18901.55. (Added by Stats. 2011, Ch. 504, Sec. 3.)

(a) If a county has entered into a memorandum of understanding pursuant to Section 49557.3 of the Education Code, the county shall use the procedure described in this section to determine CalFresh program eligibility for children whose information is shared with the county pursuant to Section 49557.3 of the Education Code, and, if the child is eligible, the county to enroll the child in the CalFresh program, upon receipt of a signed CalFresh program application.

(b) Upon receipt of information on the School Lunch Program application pursuant to this section for a pupil who is not already enrolled in the CalFresh program, the county shall treat the application as an application for the CalFresh program. For purposes of administration of the CalFresh program, the application date shall be the date that the application is received by the county human services department. If the county determines that the pupil is already enrolled in the CalFresh program, it shall not take any further action. Unless otherwise prohibited by federal law or regulation, for purposes of expedited service processing, a county shall request information necessary for processing an application at the first point of contact following receipt of information. If information is provided to determine whether the household meets the criteria for expedited service, the expedited timeframe processing timeframes shall apply from the point of first contact. For the processing of other households, the processing timeframes shall apply from the point at which the county has received sufficient information in order to process the application.

(d) If the county is unable to determine from the information on the application whether the child or his or her family is eligible for the CalFresh program, the county shall contact the parent or guardian of the child to seek any additional information regarding income, household composition, or deductions that the county may determine to be necessary to complete the CalFresh program application. If the county determines that the child or his or her family does not meet the eligibility requirements for participation in the CalFresh program, the county shall notify the parent or guardian of the child of the determination.

(e) Each county shall request the parent or guardian of each child whom the county determines meets the eligibility requirements for participation in the CalFresh program under subdivision (c) to provide additional documentation as required by current law necessary for retention of eligibility in the CalFresh program.

(f) If a parent or guardian of a child does not provide the documentation required for retention of CalFresh program eligibility, as requested pursuant to subdivision (e), the county shall deny or discontinue CalFresh program benefits in accordance with existing regulations and laws.