41-440 UNEMPLOYED PARENT PROGRAM

(a) Unemployed Parent:

(1) An unemployed parent is one of the natural or adoptive parents with whom a child is living, who is the principal earner [see Section 41-440.1(b)], and who:

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(A) Is not employed; or

(B) Is employed less than 100 hours during the four-week period prior to the date of eligibility for cash aid based on unemployment.

(C) Repealed by Manual Letter No. EAS-98-03, effective 7/1/98.

(2) When the principal earner is employed for less than 100 hours during the four-week period prior to the date of eligibility, he/she shall not be considered employed for purposes of unemployment deprivation.

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Example 1:

A family applies for CalWORKs on the basis of unemployment deprivation on January 5, 1998; the CWD authorizes aid on February 2, 1998. On February 3, 1998, the principal earner (PE) reports that he accepted work on that day and he expects to work over 100 hours per month. Since the PE did not accept work until the day after aid was authorized (i.e., after becoming a recipient), the 100-hour limit is not applicable.

Eligibility for the AU will continue until ineligibility occurs due to excess income, excess property, etc.

Example 2:

A family applies for CalWORKs on the basis of unemployment deprivation on January 5, 1998; the CWD authorizes aid on February 1, 1998. On February 3, 1998, the PE reports that he accepted work on January 31, 1998, and he expects to work over 100 hours indefinitely. Since the PE accepted work before aid was authorized (i.e., prior to becoming a recipient), the 100-hour rule limitation is applicable. The CWD will issue a timely notice of action and terminate aid effective February 28, 1998. As ineligibility occurred prior to the authorizing action, the family is overpaid for January 1998 and February 1998.

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(3) Since only the principal earner can establish unemployment deprivation, the 100-hour standard does not apply to the parent who is not the principal earner.

(b) Hours of Employment -- The hours an individual spent providing a service or product, whether the individual is an employee or self-employed. Any hours spent working to acquire earned income, whether the individual receives the income or not, shall be considered toward the 100-hour limit in (a) above.

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EXAMPLE:

A principal earner is self-employed as a salesperson selling a product door-to-door. The individual spent the following hours during the four-week period prior to the date of eligibility in connection with his/her occupation:

36 hours collecting orders for the product.

12 hours ordering the products from the supplier. This includes completing the necessary work and going to the post office.

5 hours developing and delivering flyers advertising the business.

4 hours with floor duty at the distributor's office.

32 hours delivering the products to the customers.

10 hours distributing new catalogs.

In this situation, all of the above hours count as hours worked because all hours were spent promoting the business or attempting to or making contact with prospective or actual customers.

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(c) Principal Earner: In a home in which both parents of an eligible child are living, the principal earner is whichever parent earned the greater amount of income in the 24-month period, the last month of which immediately precedes the date of application or the month of transfer to the unemployed parent program as defined in Section 41-440.1(d):

When both parents qualify as the principal earner and have earned an identical amount of income in such 24-month period, the county in consultation with the parents shall designate which parent is the principal earner. Once the principal earner has been determined correctly, the parent continues to be the principal earner for each consecutive month for which the family receives aid under the unemployed parent program.

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(d) Date of Transfer to the unemployed parent program: The date for determining the transfer to the unemployed parent program is either:

(1) the date of application for CalWORKs benefits on the basis of unemployment of the principal earner, or

(2) the date of an interprogram status change when a family's circumstances have changed in such a way that eligibility may be established for the unemployed parent program; for example, a parent returns to the home, a parent is no longer incapacitated.

The county shall identify the need for and assist the recipient in making the status change.

(e) Applicants for aid who are participating in an on-the-job training (OJT) program or any similar work training activity, in which the parent is paid a wage, shall be considered employed for purposes of determining deprivation.

(f) Repealed by Manual Letter No. EAS-98-03, effective 7/1/98.

(g) Repealed by Manual Letter No. EAS-98-03, effective 7/1/98.

(h) Repealed by Manual Letter No. EAS-98-03, effective 7/1/98.

(i) Repealed by Manual Letter No. EAS-98-03, effective 7/1/98.

(j) Repealed by Manual Letter No. EAS-98-03, effective 7/1/98.

(k) Repealed by Manual Letter No. EAS-98-03, effective 7/1/98.

(l) Repealed by Manual Letter No. EAS-98-03, effective 7/1/98.

(m) Repealed by Manual Letter No. EAS-98-03, effective 7/1/98.

(n) Repealed by Manual Letter No. EAS-98-03, effective 7/1/98.

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.2 Requirements to be Met in Order to Establish Deprivation Due to Unemployment

To establish deprivation due to unemployment, the following requirements shall be met;

.21 Deprivation shall be due to the unemployment of the principal earner. Deprivation due to unemployment exists if the principal earner is unemployed (See Section 41-440.1(a)) for definition of unemployed) and the child would otherwise be deprived for AFDC except that neither of his/her parents is deceased, incapacitated, or absent from the home.

.22 The principal earner shall have worked less than 100 hours (Section 41-440.1(a)) during the four-week period prior to the date of eligibility for cash aid based on unemployment deprivation. The four-week period shall be adjusted daily to determine the four-week period in which the applicant principal earner worked less than 100 hours. (See Handbook Section below.)

.221 An individual who applies for CalWORKs after leaving aid due to expanded subsidized employment income as described in Section 42-716.81, shall be considered a current recipient for the purpose of establishing unemployment deprivation if he or she applies within three calendar months of the subsidized employment ending.

(a) During the three calendar month period after the subsidized employment ends, the 100-hour work rule as described in Section 41-440.22 shall not apply.

(b) If an individual applies for CalWORKs after this three-month period has passed, he or she shall be considered an applicant for the purpose of establishing unemployment deprivation as described in Section 41440.22, and the 100-hour work rule will apply. (See Handbook Section below.)

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.222 EXAMPLE:

An applicant principal earner was laid off on April 13th and worked a total of 40 hours in April and 40 hours per week in March. The family applied for aid on April 14th. The original four-week period would be from March 17th through April 13th. Since the PE worked 120 hours during this four-week period, a new four-week period would need to be identified.

March 18th through April 14th = 112 hours

March 19th through April 15th = 104 hours

March 20th through April 16th = 96 hours

The qualifying four-week period in which the PE worked less than 100 hours would be from March 20th through April 16th. The beginning date of aid for this family would be April 17th, if otherwise eligible.

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.23 The principal earner, who is apparently eligible for UIB (see Section 82-610), shall apply for and accept any unemployment insurance benefits (UIB) to which he/she is entitled, when referred to EDD by the county welfare department. When the principal earner does not meet this requirement, unemployment deprivation does not exist for the family. This requirement is considered to be met on the date of application as long as it is completed by the date of authorization of aid.

.24 The principal earner shall not be considered to be unemployed as a result of his/her participation in a strike.

.3 Repealed by Manual Letter No.85-44, effective 7/1/85.

.4 Repealed by Manual Letter No. EAS-98-03, effective 7/1/98.

.5 Repealed by Manual Letter No. EAS-98-03, effective 7/1/98.

.6 Repealed by Manual Letter No. EAS-98-03, effective 7/1/98.

.7 Repealed by Manual Letter No. EAS-98-03, effective 7/1/98.

NOTE: Authority cited: Sections 10553, 10554, 10604, 11209, and 11450(g), Welfare and Institutions Code. Reference: Sections 10553, 10554, 10604, 11201, 11201.5, 11270, 11322.63(b) and 11322.64(f), Welfare and Institutions Code; and 45 CFR 233.10(a)(1), 233.100(a)(5), and 250.30(b); Family Support Act of 1988, Public Law (PL) 100-485, October 13, 1988; Family Support Administration Action Transmittal 91-15 (FSAAT-91-15), dated April 23, 1991; and Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act (OBRA) of 1990, Section 5061.