California Department of Social Services - State Hearings Division
Notes from the Training Bureau - April 16, 2003

Facts

The claimant receives CalWORKs for herself and her aided children. Also living in the home are two children who have been excluded from the assistance unit because of the MFG rule. The claimant has earned income. The county calculated the CalWORKs grant by considering only the needs of the claimant and the aided children. The county did not consider the needs of the MFG children as part of the "Family Maximum Aid Payment (MAP)".

Law

State law provides that for purposes of determining the Maximum Aid Payment (MAP), and for no other purpose, the number of needy persons in the same family shall not be increased for any child born into a family that has received aid continuously for the 10 months prior to the birth of the child. Aid shall be considered continuous unless the family did not receive aid for two consecutive months. (W&IC §11450.04(a), see also §§44-314.2, .32, and .6)

Analysis

Department policy states that in calculating the CalWORKs grant where there is an MFG child, do not consider the needs of the MFG child in the "family MAP".