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All County Letter No. 14-100 Page Six

cases will be coded consistent with other adult-eligible CalWORKs cases. CWDs may refer to ACL No. 02-66 or ACL No. 01-66 for additional information regarding CalWORKs aid codes. CDSS plans to release additional instructions pertaining to aid codes and funding sources for the newly eligible population under separate cover.

Child Support Requirements and Collections for CalWORKs Cases

As mentioned in the previous section, CDSS implemented the new K1 and 3F aid codes for Safety Net, Drug Felony Excluded, and Fleeing Felon child-only cases via ACL No. 13-70. These aid codes were implemented to ensure that certain child-only cases would be funded through a new solely state funded program and would not be subject to the TANF work participation requirements. Upon moving these cases into the solely state funded program, CDSS issued ACL No. 14-78 which provided instructions to CWDs on how to treat cases in these aid codes. As a result, the following changes were applied to K1/3F cases:

 Due to the changes in statute, CWDs no longer require the parents/caretaker relatives of the aided children to assign their support rights to the state/county as a condition of eligibility for CalWORKs, nor do they require them to cooperate with child support enforcement requirements at MPP sections 82-506 and 82- 510;  CWDs no longer sanction a K1/3F parent/needy caretaker relative or apply a penalty to the aided children for failure to assign rights or cooperate with the Local Child Support Agency (LCSA) because of the changes in statute;  CWDs no longer keep the child support collected on behalf of the aided children to reimburse CalWORKs state/county for aid paid to these children; and  K1/3F cases now receive any child support payments collected by the LCSA directly, and while a $50 disregard still applies, any reasonably anticipated child support income beyond $50 is counted as unearned income against the child- only grant.

With the passage of AB 1468, individuals with a prior felony drug conviction will no longer be excluded from the AU. When the formerly excluded parent/caretaker relative with a prior felony drug conviction starts receiving CalWORKs cash assistance, the case may no longer be identified by a K1 or 3F aid code and will not be funded under solely state funded program funds. As of April 1, 2015, these cases will once again be subject to child support requirements and shall be referred for child support services and collection. As a condition of eligibility, the parent/caretaker relative must agree to assign support rights to the state or be sanctioned, and in order to avoid the 25 percent child support penalty, the adult will also be required to cooperate with the LCSA in determining paternity of the aided children and doing whatever is required by the LCSA to cooperate with child support enforcement, unless good cause is found to exist per MPP section 82-512.