This all county letter updates information and instructions from ACWDL 07-12 with new federal DRA policy clarifications and changes. A few of the major changes/ clarifications are:

• Former Medicare and SSI beneficiaries are not exempt from having to provide identification and citizenship verification.
• While there are several different tiers of documents, counties must accept the evidence provided as the best available evidence including affidavits.
• SAVE verification is acceptable evidence of citizenship for naturalized citizens.
• Verification that an adopted child has met the requirements for establishing citizenship under the Child Citizenship Act is acceptable evidence of citizenship.
• Naturalized Citizens may use affidavits of citizenship which do not need to be notarized.

There are many other changes/ clarifications in the letter detailing what documentation can be used to prove citizenship and identification. There are several specific documents now available as proof for children under 16. The letter includes amended notices, forms, and detailed descriptions of acceptable DRA documents. [Download]

Clarification of the recert process for Food Stamps and new notices. The new forms must be used starting no later than January 1, 2009. No more check box that says “call your worker.” Instead, the county must send one notice listing the end of the certification period, and another with an actual appointment date. The appointment letter states whether in person or by phone. [Download]

This ACWDL updates the format and content of the NOAs and Consent forms for the Healthy Families Program/ Medi-Cal joint application. The NOAs and consent forms are now available in the eleven threshold languages. [Download]

This ACWDL reminds counties that women on PE Medi-Cal do not get full coverage. Workers should give women on PE information on how to apply for Medi-Cal and retroactive Medi-Cal. The retroactive Medi-Cal can cover things PE did not cover, such as labor and delivery. [Download]

This aid code is for children who have not satisfied the Medi-Cal citizenship/ identity requirements within the reasonable period and are being bridged to Healthy Families. These are children who are on limited scope Medi-Cal due to their lack of citizenship/ identity verification and who have newly been assessed a share of costs. This aid code gives them a month of limited scope no share of cost Medi-Cal while Healthy Families evaluates their eligibility. There are citizenship requirements to be in Healthy Families but the proof the two programs require are different, so a child who did not have the documentation to get on full-scope Medi-Cal may still be able to meet the eligibility requirements for Health Families. [Download]

Per ACWDL 08-06 the ADFPL limit for a couple was supposed to change from 1524 to 1558 on June 1. This did not happen because the COLA increase was delayed until October 1 2008. The ADFPL limit will remain 1524 until October 1 at which point it will increase to 1558. [Download]

New summer look to those tired old WTW notices.  Budgets on a separate page, no reference to durational sanctions (that wicked witch is dead!), changes after a review by the grammar police, including making the NOAs more “translation friendly.”   [Download]

The four automated eligibility systems are required to be able to track disaster food stamps benefits.  By this letter, CDSS informs them of the  codes and reporting requirements for Disaster Food Stamps Benefits, Disaster Food Stamps Supplemental Benefits, and Replacement Food Stamps Benefits. [Download]

Currently, when a household member leaves a Transitional Food Stamps (TFS) household and is approved for benefits in another food stamp household, the individual is removed from the benefit amount, but the individual’s income is not removed for purposes of calculating the TFS benefit for the remaining members. This results in the income being considered in both households.

The FNS has found this policy out of with federal regulations. CWDs must therefore recompute the TFS benefit for the remaining TFS household members by removing the individual from the TFS household along with his/her income, if any. This change is effective September 1, 2008. [Download]

Counties are required to inform parents and providers regarding child care subsidies. Here are two pamphlets (use optional), via CDSS. One focuses on parents, and discusses Trustline Registry, including the parent/guardian’s responsibility in the registration process. The other pamphlet is focused on information for child care providers, and includes information about crimes that may result in denial of their Trustline registration. [Download]