DPSS ePolicy

To convert existing policy to new writing style only - No concept change

CalWORKs child care services are available to current cash-aided and former CalWORKs participants. 

Current Cash-Aided CalWORKs Participants

Current cash-aided CalWORKs participants are eligible to receive child care services when all of the following conditions are met: 

1. The participant receives CalWORKs cash assistance;
2. The participant is engaged in a County-approved Welfare-to-Work (WtW) activity and/or employed;
3. There is no other parent, legal guardian, or adult member of the Assistance Unit (AU) living in the home who is able or available to provide child care; and
4. The participant has an eligible child.

Former CalWORKs Participants

Former CalWORKs participants may be eligible to receive child care services for up to 24 months after termination from cash assistance when all of the following conditions are met:

1. The participant has exhausted their CalWORKs 48-month time limit;
2. The participant is in a County-approved WtW activity and/or employed;
3. There is no other parent, legal guardian, or adult member of the AU living in the home who is able and available to provide child care; and
4. The participant must meet the State’s income requirements.

CalWORKs Eligibility Workers, GAIN Services Workers (GSW), Contracted Case Managers (CCMs), including Cal-Learn Case Managers, Refugee Employment Program (REP) and Resource and Referral/Alternative Payment Program (R&R/APP) agencies shall ensure that all participants are made aware of the availability and non-availability of child care services.

Availability of Child Care 

Child care is considered reasonably available when:

1. Parental choice is exercised by the participant when selecting a provider who is licensed or license-exempt;
2. It does not require the child to change schools;
3. For Cal-Learn nested cases, the senior parent and the Cal-Learn teen mutually agree that the senior parent who is able and available will provide care for the teen’s child(ren) without reimbursement. If either one indicates that the senior parent should not provide care, another eligible Stage 1 Child Care (S1CC) provider may be approved;
4. The preferred placement for an 11 and 12-year-old is in a before and after school program. 

Non-Availability of Child Care 

The R&R/APP agency staff shall identify CalWORKs participants for whom child care is not reasonably available and the reason(s) for the non-availability of child care. 

Non-Availability of child care includes, but is not limited to:

1. Lack of sufficient child care options to exercise parental choice;
2. Geographic access limiting parental choice; and
3. Non-appropriateness of available child care for child’s needs, including special needs.

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Refer to the Definitions Template for a list of child care definitions.

Presumptive Eligibility

1. Presumptive eligibility for S1CC is determined within four business days from the request date by co-located staff or an R&R/APP agency receiving an electronic California Statewide Automated Welfare System (CalSAWS) child care request or CalWORKs Stage 1 Child Care Request form (ST1-01). 
2. Certification of presumptive eligibility is based on three factors:
   • The case is an approved, cash-aided CalWORKs case, or is sanctioned;
   • The participant is employed or in a County-approved WtW activity, or there is an authorized GAIN activity on CalSAWS with an actual or expected start date; and
   • The participant is between jobs, or in an approved WtW activity for no more than 30 calendar days, and is using a licensed child care provider.
3. Additionally, there is no other parent, legal guardian, or adult member of the AU living in the home who is able and available to provide child care.

Eligible Participants

Current cash-aided CalWORKs participant who has an eligible child, and the participant is engaged in or scheduled for one of the following activities:

• Cal-Learn Program.
• Employment.
• County-approved WtW activity, including but not limited to the following:
  • GAIN Appraisal;
  • Orientation;
  • Orientation/Job Club/Vocational Assessment (JCO);
  • Job Search;
  • Vocational/Clinical/Career Assessment;
  • Vocational Education/Training;
  • Specialized Supportive Services;
  • Post-Employment Services;
  • Post Time Limit Services; and
  • Other County-Approved Activities.
• Participants who experience a period of temporary ineligibility for a cash grant that is not longer than one month, as long as the parent is participating in a County-approved WtW activity, or is employed.
• Penalized or sanctioned participant, as long as the parent is working or participating in a County-approved WtW activity (i.e., a participant who is making satisfactory progress in school, but who may have had difficulty in submitting a school document and in the interim of submitting the required document is sanctioned). 
• Both parents are in a County-approved activity and/or employed, and neither parent is available to provide care for the child(ren). 

Eligibility requirements for S1CC are based on the aided adult’s participation in County-approved WtW activities and/or employment and the availability of child care. Child care is considered available and the participant is not eligible for subsidized child care when there is an able and available parent, guardian, or adult member of the AU in the home.

Registered Domestic Partners (RDP)/Same-Sex Spouses

1. If the RDP/same-sex spouse meets the criteria needed to establish the parent and child relationship as a natural parent as defined in the California Family Code Sections 7610 and 7611, the household will be considered a two-parent household regardless of adoption.  In such cases, in determining eligibility to subsidized S1CC, the second parent’s ability and availability to provide the needed child care must first be evaluated.
2. If the RDP/same-sex spouse opts not to be included in the AU, she/he is not required to provide child care for the child(ren) of the aided adult household member (her/his partner) who is required to participate in WtW activities and/or employment.

CalWORKs Cash Aid-Terminated Participants

1. When a family or the participant receiving S1CC services is terminated from CalWORKs cash aid, the family must be transitioned to Stage 2 to continue Child Care services.  However, families using an in-home license-exempt child care provider may request a waiver of this policy.  A waiver may be approved, on a case-by-case basis, for children with a documented and verified special need, as determined by a medical professional.
2. Former CalWORKs participants who meet the waiver requirement are eligible to receive S1CC services for up to 24 months from the date their CalWORKs cash aid is terminated. 

Income Eligibility of Former CalWORKs Participants

1. One eligibility criterion which must be met by former CalWORKs families for S1CC is that their adjusted monthly income must be at or below 85 percent of the State Median Income (SMI), adjusted for family size and income, as specified in Education Code Section 8263.1 (a). Prior to July 1, 2017, the SMI was at 70 percent. ACL 17-96 revised the SMI from 70 percent to 85 percent, effective July 1, 2017.
2. R&R/APPs are responsible for calculating the SMI. In calculating a former CalWORKs family’s “total countable income,” the following are excluded: 
   • Earnings of a child under 18 years of age;
   • Loans, grants, and scholarships obtained under conditions that preclude their use for current living costs;
   • Grants or loans to students for educational purposes made or insured by a State or federal agency;
   • Allowances received for uniforms or other work required clothing, food, and shelter;
   • Business expenses for self-employed family members; or
   • Federal Supplemental Security Income and State Supplemental Program (SSI/SSP).

Eligible Child

A child eligible to receive CalWORKs S1CC services must be a member of the CalWORKs AU, or would be a member of the AU, but is receiving Foster Care benefits or SSI/SSP benefits, and is:

• A child of a CalWORKs/Cal-Learn participant;
• Age 12 years or younger; or
• A child under age 18, who is physically or mentally incapable of caring for him or herself, based on a written statement from either a physician, licensed, certified psychologist or is receiving SSI/SSP benefits.

Subsidized Child Care for 11 and 12-Year Old Children

1. Section 8263.4 of the Education Code states that the preferred child care placement for 11 and 12-year old children is in before and after school programs. However, the 11 or 12-year old child may continue to receive subsidized child care services if the parent, for any reason, determines that the before or after school program does not meet the child care needs of the family or is not available. Before and after school programs are administered by the California Department of Education (CDE) and operated by grantees in various locations throughout the State.
2. CalWORKs participants with children at least age ten years and ten months up through 12 years old, who require child care services must be informed that before and after school programs are the preferred child care placement. 
3. The PA 129, “Child Care – General Information” form, is used to notify the parent that a before or after school program is the preferred placement for 11 and 12-year old children. The PA 129 is used redundantly at CalWORKs application, annual redetermination, Welfare-to-Work (WtW) original or amended plan appointments and at any other point of contact.
4. DPSS and R&R/APP agency staff must encourage applicants/participants to contact and visit the before and after school programs in their areas to determine whether the before and after school programs will provide the type of care that their children need. To meet the child care needs of the family, families may combine care provided in a before or after school program with subsidized S1CC in another setting, for those hours within a day when the before or after school program does not operate.
5. Although preferred placement does not apply to an 11 or 12-year old child with exceptional needs or an Individualized Education Program (IEP), as provided in the Individuals with Disabilities Act, there is nothing prohibiting participants who have an 11 or 12-year old child with exceptional needs from transferring that child for all or part of the day to a before or after school program.
   
   

Non-Assistance Unit Members

A child who is not in the CalWORKs AU is eligible to receive child care services under the following circumstances:

• Lack of child care would result in the participant not being able to participate in a County-approved activity and/or employment; or
• The participant is responsible for supporting the child.

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