Page 13

All County Letter No. 25-93 Page Twelve receive annually. Once California has been allocated a new number of discretionary exemptions, CDSS will release a separate letter with further instructions. Although no statewide discretionary exemptions are available at this time, counties must continue to evaluate individuals for allowable exemptions or determine if the individual had good cause for not satisfying the work requirement, as outlined in 7 CFR 273.24(b)(2) and ACL No. 23-30, issued on March 22, 2023. If a discretionary exemption is improperly applied, counties must review for a potential overissuance (OI) and take corrective action. ELDERLY SIMPLIFIED APPLICATION PROJECT (ESAP) HOUSEHOLDS Households certified under the Elderly Simplified Application Project (ESAP) are certified for 36 months. The ESAP certification period cannot be shortened once it is assigned. ESAP households with individuals ages 60–64 cannot be subjected to ABAWD rules until they have been screened in compliance with the modified exemption criteria under HR 1. As stated previously, counties must screen for exemptions at both initial certification and recertification. At recertification, counties must follow the correct screening order for ESAP participants ages 60–64: 1. Screen for work registration exemptions first. • If the individual qualifies for a work registration exemption other than the age exemption, they are not considered an ABAWD and do not require further ABAWD screening. 2. If no work registration exemption applies, screen for ABAWD exemptions. • Individuals who meet an ABAWD exemption are not subject to the time limit. • Those who do not qualify for any exemption are subject to the time limit. Typically, the recertification interview for ESAP households is waived. Counties must attempt to contact the household to complete the required screening. If the county is able to complete the exemption screening through contact with the household, no interview is required solely for this purpose. If the county is unable to reach the ESAP household to complete the HR 1 compliant exemption screening, the county must document all attempts to make contact and then require an interview in order to complete the screening prior to taking any negative action, including the application of countable months. If the household fails to complete the required interview, the recertification must be denied for missed interview. As a reminder, per ACL No. 19-93, an individual cannot be subject to the time limit until they have been screened for an exemption and informed of the ABAWD work rules. Those who have not been informed cannot be required to make a report of a drop in