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PARTICIPATION REQUIREMENTS
.1 Eligibility
.11 Individuals who meet the following conditions shall be required to participate in the Cal-Learn Program unless exempt under Section 42-763.2. An individual required to participate in the Cal-Learn Program is a person who:
.111 Is a CalWORKs recipient under the age of 19; and
.112 Has not obtained a high school diploma or its equivalent; and
.113 Resides with his or her child in the same AU; or
.114 Is pregnant and the pregnancy is verified under Section 80-301(m)(2).
.12 Individuals who meet the following conditions may participate in the Cal-Learn Program on a voluntary basis.
.121 Is a CalWORKs recipient 19 years of age;
.122 Was participating in the Cal-Learn Program prior to becoming 19 years of age;
.123 Has not obtained a high school diploma or its equivalent.
.124 Is attending high school or an equivalent program on a full-time basis, as defined by the school, unless the CWD determines that the teen has good cause for not complying with this requirement; and
NONLINKING FACTORS OF PUBLIC ASSISTANCE ELIGIBILITY
PARTICIPATION REQUIREMENTS (Continued)
.125 Resides with his or her child in the same AU or is pregnant and the pregnancy is verified under Section 80-301(m)(2).
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Examples:
(a) At 15 years of age, Mary was a Cal-Learn participant. At 17 years of age, she went off cash aid and was no longer eligible for Cal-Learn participation. At 19 years of age, Mary is back on cash aid, has not received a high school diploma or equivalent and wants to voluntarily participate in Cal-Learn. Mary is eligible to voluntarily participate in Cal-Learn.
(b) At 19 years of age, Susan is pregnant and receiving cash aid for the first time. She has not received a high school diploma or equivalent and she wants to voluntarily participate in Cal-Learn. Susan is not eligible to voluntarily participate in Cal-Learn.
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.13 An individual who is participating in the Cal-Learn Program on a voluntary basis is eligible for the same benefits as an individual who is required to participate in the Cal-Learn Program.
.14 An individual who chooses not to voluntarily participate in the Cal-Learn Program shall be subject to welfare-to-work activities as specified in Section 42-711.3 and time limits as specified in Section 42-302.213.
.15 An individual assigned to a control group under Section 42-762.4 shall not be eligible for the Cal-Learn Program for the duration of the research period unless he or she moves to a county that is not participating in the research project under Section 42-762.4.
.2 Exemption
Individuals meeting the following requirements shall be exempt from the Cal-Learn Program. An exemption shall be granted by the CWD if the individual:
.21 Has a serious illness, injury, or incapacity that prevents the teen parent from meeting the Cal-Learn Program requirements of enrolling in school and attending full-time under Section 42-763.71 for a period of more than three months.
NONLINKING FACTORS OF PUBLIC ASSISTANCE ELIGIBILITY
PARTICIPATION REQUIREMENTS (Continued)
.211 The exemption based on illness, injury or incapacity shall be supported by a written statement from a physician or a licensed or certified psychologist and includes the following:
(a) A description of the individual's condition;
(b) An explanation of why the individual's condition prevents him or her from meeting program requirements;
(c) The expected duration of the condition;
(d) The date of the next scheduled examination or appointment; and
(e) The doctor's name, address and phone number.
.212 When a written statement cannot be obtained timely for reasons beyond the control of the individual, an oral statement from the physician or the licensed or certified psychologist with the information required in this section shall be accepted pending written verification up to a maximum of 60 days.
(a) The oral statement shall be documented and shall include:
(1) The date the oral statement was obtained;
(2) The name of the person who supplied the oral statement;
(3) The person who obtained the oral statement; and
(4) A description of the statement.
.22 Is expelled from school and enrollment in any alternative school cannot be arranged.
.221 The individual or the head of the AU shall provide written verification from the school district in which the individual is a resident that no school in the individual's district will permit the individual to enroll.
.23 Needs Cal-Learn Program paid child care and/or transportation in order to meet Cal-Learn Program requirements and the service is not available for a period of three or more months.
NONLINKING FACTORS OF PUBLIC ASSISTANCE ELIGIBILITY
PARTICIPATION REQUIREMENTS (Continued)
.24 Cannot receive payment for child care or transportation expenses due to lack of program funding.
.25 Is eligible for AFDC-FC and payment is being made on behalf of the individual.
.3 Deferral
Teen parents who are unable to meet Cal-Learn Program requirements due to the following deferral criteria shall be deferred from the Cal-Learn participation until the CWD determines that the situation requiring deferral no longer exists. Deferral shall be granted by the CWD if the teen parent:
.31 Needs supportive services under Section 42-765 which are temporarily not available.
.32 Cannot be provided case management services.
.33 Has a special need that substantially deprives the teen parent's ability to meet program requirements or be successful in earning a high school diploma or its equivalent, and the special need cannot be addressed.
.331 To qualify for a special need deferral, the teen parent must be severely restricted by factors beyond the teen parent's control to attend school and no home study or other special arrangements can be made with the school.
(a) Beyond the control of the teen parent shall include, but not be limited to, acts of nature such as fire, earthquake, flood, death of a child or parent, child is hospitalized, child or teen parent is seriously ill or injured.
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(b) EXAMPLE:
Sara suffered an injury in a car accident for which her physician stated she would be unable to attend school for six weeks. However, the physician stated that Sara would be able to continue her school work at home in two weeks. Sara's case manager contacted Sara's school and was able to arrange a home study program which gave Sara the ability to make adequate progress for the report card period. Sara does not qualify for a deferral.
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NONLINKING FACTORS OF PUBLIC ASSISTANCE ELIGIBILITY
PARTICIPATION REQUIREMENTS (Continued)
.332 Documentation under Sections 42-763.211 or .212 shall be required for a special needs deferral which is an illness, injury or incapacity.
(a) Documentation shall be accepted from a physician, licensed or certified psychologist, licensed Marriage Family and Child Counselor or a Licensed Clinical Social Worker.
.34 Has been prescribed a period of time for postpartum recovery after the birth of a child by a physician.
.341 Documentation under Section 42-763.332 shall be required for the postpartum recovery deferral.
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.4 Individuals exempt or deferred from the Cal-Learn Program are not exempt or deferred from attending school. The California Education Code (CEC), Section 48200 provides that each person between the ages of 6 and 18 years, not exempted under Chapters 2 or 3 of the CEC, is subject to compulsory full-time education.
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.5 Documentation, Review and Notification
CWDs or case managers shall:
.51 Document the estimated duration of the exemption or deferral status.
.511 The CWD or case manager shall verify submitted documentation if authenticity is in doubt or when the information is inconsistent with information that is known.
.52 Review exemption status at the end of the projected length of time of the exemption, or upon the request of the individual or head of the AU, but no less often than every six months.
.53 Review deferral status at the end of the projected length of the deferral, or upon the request of the teen parent or head of the AU, but no less often than every three months.
NONLINKING FACTORS OF PUBLIC ASSISTANCE ELIGIBILITY
PARTICIPATION REQUIREMENTS (Continued)
.54 Notify a teen parent and the head of the AU of a teen parent's exemption or deferral from the Cal-Learn Program and of the right to have the exemption or deferral reviewed.
.6 Service Provisions
.61 Exempt individuals shall not be eligible to receive Cal-Learn supportive services under Section 42-765, case management services under Section 42-766, or bonuses or sanctions under Section 42-769.
.62 Deferred teen parents shall not be eligible to receive Cal-Learn supportive services under Section 42-765 and sanctions and bonuses under Section 42-769. Deferred teen parents shall receive case management under Section 42-766 except for teen parents who are deferred due to case management not being available.
.7 Participation Requirements
Teen parents shall:
.71 Enroll and attend full-time (as defined by the school) in a school program which shall lead to a high school diploma or its equivalent.
.711 For the purposes of the Cal-Learn Program, high school equivalency programs shall include, but not be limited to, preparation classes for the GED examination and the California high school certificate of proficiency examination.
.712 Vocational training programs which are not part of a high school or its equivalent curriculum shall not meet the Cal-Learn participation requirements.
.713 Except as provided in Section 42-763.714, teen parents who are enrolled in a program which has no "full-time" definition shall participate in a minimum of 10 hours of school activity per week during each week that participation is required.
.714 When a teen parent is enrolled in a school program which cannot provide a minimum of 10 hours per week of school activity, the AU shall provide written verification from the school in which the teen parent is enrolled confirming this limitation.
NONLINKING FACTORS OF PUBLIC ASSISTANCE ELIGIBILITY
PARTICIPATION REQUIREMENTS (Continued)
.72 Participate in the Cal-Learn Program until the end of the month in which the teen parent turns age 19 or until either a high school diploma or its equivalent is earned.
.73 Assist in the development of the case plan including a report card submittal schedule as part of the case plan under Section 42-766.33.
.74 Submit report cards to the case manager.
.741 A teen parent shall be responsible for submitting the report card to the teen parent's case manager within 10 working days from the date the report card is issued.
.8 Break In Program Participation
When a teen parent has a break-in-aid or is exempted from the program for 90 days or more or when a 19-year-old teen parent voluntarily discontinues from Cal-Learn for 90 days or more, the following conditions shall be met.
.81 The teen parent shall be rescheduled for orientation and shall be provided program requirements under Section 42-764.2; and
.82 The teen parent shall participate in the Cal-Learn Program for 90 calendar days under Section 42-766.334 before being eligible for bonuses or subject to sanctions under Section 42-769.
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.83 Example: Bill is discontinued effective February 28. He remains in school and is reinstated effective June 2. His report card for the school term ending June 30 indicates satisfactory progress. Bill is not eligible for a bonus because his break-in-aid was for more than 90 days and he has not participated for 90 days after his CalWORKs was reinstated.
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NOTE: Authority cited: Sections 10553 and 10554, Welfare and Institutions Code. Reference: Sections 10063, 11331.5, 11331.7, 11332, 11332.5(a)(3), 11333.7(a), (b)(1) and (d), 11334.2, and 11450, Welfare and Institutions Code; 45 CFR 250.40(a); and 42 U.S.C. Section 1315.
NONLINKING FACTORS OF PUBLIC ASSISTANCE ELIGIBILITY