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All County Letter No. 13-32 Page 2

The FNS identifies three types of categorical eligibility:

1. Broad-based categorical eligibility (BBCE): Refers to the policy that makes most households eligible for CalFresh benefits because the household receives a Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF)/Maintenance of Effort (MOE)-funded service, such as a brochure or pamphlet. 2. Narrow categorical eligibility: Narrow categorical eligibility refers to the policy that makes a smaller number of households eligible through the receipt of a specific TANF/MOE-funded service such as child care or counseling. Both BBCE and Narrow categorical eligibility are for households not receiving a cash benefit, such as CalWORKs. 3. Traditional categorical eligibility: Traditional categorical eligibility refers to the mandatory policy that makes households eligible for CalFresh benefits because the household receives cash benefits through TANF (CalWORKs), or General Assistance. On July 1, 2009, California implemented MCE for households with children under the age of 18 who would otherwise be eligible for CalFresh benefits, except for their exceeding the resource limit. MCE was conferred by providing the household with a TANF/MOE-funded service. The TANF/MOE-funded service for MCE is the “Family Planning – PUB 275” brochure. MCE was expanded to all Non-Assistance CalFresh (NACF) households on February 1, 2011.

Receipt of the PUB 275 exempts all resources in the determination of eligibility for households who meet all other CalFresh eligibility requirements. In California, 200% of the FPL has been established as the maximum gross income that an E/D household (for the TANF-funded service, the PUB 275) can have in order to have MCE/BBCE conferred through receipt of the PUB 275. Receipt of the PUB 275 does not, in itself, confer MCE/BBCE to a household. Counties must document the case record, or otherwise identify the case, as MCE/BBCE for quality control purposes. In addition, the case must be re-evaluated and documented for MCE/BBCE at recertification.

Elderly or Disabled Household Examples

Example 1

An E/D household comes into the CWD and receives an application packet (or completes an online application). Included in the application packet (or on a linked web- site) is the PUB 275 (Family Planning brochure).

During the intake interview, it is determined the household has gross income that does not exceed 200% of the FPL for its household size. Therefore, the household can be