California Department of Social Services - State Hearings Division
Notes from the Training Bureau - July 3, 2002

Reference: 02-03

ACL 02-03 identified several CalWORKs policies in county WTW programs that were inconsistent with state statutes and regulations. ACL 02-03 provided clarification on the appropriate application of relevant CalWORKs regulations.

Among the improper CalWORKs WTW policies were the following:

¨ Limiting participation in non-self-initiated programs to an across-the-board timeframe shorter than the 18 or 24-month WTW time period.
¨ Limiting participation in educational programs needed for employment only to WTW participants who lacked a high school diploma or GED.
¨ Limiting participation in education and training programs needed for employment to WTW participants who are employed.
¨ Imposing across-the-board mandatory WTW participation requirement after assessment.
¨ Not automatically referring participants who disagreed with their CalWORKs assessment to a third party assessment.

This ACL instructs counties about providing retroactive relief in the form of additional training and/or restored cash aid to WTW participants who were adversely affected by improper county policies.

A mass mailing of a TEMP 2200, Important Notice for CalWORKs Recipients was issued on or about May 1, 2002. This notice informs recipients how to request a review of their case file if they believe county policies resulted in an inappropriate WTW assignment and/or sanction for refusing to participate in a WTW activity that was not based on an individualized assessment. Recipients must submit the TEMP 2200 form to the county by July 1, 2002.