets the deferral criteria. Refer to End of Deferral - Reevaluation.
• A previous referral to Collections was made and the EC subsequently cancels the overpayment.

Non-System Determined Claims (NSDCs)

In some instances, a client may be known to CalWIN; however, an overpayment computation and referral to Collections is needed for a payment that occurred outside of CalWIN, such as but not limited to: iPods, Jump Start, or Bike to Work, or a payment that occurred before CalWIN implementation. In order to use NSDC, the Liable Individual and WTW program must be known in CalWIN. In these rare situations, the Create/Revise Non-system Determined Claim window is used to enter the data per [CalWIN Announcement (CA) 258.1], beginning with Step 8. This window also allows printing demand notices and repayment agreements, and performing worker and supervisor authorization of claims.

Note: The intranet DEBS Forms Library versions of the WTW 11 and WTW 12 are to be used. These versions include sections for marking child care related overpayments.

Client, Provider, or WTW Program NOT Known to CalWIN

When an overpayment referral to Collections is required but the client, provider, or WTW program is NOT known to CalWIN, a manual paper overpayment computation and referral to Collections is necessary. In this type of situation, the EC will need to manually complete the “CWES Overpayment/Underpayment Worksheet and Referral” (SCD 1798).

Type of Referral to Collections

The EC is to use the following table to determine the type of overpayment referral to use under special circumstances: