California Department of Social Services - State Hearings Division
Notes from the Training Bureau - September 29, 1996

Item 96-09-02D
Aid to Families With Dependent Children (AFDC) -- Individual With Income Added to Assistance Unit (AU) Mid-Month

No single regulation specifies how to compute an AFDC grant for the initial month when an individual with income is added to an existing AU mid-month.

If the added individual’s income is of a continuous nature, prospectively budget the income for the first two months of aid and retrospectively budget the income for the third and fourth months. Refer to MPP §§44-313.1 through 44-313.4, and pararegs 121-2, 121-3, and 121-5.

Example:

Facts: A father, who received $340 net nonexempt income (NNI) in March, returns home on March 25. The county determines he meets all AFDC eligibility conditions and adds him to the four person AU, effective March 25. The AU received a $723 AFDC grant for March based on the Minimum Basic Standard of Adequate Care (MBSAC) and the Maximum Aid Payment (MAP) for a four person AU.

Solution: Use a two-step process to compute the March AFDC grant for this AU, which has four persons effective March 1 through March 24, and five persons effective March 25 through March 31:

1. First, determine the four person AU’s AFDC entitlement for the full month of March, without using the father’s NNI received in March. Prorate this amount from the first of the month through the day before the father was added to the AU, i.e., from March 1 through March 24.

2. Next, determine what the five person’s AU AFDC entitlement would be for the full month of March, using the father’s NNI received in March. Prorate this amount from the beginning date of aid for the new AU member through the end of the month, i.e., from March 25 through March 31.

3. Add the two prorated partial month amounts together; round down to the nearer dollar. This total is the AU’s new March AFDC grant entitlement. Assess any AFDC overpayment or underpayment at this point.

Computation: The new March 1996 AFDC grant for this AU, with four members effective March 1 through March 24, and five members effective March 25 through March 31, is computed as follows:

Step #1

MBSAC for 4 $866

Minus NNI - 0

Potential AFDC grant for 4 = $866

MAP for 4 $723

Full month AFDC entitlement for 4 $723

Proration factor for 3/1 - 3/24 x.7742

Prorated AFDC entitlement for 3/1 - 3/24 = $559.74

 

Step #2

MBSAC for 5 $988

Minus NNI -340

Potential AFDC grant for 5 = $648

MAP for 5 $824

Full month AFDC entitlement for 5 $648

Proration factor for 3/25 - 3/31 x.2258

Prorated AFDC entitlement for 3/25 - 3/31 = $146.31

Step #3

Result from Step #1 (prorated for 3/1 - 3/24) $559.74

Result from Step #2 (prorated for 3/25 - 3/31) + 146.31

Total from Step #1 and Step #2 (rounded) = $706

Actual AFDC paid to AU $723

Actual AFDC entitlement $706

Overpayment $ 17

As a new member of the AU, the father’s entire monthly income is budgeted prospectively for March and April and retrospectively budgeted for May and June, provided it is of a continuous nature.