PD 24-20: AB 79 Personal Contact Reminders (Revised)  

Date: 11/14/24 (Revised 12/04/24, 04/29/25)
To: CalWORKs and CalFresh Eligibility Staff
From: Vivien Phan BPIS, Ana Guitron BPIS, Amy Mitchell WOOC BPIS
Reference: N/A

Background

Assembly Bill (AB) 79 requires counties to attempt personal contact to collect the necessary information for completing CalWORKs and/or CalFresh Re-Evaluation (RE) or SAR 7 before discontinuance. 

 

Reminders

RE

Personal Contact:

  • Eligibility Workers (EW) must call the client and schedule an interview at a mutually convenient time for both the EW and the client.
  • The personal contact must be attempted prior to the discontinuance of benefits.

For CW policy, refer to Redetermination Actions. For CF policy, refer to Processing a Timely Recertification. 

Automation:

  • As of October 10, 2024, CalSAWS has put into production the AB 79 (Personal Contact) IVR Call Campaign to remind the customer to submit a complete RE packet.
  • Each month, an automated call attempt will be completed prior to CW/CF discontinuance for cases with recertification packets that were not received or are incomplete.
  • The one-time call attempt is made on the 6th business day (Monday through Saturday) before the end of the month regardless of the current IVR Call Campaign opt-in status.
  • This automation meets the personal contact requirement prior to the discontinuance of benefits.
  • The following message is the script for the Call Campaign: This call is to notify you that we have not received your <Packet Type>  packet or the packet was incomplete which was due on <RE Due Date>. Please submit the packet and supporting documents at your earliest convenience to avoid discontinuance of your program benefits. If you have recently submitted your packet and documents, please disregard.
  • A new Method of Contact field Outbound Customer Campaign for journals was created and used by the AB 79 campaign to input a Case Journal entry for every customer called by the AB 79 Call Campaign.

SAR 7

Reminder:

  • AB 79 eliminated the requirement for the SAR 7 to be signed no earlier than the first day of the submit month for the  SAR 7 to be considered complete.
  • Personal contact to remind a household that a SAR 7 has not been received.

Automation:

  • As of April 24, 2025, CalSAWS has put into production the AB 79 (Personal Contact) IVR Call campaign for SAR 7s not received or incomplete.
  • Each month, an automated call attempt will be completed prior to CW/CF discontinuance for cases with SAR 7s that were not received or are incomplete.
  • The one-time call attempt is made on the 6th business day (Monday through Saturday) before the end of the month regardless of the current IVR Call Campaign opt-in status.
  • This automation meets the personal contact requirement prior to the discontinuance of benefits.
  • The following message is the script for the Call Campaign: This call is to notify you that we have not received your Semi-Annual <Report Type> report or the report was incomplete which was due on <Due Date>.  Please submit the completed <Report Type> report and supporting documents at your earliest convenience to avoid discontinuance of your program or benefits. If you have recently submitted your report and documents, please disregard this message.
  • The Method of Contact field Outbound Customer Campaign for journals is used by the AB 79 campaign to input a Case Journal entry for every customer called by the AB 79 Call Campaign.

 

For CW policy, refer to Processing a SAR 7. For CF policy, refer to SAR 7 Processing.

RE and SAR 7 Robo-messages

For both RE and SAR 7, the following robo-messages are currently being sent by the county.

On the 5th of the month when a report is due:

From Santa Clara County Social Services: Keep your benefits! Please remember to return your completed report with any required verifications. If you need help call your worker or 408-758-3800.

On the 14th of the month to all who have not returned their report that is due that month:

From Santa Clara County Social Services: We have not received your report that is due.  To continue getting benefits please return the completed report. If you need help call your worker or 408-758-3800.

On the 2nd of the following month when the case has been discontinued for failure to return report:

From Santa Clara County Social Services: Your benefits have ended because we did not receive a report that was due. There is still time to fix this, please call your worker or 408-758-3800 to find out how.