Companion Case Procedures - Households with Two (2) Adults

Not all households with two aided adults in the home have a 35-hour per week participation requirement. Families that include two aided natural or adoptive parents are considered two-parent AUs, in which adults are required to participate 35 hours per week when the basis for deprivation of the child(ren) is due to unemployment. In a two parent family, if one of the parents is a noncitizen who is ineligible for cash assistance, disabled parent, receiving SSI, the family is not considered to be a two-parent family.

To meet federal WPR 30 of the 35 hours must meet core requirements. One of the two parents in a two-parent AU must participate for at least 30 hours.

One (1) Parent Exempt (Other than Disability)

In a two-parent AU that includes a parent who is exempt for a reason other than disability, the 35-hour participation requirement can be shared with the voluntary participant.

Two (2) Parent Cases With a Disabled Parent

A two-parent household that includes one or both parents who are exempt due to a disability (where the basis for deprivation is incapacity) will have two (2) work eligible individuals but will be excluded from the two-parent work participation rate (WPR).

To meet federal WPR either adult is required to participate 30 hours per week, of which 20 hours must be in core activities, for an AU with or without a child under six (6) years old. The 30-hours need to come from one parent and cannot be shared.

Single-Parent AUs with Excluded Second Parent in the Home

Families with two natural or adoptive parents, where one is aided and the other is ineligible (such as due to fleeing felon, ineligible noncitizen, on SSI, convicted of IPV or Child Support sanction, or un-aided second parent with unaided common child) are considered a single-parent AU. Participation requirements are 20 or 30 hours per week, based on the age of the child(ren). Hours from the unaided parent cannot be combined with the aided parent.

In order to meet federal WPR the aided parent must participate a total of 30 hours per week, of which 20 must be in core activities. Hours from the unaided parent cannot be shared; and the child less than six (6) years of age provision does not apply.

Second Parent Timed Out

In cases where the second parent has timed out from CalWORKs 60-month TOA and has been removed from the AU, and the first parent remains on aid, the first parent must meet the 35-hour weekly participation requirement for two-parent AUs. The parent cannot share hours.

Note: For federal WPR, the timed-out parent’s hours can be used.

Second Parent Sanctioned

When one parent in a two-parent family is sanctioned, the family is considered a two-parent AU. The aided parent must participate the 35 hours per week or be subject to his or her own WTW sanction. The EC should encourage the sanctioned parent to cure their sanction.