ZBG Month
Instances when a month is considered a ZBG month and the impact to the CalWORKs and TANF 60-Month Time Clock are listed below.
- If the family’s NNI results in a grant under ten dollars and the family is receiving supportive services and employed
- If the family’s NNI results in a grant under ten dollars and the family does not receive supportive services and is employed
- If the family’s NNI results in a grant under ten dollars and the family does not receive supportive services and is unemployed
- If the family’s NNI results in a grant under ten dollars and as a result the family is eligible for clock stopper exemption
- Will the CalWORKs 60-Month Time Clock Tick? No
- Will the TANF 60-Month Time Clock Tick? No
Note: Eligibility staff will need to manually add subsequent TANF exemptions.
- If The family’s NNI results in a grant under ten dollars supportive services and unemployed
- Will the CalWORKs 60-Month Time Clock Tick? No
- Will the TANF 60-Month Time Clock Tick? Yes
- If the County begins to recoup an overpayment or impose a penalty and the family is receiving supportive services and employed
- If the family’s NNI results in a grant under ten dollars, and the family receives Homeless Assistance
- If the family is eligible to ZBG as a result of an overpayment recoupment or imposed penalty, such as a child support non -cooperation penalty and employed
- Will the CalWORKs 60-Month Time Clock Tick? Yes
- Will the TANF 60-Month Time Clock Tick? No
Note: The CalWORKs Time Clock would not tick if the participant is eligible for another exemption that stops the CalWORKs Time Clock.
- The County begins to recoup an overpayment or impose a penalty and the family is receiving supportive services and unemployed
- The family is eligible to ZBG as a result of an overpayment recoupment or imposed penalty, such as a child support non-cooperation penalty and unemployed
- Will the CalWORKs 60-Month Time Clock Tick? Yes
- Will the TANF 60-Month Time Clock Tick? Yes
Note: The CalWORKs Time Clock would not tick if the participant is eligible for another exemption that stops the CalWORKs Time Clock.
- Note: Under CalWORKs, only “grant under ten dollars” ZBGs are exempt from the CalWORKs Time Limit. A grant is considered a “grant under ten dollars” only when the actual grant amount is under ten dollars and does not include any adjustments due to child support non-cooperation penalties or prior overpayment recoupments.
Additionally, if the beginning date of aid is after the first of the month, and the grant amount is prorated, which results in a grant under ten dollars, the application meets the ZBG criteria.
Federal TANF 60-Month Time Clock
The federal TANF 60-Month Time Clock will not tick if the AU is considered ZBG unless the AU is unemployed and receiving supportive services.
TANF Time Limit Exemption Codes
There are scenarios where the CalWORKs Time Clock ticks, and the TANF Time Clock should not tick as there is a TANF exemption code. The TANF Time Limit exemption codes must be manually updated when the participant is receiving ZBG benefits and meets the following exemption codes until CalSAWS is programmed to not tick the TANF Time Clock for these scenarios:
378 - The participant receives ZBG and the family is employed. No countable assistance is considered received.
379 - The participant receives ZBG and the family is unemployed.
Note: For exemption code 379, no countable assistance is considered received when there are no supportive services issued for the same month.
Instructions to add exemption months/codes may be found in CalSAWS Job Aid, Cash Aid Time Limits, Adding Exemptions.
CalWORKs 60-Month Time Clock
The system:
- Recognizes when the CalWORKs 60-Month Time Clock should not be ticked.
ZBG cases where the 60-Month Time Clock does not tick are identified with the following reason: “377 – Grant Amount $10 or Less.”
- Sends the exemption records via the nightly batch to SCATL which is available through CalSAWS.
SCATL reflects the reason “377 – Grant Amount $10 or Less” on the Time Limit Summary page and Cash Aid Time Limit Month List page within the system.
Note: The system is programmed in alignment with policy which is to recognize grants less than ten dollars; however, the system and SCATL verbiage display the exemption as “Grant Amount $10 or Less.”
See AR 42-300 Time Limit Requirements for further details.
CalWORKs Benefits and Services
When a month is considered a ZBG month, the AU is eligible to the following CalWORKs benefits and services, provided they meet the specific program eligibility criteria for those benefits and services:
- Homeless Assistance, which includes:
- Temporary Homeless Assistance;
- Permanent Homeless Assistance; and
- Homeless Assistance exceptions.
- Homeless Case Management;
- Welfare-to-Work (WtW) services (i.e., Ancillaries, Transportation, Diaper Allowance, Specialized supportive services in the area of Mental Health, Substance Use Disorder, Domestic Violence, etc.);
- CalWORKs Stage 1 Child Care;
- Pregnancy and other recurring and nonrecurring special needs;
- Home Visiting Program services; and
Note: See AR 1470 Home Visiting Program for additional details.
- Eligibility to CalFresh and cash-linked Medi-Cal.
Note: Although the AU is eligible to CalFresh, an AU receiving ZBG is not eligible for Transitional CalFresh and Work Incentive Nutritional Supplement.
Overpayment
ZBG can be established when the entire CalWORKs grant is kept as an overpayment adjustment.
ZBG families are still required to report anytime they are over the IRT. While in most scenarios, a failure to report income exceeding the IRT, there would be no overpayment for the CalWORKs cash aid, there may be an overpayment for any recoupments that were made for prior overpayments.
An overpayment is the amount of aid payment the AU received to which it was not eligible. An overpayment may be all or a portion of an aid payment, which includes payments received for non-recurring special needs, including Homeless Assistance, supportive services, and recoupments made towards other overpayments even though the case is ZBG. If there was no eligibility as a result of the family exceeding the Tier 2 IRT, the family would not have been eligible to any of the aforementioned types of payments, including a recoupment for a prior overpayment.
See AR 44-350 Overpayments for additional details.
Penalty
CalWORKs penalties in combination with the family’s combined net income and other factors, such as collections/sanctions, may reduce the grant to less than ten dollars resulting in a ZBG month. The following are examples of penalties in the CalWORKs Program:
- Immunization: The CalWORKs grant does not consider the parent/caretaker relative’s needs when they fail to provide verification of immunization for a child in the AU who is under the age of six and does not qualify for an exemption or Good Cause does not exist.
- School: The CalWORKs grant does not consider a teen’s (age 16 or over) needs when they are a chronic truant and Good Cause does not exist.
- Child Support: The CalWORKs grant is reduced by 25 percent when the applicant/participant fails to comply with the Child Support Services Department in the child support enforcement process.
- Intentional Program Violation (IPV): The CalWORKs grant is reduced by the applicant’s/participant’s needs when there is an IPV.
Note: When the family’s net countable income results in the grant under ten dollars, the CalWORKs grant is not issued and the child support penalty or the overpayment adjustments are not applied, if applicable.
Reporting Requirements
ZBG families are required to comply with mid-period reporting requirements which include when income exceeds the IRT and for AR/CO cases, changes to the household circumstances, including the addition of a new member or changes in income without having to reapply for aid.
The following ARs can be referenced for further details:
Recurring Special Needs
Recurring special needs are included as part of the grant calculation.
- If an AU family’s countable income cxceeds the MAP plus the recurring special need, then the AU continues to receive ZBG and is not entitled to receive a CalWORKs grant.
- If an AU family’s countable income does not exceed the MAP plus the recurring special need, and the difference between the countable income and the MAP plus recurring special need is ten dollars or more, then the AU is entitled to a CalWORKs grant.
See AR 44-211.2 Recurring Special Needs for further details.
Note: SB 80 did not impact the issuance of non-recurring special needs.
Greater Avenue for Independence (GAIN)
Participants are required, as a condition of CalWORKs eligibility, to participate in GAIN unless exempt.
GAIN staff should provide supportive services through WtW to eligible individuals in ZBG cases.
FR
FR services are offered to parents or needy caretaker relatives and their families as part of the DCFS FR plan when all of the following conditions are applicable:
- All CalWORKs eligible children are removed from the home and temporarily placed in out-of-home care by DCFS;
- The family’s CalWORKs case was active when all CalWORKs-eligible children were removed from the home;
Note: If the CalWORKs case is active and ZBG eligible, the AU may be eligible for FR if they meet all the FR conditions.
- Ineligible - Unaided parents/caretaker relatives, such as Supplemental Security Income recipients, undocumented noncitizens, non-needy caretaker relatives, or timed-out parents who do not qualify for an extender are not eligible to receive FR cash aid or reunification services for themselves or their child(ren) because they are not eligible for cash aid.
- Eligible - WtW-sanctioned parents may participate in reunification services but are not eligible to the CalWORKs FR cash aid, unless the sanction has ended and the parent is added back to the case. GAIN Services Workers must follow the existing GAIN sanction cure process. Children in an FR plan will remain eligible for cash aid even if the adults are in WtW sanction status.
- An FR plan exists with the provision of CalWORKs FR cash aid, child care, and/or reunification services that DCFS or the court has determined necessary for the family to reunify.
See AR 82-812.67 Family Reunification for additional information.