California Department of Social Services - State Hearings Division
Notes from the Training Bureau - December 10, 2002

Effective November 1, 2002, when the county evaluates the eligibility of an applicant for the §1931(b) program, it is required to deduct $240 from disability income when determining monthly countable income. The $240 deduction applies to combined disability income of all members of the MFBU. (Previously, the applicable deduction for disability income of §1931(b) applicants was $90.)

Disability income includes Social Security disability payments and private disability payments. Temporary Workers Compensation and State Disability insurance are treated as earned income, not disability based income for purposes of determining income eligibility for the §1931(b) program pursuant to the Tinoco and Sawyer lawsuits.

When applying the $240 income deduction for §1931(b) applicants, any portion of the $240 that is not applied to disability income is NOT "carried over" and applied to an applicant's earnings. By contrast, any portion of the $240 deduction that is not applied to a recipients disability income is "carried over" and applied to the recipient's earnings.

Note: The earned income deduction for 1931(b) applicants remains at $90. The $240 deduction applies to disability income only. If an MFBU receives disability income and earned income, it may receive both the $240 disability deduction plus the $90 earnings deduction.