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All County Letter No. 23-74 Page Two

month of October, and to ensure the CWD may correctly determine eligibility for the Child Support in Lieu of CalWORKs Grant Option until automation is in place. CalFresh recipients must receive notification of any negative changes to their households’ CalFresh benefits as a result of the MAP increase no later than September 20, 2023, in order to meet 10-day timely noticing requirements.

3.6 PERCENT MAP INCREASE

AB 85 redistributed funds to counties for CalWORKs expenditures and established the Child Poverty and Family Supplemental Support (CPFSS) Subaccount within the Sales Tax Account of the Local Revenue Fund to support CalWORKs grant increases. The cost of the 3.6 percent grant increase will be funded with revenues deposited into the CPFSS Subaccount and any remaining amounts in the subaccount will be carried over to future fiscal years. The growth revenues deposited into the CPFSS Subaccount will be monitored to determine if funding remains sufficient for the following fiscal year and thereafter, and whether it allows for an additional increase to the MAP. If funds are sufficient, the increase will take effect on October 1st of that year. If funds are not sufficient to support an increase, no change to the MAP will occur.

10 PERCENT MAP INCREASE MADE PERMANENT

The 10 percent temporary MAP increase, authorized by SB 187 and implemented by ACL 22-60, was scheduled to sunset on September 30, 2024. However, AB 120 removed the sunset date for this increase, thereby making it permanent. The MAP charts included in this letter reflect this change.

COUNTY-INITIATED MID-PERIOD ACTION

MAP increases apply to all CalWORKs cases, regardless of whether the Assistance Unit (AU) lives in Region 1 or Region 2 and regardless of the AU’s Exempt or Non-Exempt status. CWDs are to treat the grant increase as a mandatory county-initiated mid-period action for Semi Annual Reporting (SAR) and Annual Reporting/Child Only (AR/CO) cases.

INFORMING CALWORKS RECIPIENTS

The CWD must send a TEMP 2250 (08/23) – State Law Changes the Maximum Aid Payment Levels for Cash Aid Recipients to all CalWORKs recipients, informing them of MAP level increases effective October 1, 2023, and the potential decrease to the household’s CalFresh benefits as a result of the increase to their income. The CWD must begin sending the TEMP 2250 to all CalWORKs recipients as soon as administratively possible but no later than September 1, 2023. The CWD must also send the adequate notice of action (NOA) message, TM44-315N (07/23), to CalWORKs recipients providing information specific to their AU’s cash aid amount.

CalFresh noticing rules have not changed. AUs with CalFresh benefits affected by the grant increase will receive a separate notice about their CalFresh benefits. As a reminder, ACL 21-101 provides guidance on mid-period actions for CalFresh. Information regarding CalWORKs grant changes is considered Verified Upon Receipt (VUR) for CalFresh purposes. The CDSS strongly encourages the CWD to provide a copy of the TEMP 2250 to