California Department of Social Services - State Hearings Division
Notes from the Training Bureau - October 17, 2003

This ACL provides questions and answers on the 60-month time limit and safety net program. The safety net program is a reference to the fact that the children remain eligible for CalWORKs even though the parent(s) have timed out of CalWORKs eligibility.

The answers to some of the 19 questions in this ACIN are as follows:

¨ The assistance unit consists of an aided grandmother and two grandchildren who receive the Maximum Aid Payment (MAP) for a nonexempt three-person assistance unit. The aided grandmother reaches the 60-month time limit and is deleted from the assistance unit. Once the grandmother is deleted, the assistance unit becomes an exempt assistance unit because the caretaker relative grandmother is an unaided non-parent (see MPP §89-110.22). The two children will now receive the MAP for a two-person exempt assistance unit.

¨ Once an aided adult reaches the 60-month time limit, she cannot reestablish eligibility for CalWORKs by meeting a clock stopper exemption. Instead, to be reinstated for CalWORKs, she must meet a time extender.

Thus, if an aided adult has reached her 60-month time limit and becomes disabled two months later, she could not establish eligibility merely by verifying her disability. Instead, she could establish CalWORKs eligibility if she receives disability benefits such as State Disability Insurance or Temporary Disability Insurance and the disability impairs her ability to work or participate in WTW (see MPP §42-302.113).

Alternatively, she could reestablish CalWORKs eligibility by meeting the time extender for individuals who are unable to maintain employment or participate in WTW activities due to a documented impairment (see MPP §42-302.114)

¨ In order for an individual to be added back to the assistance unit because he meets a time extender, he must make a verbal or written request for an extender. Eligibility is established based on the date of the request or the date all eligibility requirements are met, whichever is later.

¨ Homeless Assistance benefits are considered aid paid to the recipient. When the county receives child support payments from the absent parent such payments are used to repay all aid including Homeless Assistance.

¨ Even if child support recoupment is used to repay Homeless Assistance, the recipient did receive this once-in-a-lifetime benefit and is ineligible to receive another Homeless Assistance payment unless an exception to the once-in-a-lifetime rules apply (see MPP §44-211.54).