PD 23-19: (Obsolete) Guaranteed Income Project and Education Assistance Exemption Waiver

Date:	06/28/23 (Revised 12/22/23)
To:	All DEBS Staff
From:	Sandra Loredo, BPIS
Reference:	ACL 21-137, ACL 21-137E, ACWDL 07/21/23
Obsolete	03/25/24; Added to HB, CW Update 24-01 and Revised CF Update 23-11.

Background

The California Guaranteed Income (GI) Pilot Program was approved by the California’s Governor and the Legislature; the California Department of Social Services (CDSS) will oversee approved guaranteed income pilot programs.

Guaranteed Income Pilot Programs administered by approved organizations, will provide direct and unconditional cash payments to extremely low-income individuals and families with an ongoing flexible source of payment that is intended to be applied toward the participants basic needs. The department will prioritize funding for pilot programs and projects that serve California residents who age out of the extended foster care program at 21 years of age or older who are pregnant individuals.

Data collected will create opportunities for systems change by addressing historical economic inequities and seeking ways to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of government safety net funding.

Changes

CDSS recognizes that receipt of guaranteed income may reduce or discontinue public assistance eligibility and benefits. The State has implemented a Public Assistance Waiver, which exempts income from approved Guaranteed Income Projects from CalFresh Food, California Work Opportunity and Responsibility to Kids (CalWORKs), Medi-Cal, and Refugee Cash Assistance (RCA) income eligibility determinations.

If an income exemption request is granted, recipients of Guaranteed Income who are also receiving CalFresh, CalWORKs, Medi-Cal, General Assistance (GA) and RCA benefits can avoid any negative impacts that guaranteed income components of demonstration projects might otherwise have on the participant’s eligibility and benefits. Without an approved income exemption, GI payments will be considered unearned income for the purposes of CalWORKs and CalFresh eligibility and benefits.

The affected income types are certain types of educational assistance and payments from approved Guaranteed Income programs and pilots.

CalWORKs and CalFresh Waiver Exemption Description

This income exclusion applies to all CalFresh households whether they are receiving CalWORKs benefits or not. CalFresh GI exemptions are no longer limited to individually approved CalWORKs demonstration projects. Refer to CF HB:Income Definitions And Exemptions/Exempt Income and CF Update 23-11.

MCE and Resources

While GI payments that contain any amount of non-governmental funds are exempt as income, for households that have not been conferred MCE, any portion of the payment that is saved would be considered a countable resource for CalFresh. These households may be at risk of being denied or discontinued from CalFresh should their GI payments, combined with a household’s other countable resources, put them over the resource limit at initial application, SAR 7, or recertification.

Medi-Cal

The Guaranteed Income programs available in Santa Clara County are considered exempt income for the MAGI MC Program since they are considered non-taxable per IRS rules. For Non-MAGI MC, Guaranteed Income payments received on or after 10/1/2022 from projects and pilots that are funded by the CA Guaranteed Income Pilot Program are to be treated as exempt income and an exempt resource for 12 months for Non-MAGI eligibility purposes. The source of these funds must be verified in order to apply the income exemption. Refer to MC HB CH 13 Income and Deduction Types and MC HB CH 15 Income Definitions.

General Assistance

General Assistance recipients can also avoid negative impacts when receiving income from a Guaranteed Income Project when the Guaranteed Income Project has received a CalFresh waiver from CDSS. Refer to: GA HB: Policy/GA 202/GA 204.

Education Assistance

Student loans and grants excluded for CalWORKs must also be excluded for CalFresh. Full list of excluded income of educational assistance that must be excluded when determining CalFresh eligibility or benefits, refer to: CalFresh HB: Ineligible Students.

Approved Guaranteed Income Pilot Programs

Below is a list of Santa Clara County approved Guaranteed Income Pilot Programs:

Santa Clara Silicon Valley Guaranteed Income Pilot (SVGI)
Santa Clara Elevate Mountain View
Abode Services, Health Currency Cash Transfer Program

All approvals and letters can be found listed under "Income Exemption Approvals" on CDSS website: CalWORKs and CalFresh Income Exemption Request for Guaranteed Income Demonstration Projects.

NOTE: This list is subject to change and this PD will be updated accordingly. Please refer to the CDSS link above for the most up to date list.

Implementation

Effective immediately Eligibility Workers (EWs) will follow the provisions for Approved Guaranteed Income Programs and future organization’s approved and allowable educational assistance when determining eligibility or benefits for all programs.

Once an individual GI project or pilot has been approved by CalWORKs and the approval letter has been uploaded to the CDSS website, EWs must prospectively exclude payments from that GI project or pilot for CalFresh.

When processing a new application, payments from approved GI projects and pilots must be excluded for applications received in the month following the month the project or pilot has been approved by CalWORKs. For ongoing CalFresh households, payments from approved GI project and pilots must be excluded at the ongoing household’s next periodic report, recertification, or when voluntarily requested by the ongoing household.

Please note that when participation in any of these programs end, EWs are to follow current business processes when a change in circumstance is reported and they must complete a redetermination of benefits.

Verification of Excluded Income

EWs must verify income and program waiver of the approved Guaranteed Income Project by viewing the “Income Exemption Approval Letter.” This letter will specify which program (s) the income exemption waiver is granted for under the topic, “Demonstration Project, Description” and the payment amount of the Guaranteed Income participant is under the topic, “Provision” found on CDSS website: CalWORKS and CalFresh Income Exemption Request for Guaranteed Income Demonstration Projects.

CalSAWS System

For combo cases with MAGI- Medi-Cal, EWs will use Category, “Government, Settlements, Payments, Programs” in the Income Detail page for GI exempt income and Type, "Cash/CalFresh Exempt." If the income is exempt for MAGI Medi-Cal, select "Yes" for MAGI Medi-Cal Exempt Income field.

For Non-MAGI cases only, EWs will use Category, "Government, Settlements, Payments, Programs" and Type, "Guaranteed Income - Medi-Cal Exempt."

For combo cases with Non-MAGI Medi-Cal, EW’s will use Category, “Government, Settlements, Payments, Programs” and Type, "Guaranteed Income - Exempt."

Without an approved income exemption, GI payments will be considered unearned income for the purposes of CalWORKs and CalFresh eligibility benefit calculations. EWs will use Type, "Guaranteed Income – Unearned."

NOTE: EWs please review EDBC Summary to ensure the GI income is exempt from the budget.

OCAT

Employment Counselors (ECs) will enter GI exempt income under “Other” in the OCAT Referral Detail page.

Inter-County Transfer

Pilot participants who move to another county are to have their GI direct payments exempted in their new county. EW’s must ensure that they provide the exemption approval letter and inform the receiving county that the client is participating in an approved GI pilot so that their GI direct payments continue to be exempted for eligibility determinations. Participant’s GI payment will also be exempt if the client is enrolled in an approved GI Exemption Program in another county.

Documentation

EW’s must include enough detail that specifically addresses any excluded income to determine the accuracy of benefits in the Journal Detail page.

Example: “Client is enrolled in approved GI project, SVGI program and receives $1000 monthly until August 2024. Verified approved GI program through CDSS GI website. Per PD 23-19 this monthly income is exempt for (CalWORKs, CalFresh, all programs- etc).”