Self-Initiated Programs (SIPs) in WtW

• For purposes of a SIP approval, a CalWORKs recipient must be enrolled in school at the time of the scheduled appraisal appointment unless he/she had good cause for missing the appraisal appointment. If the CalWORKs participant has good cause for missing the initial appraisal appointment, he/she is required to participate at the time of the next scheduled appraisal appointment unless good cause is established for missing that appointment also.

Thus if a recipient was not enrolled in a SIP at the time of the first appraisal, he/she could not have the SIP approved unless good cause was established for missing the initial appraisal appointment. If good cause was established for missing the initial appraisal appointment, and the recipient had enrolled in a SIP after the initial appointment, but before the rescheduled appointment, the county would approve the SIP if it met SIP criteria set out in MPP Section 42-711.54. The recipient would still have to appear at the rescheduled appraisal appointment so the county could evaluate the SIP.

• Enrolled means that the recipient has applied for and been accepted into a degree or certificate program, and continues to meet conditions imposed by the institution offering the program to maintain current enrollment status.

• Per Section 42-711.543, the county must establish a list of approved SIPs that the county and local education agencies agree lead to employment. The list must be updated annually. Before denying a SIP which is not on the list, the county must provide the participant with written information that specifies procedures and criteria for approving programs and allow the participant to provide information that the program will lead to employment.

While ACL 99-32 states that the county must provide an updated SIP list annually and must provide information to the participant specifying procedures for approving programs not on the SIP list, it does not state the consequences if the county fails to meet these requirements. If the county fails to provide an updated list, or procedures and criteria for approving programs, and the individual files for a hearing, the Administrative Law Judge has the responsibility to render a decision, based on available information, as to whether the SIP would lead to self-supporting employment. Thus, if at a hearing regarding denial of the claimant’s SIP for cosmetology, the only evidence is the claimant’s testimony, the Judge would determine whether or not the SIP should be approved based on that testimony. However, even if the county failed to provide a list of SIPs, the Judge could not approve a SIP for law school when the individual is a college graduate because MPP §42-711.542 states an individual who possesses a baccalaureate degree is ineligible for a SIP unless the individual is pursuing a classroom teaching credential.

• A SIP cannot be denied solely because it cannot be completed within the participant’s 18- or 24-month WtW activity time period.

• Counties must inform recipients in writing if a SIP is denied. Counties must use WtW notices and not old GAIN SIP denial notices since old GAIN notices cite grounds for denial that no longer apply. Regulations are being revised to clarify CalWORKs WtW SIP denial requirements.

• While counties may require SIP participants to participate in job club or job search, they should not schedule such appointments to interfere with the SIP. Furthermore, SIP recipients must be informed that they are not required to accept any job that would interfere with hours of an approved SIP. Similarly, recipients who are in an unapproved SIP, but are permitted to complete a quarter or semester are not required to accept any job that would interfere with the hours of the SIP during that quarter or semester. Nor may the county schedule WtW appointments that interfere with the recipient’s SIP attendance.

• Work-study hours count toward the 32-hour concurrent participation requirement for SIP participants.

• Classroom hours for elective or remedial classes toward completion of a degree or certificate count toward the 32-hour requirement. Special classes or tutorial hours determined to be necessary by the educational institution to mitigate barriers to education success count toward the 32-hour requirement.