Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/398224
7 The People's Guide 2013-2014 CalWORKs If you do not turn in a quarterly report by the eleventh day of the reporting month, you will get a notice that your cash aid will stop. DPSS must also try to phone you to let you know they don't have the QR-7. If you get a notice that you are being terminated (your aid stopped) for not filling out a QR-7, call your worker, go to the DPSS immediately, and fill out a new QR-7 (or take in your receipt if you already submitted the QR-7). If you submit a QR 7 within the month following the discontinuance, you will not have to reapply but your eligibility and benefits will be determined by the date you turn in a complete QR unless you had a good reason (good cause). If you can show "good cause" your cash benefits will be restored back to the begin- ning of the month. Good cause for turning the QR-7 in late includes: • errors by DPSS, • a physical or mental condition that prevented you from being on time, • or not being able to provide all the necessary information. If you haven't been able to work it out or haven't heard from your worker, be sure to file for a fair hearing before the date your check is supposed to stop. This way you will not lose your cash aid. When you first apply, the amount of cash aid you get depends on how much your other income is at that time. What you report on your application will be used to determine what you get the next few months until your first QR-7 is turned in. If your income goes down, report it right away, so your cash aid will go up. You can do this by calling your worker. DPSS may ask you for proof that it has dropped. You won't get aid if you're in jail or out of the state for 30 days, but you should still report it, or they will charge you with an overpayment. SEMI-ANNUAL REPORTING (SAR) Starting October 2013, the quarterly report will change from every three (3) months to every six (6) months. Contact your worker or a community agency if you need assistance with filling out the new report. Until SAR begins, continue to complete and submit your quarterly QR 7. 1. Report All Your Income And Gifts You should be careful to report all income you get or changes in your family. The wel- fare department will check bank, employer, and tax records to check your income, and accepts tips of suspected "welfare fraud" from the public. There are serious penalties for individuals who either are convicted of fraud in court or found to have committed fraud at an administrative hearing. You may have to pay penalties and be disqualified from CalWORKs for six months or even a lifetime, depending on the seriousness of the fraud. You can also be arrested and face jail time. 2. Cooperate with Child Support Collection Unless it could put you or your children in danger to do so, parents on cash aid must help ("cooperate with") the Child Support Agency ("CSA") to collect child support from any absent parent. You must provide information you have about the other parent such as name, an address or social security number, or place of employment. The County keeps most of the child support it collects, up to the amount of the family's cash aid. You will get your CalWORKs grant plus an extra $50 per month for every month the other parent pays on time. Every quarter the CSA should give you an accounting of the child support they collected. Call (323) 890-9800 to ask for this information. Parents will lose their share of cash aid if they refuse to sign over the child support to the county. If you sign over your child support, but the Child Support Agency says you are not cooperating with them, your family's aid can be cut 25%. ANNUAL REPORTING/ CHILD ONLY (ARCO) SYSTEM As of October 2012, certain child only cases (AR/CO) and associated CalFresh households (HHs) are no longer required to complete any written mid-period/mid- year reports, such as the QR 7, Quarterly Eligibility/Status Report. These Assistance Units (AUs) will complete a written annual redetermination/recertification once per year. CalFresh HHs associated/linked to a CalWORKs case become Change Reporting HHs and are required to report any change within 10 days of the occurrence. AR/CO cases are cases that have no eligible adult in the CalWORKs AU. The follow- ing are CalWORKs cases and associated CalFresh HHs that are considered AR/ CO cases: • All adults that have reached the Cal- WORKs 48-month time limit (i.e., Safety Net case); • The adult(s) is not eligible because of a disqualifying drug felony conviction, fleeing felon status, or has been found by a court to be in violation of probation or parole; • The adult(s) is not eligible for CalWORKs due to immigration status; • The adult(s) is not eligible because of failure to provide a Social Security Number; • The adult(s) is a CalWORKs non-needy relative (did not request CalWORKs as- sistance); • The adult(s) is receiving Supplemental Security Income; or • The adult(s) is CalWORKs sanctioned due to refusal to assign child/spousal support rights. If there is no adult(s) in the AU because he/ she chooses not to participant in welfare- to-work requirements, the case is not an AR/CO case.