EA Eligibility Criteria

The EA program is intended to resolve the emergency of a needy child and to provide assistance on behalf of such a child or any other member of the household in which he/she is living. Provisions of assistance and/or services to a household member are contingent upon the existence in the household of a child who is eligible for EA and is experiencing an emergency shared with the household members.

EA funding is available for eligible applicants until the age of 21. There is no link with school attendance for funding. EA eligibility is limited to one emergency episode in 12 months regardless of placement.

An EA eligibility determination may occur before foster care eligibility when a child is placed in foster care.

In order to be eligible for EA benefits, ALL of the following eligibility criteria must be met.

Application

An emergency exists, and an “Emergency Assistance Application for Child Welfare Services” (EA1 CWS) is completed for EACH CHILD or needy child experiencing an emergency. This includes applications received for Voluntary Placement Agreements (VPA.

The application shall be completed and signed by a parent if possible. The application can be completed by another adult relative or a SW if both parents are unavailable or unwilling to apply on behalf of the child.
Each EA-eligible child has their own case and application, which is indexed as the head of household.
- Reminder: Each “eligible needy child” is considered to be a “family” or AU of one for the purposes of establishing EA benefits.

Child Resides with Parent or Relative

The child or youth must be under 21 and living with (or, within the past six months has lived with) a “relative” unless the youth is re-entering the EFC program. This does NOT mean that the child must have resided with the relative for at least six months.

Non-related legal guardians do not qualify as “relatives” under any circumstances.

Non-Minor Dependents (NMD)

Non-minors who exited foster care at age 18 but are under 21, may re-enter the Extended Foster Care (EFC) program under Assembly (AB) 12 may also re-enter EFC under the EA program as long as they meet the EA program requirements.

No EA in Past 12 Months

The child has not received EA benefits during the previous twelve months.

Each child who is authorized to receive EA has their own twelve-month period of eligibility.
Multiple children in the same household may have different or concurrent periods of eligibility.

Income

The CHILD’S INCOME must be no greater than 200% (percent) of the California median family income as certified by the applicant. Based on the official data from the HUD (www.hcd.ca.gov).

State Income Limits in 2014 for Santa Clara County’s Median income for one person is $73,850. The income is multiplied by 200 percent (%) resulting in $147,700.

SSI/SSA Benefits

If the child is receiving EA, then the SSI/SSA benefits should be abated against EA. This means the SSI/SSA benefits will be used for the placement cost.

Note: For more information regarding SSI/SSA benefits, refer to Social Security Administration Benefits

Emergency Not Related to Refusal of Employment

The emergency did not arise because an adult family member refused to accept employment or training, unless there was good cause.

Alienage (Qualified and Non Qualified)/PRUCOL

The child's/youth’s EA eligibility is not affected by the citizen or alien status of other household members, including his/her parents.

Non Qualified Aliens

A non-qualified alien or an undocumented alien is not eligible for EA program benefits. The 1996 Welfare Reform Act barred most non-qualified aliens from receiving federal public benefits.

Qualified Aliens

Qualified Alien children residing in the U.S. for five years or more are eligible for EA funding. The term “qualified alien” is a federal term used only to define a person’s immigration status or eligibility to receive federal means-tested public benefits. An alien shall only be eligible for aid if the alien has been lawfully admitted for permanent residence by meeting one of the criteria listed below which defines a qualified alien. The five-year requirement begins with the “Residence Since” date on the Permanent Resident Card (USCIS Form I 551).

A qualified alien is an individual who met one of the following criteria:

Non-Citizen Status	Definition
Lawfully Admitted for Permanent Residence (LPR)	A non-citizen who is lawfully admitted for permanent residence under the Immigration and Nationality Act.
Asylee	Asylum has been granted.
Battered	An individual meeting the battered non-citizen criteria*
Refugee	Admitted as a refugee, which includes the following: Human Trafficking Domestic Violence, and Other serious crimes.
Deportee	Deportation is being withheld.
Conditional Entrant	A person granted conditional entry*
Cuban-Haitian Entrant	A person who is either Cuban or Haitian or a combination of both*

A qualified alien who is interested in becoming an FC provider is normally required to have resided in the U.S. for five years or more to meet the program requirements for EA funding. Foster care children placed with qualified providers are not subject to the five-year eligibility period and can be paid EA funding.

Permanently Residing Under the Color of Law (PRUCOL)

If the US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS is aware of the presence of an undocumented immigrant and has done nothing to deport, the individual may be considered PRUCOL. This commonly occurs when an undocumented person applies for lawful status before obtaining a green card or USCIS 1 551. These children are not eligible for EA funding, however, when all eligibility requirements are met they may receive non-federal AFDC-FC funding.

Child Support Referrals

Child support referrals are required for placements which are paid through the EA program. The child support requirements are the same as children receiving AFDC-FC. The SW can complete a “Child Support - Good Cause Claim for Noncooperation” (CW 51) when it is determined it is not in the best interest of the child complete a child support referral. Refer to Child Support Overview.

Period of Eligibility

An application for EA must be taken within 30 days of the date the child or youth is determined to be at risk.

The period of eligibility for EA begins on the date:

The child or youth has been determined to be at risk, or,
The date the child has been determined to be at risk of removal from the home due to any family member’s serious mental disorder or serious emotional disturbance (for Mental Health cases).

The episode cannot exceed 180 days.

ExampleExample

If the date of risk determination is 9/15/13, then EA eligibility may continue through 3/14/14. However, the duration of payment cannot exceed 120 days.

The child must NOT have received EA during the previous 12 months.

Exception: Services must be authorized within 30 days of the date of application, not the date of removal. At the time of authorization, services may be authorized retroactively back to the date of removal.

Relatives

Assembly Bills 110 and 1811, ACL 19-24.

The implementation of the Emergency Caregiver (EC) program changed the EA duration for eligible placements, including federally eligible relative cases, from 30 to 180 days. EC-eligible cases may be aided up to 365 days with documented good cause.

Reminder: While the EC Funding program is available, EWs should assess relative and NREFM cases for EC instead of EA.

EA Placements

The following placements are eligible for EA funding:

Approved or Pending Relative Homes
Resource Family Homes
Approved or Pending NREFM Homes
NMDs (must be re-entering EFC)
Foster Family Agencies
Group Homes/STRTPs