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Welfare to Work Handbook
What Welfare to Work Is and What Welfare to Work Can Do For You
The purpose of Welfare to Work is to help you
prepare for work and find a job. Finding a job will help you
become self-supporting, and your family will enjoy a better way
of life. After you get a job, you will have more money for your
family, serve as a role model for your children, increase your
self-confidence, and build a future.
Welfare to Work was designed with you in mind. It's
not just another government program. It's
much more than that.
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Welfare to Work staff are
with you every step of the way, providing you with such
important supportive services as child care, transportation,
and work or training related expenses.
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Welfare to Work can help you get a job that you need to be
self-sufficient. If needed, you'll
learn skills that will help you get a job in today's
work force. If needed, you'll
learn skills that will help you get a job in
your local labor market.
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Welfare to Work can help you improve your chances of getting
a job with private industries, businesses,
or public employers in your area.
Through Welfare to Work, everyone wins. You
gain a career and a future.
Employers
gain a skilled workforce.
Imagine The Possibilities!
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Who Must Participate?
Mandatory Participants:
If you are a California Work Opportunity and Responsibility to
Kids (CalWORKs) recipient, and you are not exempt, you must
participate in Welfare to Work. You are called a
"mandatory
participant". If you are a mandatory participant, you
must:
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Keep appointments
made by your Welfare to Work worker;
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Sign a Welfare to
Work Plan;
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Meet all Welfare to
Work requirements, including the requirements in your
Welfare to Work Plan;
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Not quit your job or
lower your earnings; and
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Provide proof of
satisfactory progress in your assigned activity when
required.
We will decide if you must participate in Welfare
to Work when:
Pregnant or Parenting Teens:
All pregnant and parenting teens who are
under the age of 20 are required to participate in the CalWORKs
Welfare to Work program. If you
do not have a high school diploma or GED, then your only Welfare
to Work activity will be to attend high school to earn a diploma
or GED.
Volunteers: Even if you
are not required to participate in Welfare to Work, you can ask
to take part. You would be called a "volunteer". Ask your worker
how you can get into Welfare to Work.
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Who Doesn't Have to
Participate?
Exemptions: You are
exempt and do not have to participate in Welfare to Work if you:
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Are under 16 years
old or 60 years or older (does not apply
if you are a pregnant or parenting teen);
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Are 16, 17, or 18
years old and in high school
or adult school
(does not apply if you are a pregnant or parenting teen);
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Have a disability
that is expected to last at least 30 days and
that would keep you
from working or participating in a Welfare to Work activity,
and you are either getting or trying to get the medical help
you need;
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Are pregnant and a
doctor states that you cannot work or participate in Welfare
to Work activities;
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Are the non-parent
relative caretaker of a child who
is a dependent or ward of the court, or a child at
risk of placement in foster care
and we decide that taking care of the child keeps you from
working or participating in a Welfare to Work activity on a
regular basis;
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Must stay at home to
take care of someone in the household who is unable to care
for himself or herself if it keeps you from working or
participating in a Welfare to Work activity on a regular
basis (does not apply if
you are a pregnant or parenting teen);
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Are a full time
volunteer in Volunteers in Service to America (VISTA)
Program;
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Are the parent or
other relative caretaker of a child 12 weeks of age or
younger, and are personally providing care for the child
(does not apply if you are a pregnant or parenting teen).
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Are the parent or other
relative caretaker who is personally providing care to one
child who is from 12 to 23 months old, or two or more
children who are under six years old. This exemption
will end when you no longer qualify or until June 30, 2012,
whichever comes first (does not apply if you are a pregnant
or parenting teen).
We may ask for proof when you claim any of the
above exemptions. Your Welfare to Work worker can review your situation at any
time.
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Time
Limits
You and all of the adults in your assistance unit
can only receive cash aid for a lifetime total of
48 months.
It is important that you participate in all of your assigned
activities so that you will be prepared to support your family.
The 48-month time limit does not apply to children under 18
years old, Medi-Cal benefits, or Food Stamp benefits.
Clock Stoppers
- A
month on cash aid does not count toward your
48-month time limit
if you are:
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Disabled (verified
by a doctor)
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60 years of age or
older
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A pregnant or parenting
teen under the age of 20 and you are going to school to earn
your high school diploma or GED
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Caring for a sick or
incapacitated person who is living in your home and it
prevents you from participating
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Caring for a
dependent child of the court or a child at risk of being
placed in foster care and it prevents you from working
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A victim of domestic
abuse and the county waives the 48-month
time limit.
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Living in Indian Country
or an Alaskan native village in which at least 50 percent of
the adults are unemployed.
More Clock Stoppers
- A month of cash aid does not count if:
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You did not receive
cash aid because your grant was less than $10
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You are sanctioned
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A cash aid month is
fully repaid by child support collection
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An overpayment month
is fully repaid by you
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You are the parent or
caretaker of one child who is between 12 and 23 months of
age, or two or more children who are under six years of age.
This exemption will end when you no longer qualify or until
June 30, 2012, whichever comes first.
Clock Extenders
- Your time on aid may be extended past the
48th
month if all adults in your home meet one of the following
exceptions:
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Caring for a sick or incapacitated person in
your home and it prevents you from working
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Caring for a dependent child of the court or
a child at risk of being placed in foster care and it
prevents you from working
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The county determines that you are not able
to work or participate in Welfare to Work
activities and you have always
cooperated with Welfare to Work rules.
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Are 60 years of age or older
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Excluded from the assistance unit for a
reason other than reaching the 48-month time limit
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Receiving State Disability Insurance, Workers
Compensation, In-Home Supportive Services, or State
Supplementary Program benefits and the disability prevents
you from working or participating in Welfare to Work
activities
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Welfare to Work
There are many paths open to Welfare to Work
participants. Your path may not involve every activity in
Welfare to Work. A lot depends on your education and job
history. The activities that Welfare to
Work offers are described below. Remember: The
purpose of Welfare to Work is to
HELP YOU PREPARE FOR WORK AND FIND A JOB so that you can support
yourself and your family.
Appraisal
- When you start
participating in Welfare to Work, you will go to Appraisal.
During
Appraisal, your Welfare to Work worker will look over your work history and
education, need for supportive services, and other information
to help the county decide what your Welfare to Work activity or
activities will be.
Job Search
- Following
Appraisal, most participants will be assigned to up to four
weeks of Job Search activities. However, the Job Search
activities may be longer or shorter if the county and you agree
that it would be beneficial to you. The
following participants will not be required to participate in
Job Search activities after Appraisal, but may ask to do so:
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a person who is working in an unsubsidized
job or is participating in an approved Self-Initiated
Program (SIP) if the job search schedule would keep him or
her from working or participating in a SIP; or
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a pregnant or parenting teen under the age of
20 who does not have a high school diploma or GED.
Assessment - If you
do not get an unsubsidized job during your time participating in
Job Search, if we decide that sending you to Job Search as your
first activity would not help you, or if we decide to shorten
your time in Job Search because it is not likely to lead to you
getting a job, you will be sent for Assessment.
The
purpose of Assessment is for you and us to put together a
Welfare to Work plan to help you get a job. To do this,
the assessor will look at your abilities, interests, work history
and education, need for supportive services
to get the most out of job training services offered under
CalWORKs, estimate your chances of getting a job given your skills and the
jobs available in your area, and any physical or mental problems
you may have that limit your ability to work or participate in
Welfare to Work activities, and list the
services it has or can get for you so that you can finish your
Welfare to Work plan.
If you are in a Self-Initiated Program,
your Welfare to Work plan may be set up based on your Appraisal.
However, you may be sent for an Assessment if we need to
send you to another activity at the same time so that you are
participating in Welfare to Work activities for the
number of hours
that is required of you.
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Welfare to Work Activities
Core Activities:
Non-Core
Activities:
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Adult Basic Education or GED
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Job Skills Training Directly Related to
Employment
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Education Directly Related to Employment
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Satisfactory Progress in Secondary School
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Mental Health Services
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Substance Abuse Services
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Domestic Abuse Services
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Vocational Education and Training (beyond 12
months)
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Other activities that are required to get a
job
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Participation required of the parent by the
school to ensure child's attendance
You can only attend vocational education and
training as a Core activity for a total of 12 months during your time on aid. If you are not finished after 12
months then the hours may be counted as a Non-Core activity.
If you are in a Self-Initiated
Program (SIP) then
the Core and Non-Core hour rules do not apply to you. If
your classroom, lab, and internship hours do not total 32 or 35
hours we may have you participate in another activity also.
Reappraisal - If you do not have a job after finishing all of
the activities included in your Welfare to Work plan, and you
have had an assessment, you will go to Reappraisal. In Reappraisal, we will
decide if there were special circumstances that kept you from getting
a job in your area. If we decide that you did have special
circumstances, you will be sent to another activity. If we
decide that you do not have special
circumstances, you will have to
participate in one of the following activities:
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Unsubsidized Employment
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Self-Employment
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Work Experience
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Job Skills Training Directly Related to
Employment
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Mental Health, Substance Abuse, and/or
Domestic Violence Services
Exceptions to Core and Non-Core Hours
You may be able to count your
participation in certain Non-Core activities as a Core activity
if:
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You are receiving
mental health, substance abuse, or domestic abuse services
and the county determines that treatment is necessary for
you to be able to participate in other activities,
or
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You are
participating in adult basic education, job skills training
directly related to employment, or education directly
related to employment, or satisfactory
progress in a secondary school or GED program, and:
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The program will
lead to a job
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You are making
satisfactory progress
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You do not have
a college degree unless you are getting a California
teaching credential
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The program is
on an approved county list
The time you spend to study for classes may count
toward your Core or
Non-Core hours also. See your worker
if you have any questions regarding these requirements.
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Hours of Participation
One-Parent Families
- If you are the adult in a one-parent CalWORKs case, and you
are not exempt, you will have to participate in your assigned
Welfare to Work activity or activities for a total of at least
32 hours a week. Of the 32 hours a week
that you have to participate, at least 20 hours must be in a
Core Welfare to Work activity and the rest of the hours can be
in a Core or Non-Core activity.
Two-Parent Families
- If you are an adult in a two-parent CalWORKs case, and you are
not exempt, you and or the other parent in your assistance unit
will have to participate in your assigned Welfare to Work
activity or activities for a total of at least 35 hours a week.
Note: Both parents may participate to meet the 35-hour requirement,
but one of you must participate for at least 20 hours a week
in a Core activity.
Note: The hours of
participation requirements to not apply if you are under 20
years old and you are pregnant or a parent and you do
not have a high school diploma or GED.
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Participating in More Than One Activity at a Time
We may require you to
participate in more than one activity at the same time if you
can handle it, it is consistent with your Welfare to Work Plan,
and the activities can be scheduled together.
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Satisfactory Participation
Attendance
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When you sign your Welfare to Work Plan, you agree to
go to your
activity and complete it.
Satisfactory Progress
- All Welfare to
Work participants are required to make satisfactory progress
toward completing their assigned activities. You may be
required to give proof of your participation hours and progress.
Each activity is designed to help you get a job and be
self-supporting. Always try to do your best and take
advantage of the opportunity to get better prepared for a job.
Completion of Assignment
- Your assigned activity or activities is considered complete
when you have finished all areas you were required to
participate in. You must continue to participate in Welfare to
Work until you get a job and become self-supporting.
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Supportive Services
We understand that you may need more than just
training and job counseling to take part successfully in Welfare
to Work. That is why we will help you arrange and/or pay
for child care, transportation, and work or training related
expenses. If other funding sources are not available to
pay for all of your supportive services expenses, we will pay
for the supportive services as described below.
Advance Payments - If
you qualify for Welfare to Work supportive services payments,
and you need your supportive service payment before you begin
your activity, we will give you an advance payment. That
way, you will not be out any money - even for a short time.
Supportive Services payments
include the following:
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Child Care Costs,
if the child care is necessary for you to participate in
Welfare to Work activities. You can get child care for each
child in your CalWORKs assistance unit, who is 10 years
old or younger.
Also, you may get child care for a child who
lives with you, but is not in your CalWORKs assistance unit, if
not having child care would keep you from
participating or getting a job. You can choose the
kind of child care you
want, like child care centers, relatives, friends, or neighbors.
We cannot pay for child care if you choose somebody
in your CalWORKs assistance unit, the
child's legal guardian, the parent, or somebody under 18
years old as the caregiver.
Payments can be made to licensed
child care providers and, in some cases, to persons who
don't need to be licensed. If your provider is not
licensed, he or she must apply for Trustline registration,
unless your provider is your child's aunt, uncle, or
grandparent. The most we can pay is the rate based on
what is normally charged for child care in the area where
you live.
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Transportation Costs
up to a certain amount for travel to and from your
Welfare to Work activity, and for
you and your children to
travel to and from childcare.
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Work or training related costs
for books, tools,
and special clothing you need as
part of your Welfare to Work activity.
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Personal Counseling
to help you participate in Welfare to Work. We will
refer you to those places which may be able to help you.
NOTE:
If Welfare to Work pays more child care,
transportation costs, or work or training related costs than you
need to participate, you will have to pay
Welfare to Work back.
But you may not have to pay Welfare to Work back while you are
in Welfare to Work if doing so would keep you from
participating.
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Supportive
Services After
The 48-Month Time Limit
We will provide case
management services and job leads to help you become
self-sufficient once you have reached the 48-month time limit.
If you have a job, you may receive help to pay for child care
for 24 months after you reach the 48-month time limit or
discontinue cash aid.
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Alternative Payment Program
Children's Home Society will
pay your child care giver directly. Your child care
provider does not have to change once you go to work or
transition off aid. If you still need help with your child
care costs after you have been off aid for two years, you may be
eligible, depending on the amount of your income, to continue to
get help from Children's Home Society.
See your Welfare to Work
worker for more information on having your child care paid.
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Your Welfare to Work Plan
Your Welfare to Work plan is important.
It tells you how you and we will work together so that you can
compete for and find a job. The plan will make sure that
you receive the agreed-upon services and training for as long as
you are taking part in Welfare to Work and receiving cash aid.
Your plan tells you what you must do, and what we must do, to
make Welfare to Work work for you.
Your Welfare to Work worker
will help you review each of the following parts of your Welfare
to Work Plan:
1. The
Welfare to
Work Plan - Rights and Responsibilities
tells you about Welfare to Work, our responsibilities, and your rights
and responsibilities as a participant. This agreement
applies as long as you are in Welfare to Work.
2. This Welfare to Work
Handbook.
3. The Welfare to
Work Plan - Activity Assignment
tells you about the Welfare to Work activity or activities
in which you are participating.
Read all of the parts of your
Welfare to Work Plan, including this Welfare to Work Handbook,
carefully. If you have any questions, be sure to ask your
Welfare to Work worker. Both you and your Welfare to Work
worker will sign each assignment.
You must continue to
participate in Welfare to Work, moving from one activity to
another, until you get a job and become self-supporting.
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Good Reasons for
Not Participating
We recognize that you may have a good reason for
not signing your Welfare to Work
Plan, for not taking part in one of the
Welfare to Work activities that you agreed to in your activity
assignment, for not accepting a job offer or job referral, for
quitting a job, or for reducing your earnings. Some of
these reasons are related to you personally, and some are
related to the assignment.
Reasons related to you:
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You need transportation or work or
training related expenses paid to participate, and these
have not been provided.
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You are a victim of
domestic violence and participating would be harmful to you or
your family.
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Licensed or exempt child care is not
reasonably available during your training, employment, or
travel time for:
- a child 10 years old or
younger; or
- a child who is in foster
care or is an SSI recipient, but who is not included in the
assistance unit.
Reasons related to activity
assignment or job:
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Discrimination at
the job or training because of age, sex
(includes gender identity), race, color,
religion, national or ethnic origin,
disability (includes physical, mental, HIV/AIDS status), political affiliation,
marital status, sexual
orientation, domestic partnership, or ethnic group
identification.
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Travel to work or training
from your home is more than two hours round trip by car, bus
or other transportation, or more than two miles round trip
if you have to walk because other transportation is not
available. The limit on travel and mileage does not
include transportation time or mileage to take family
members to and from school or to and from other care
providers. Note: If you do not take a job or
participate in an assigned activity because of this reason,
you will have to participate in Community Service.
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The job requires
more daily or weekly hours of work than
is normal or customary.
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Conditions at the
job or training violate health and safety standards or could
cause you serious injury or death.
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The job or
work activity
does not provide Worker's Compensation
Insurance.
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Accepting a job or
work activity would interrupt or interfere with an
approved education or
training assignment, except Work
Experience or
Community Service.
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Accepting the job or
work activity would cause you to violate the terms of your
union membership.
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What Happens
If You Do Not Participate
As you know, participation in Welfare to Work is
mandatory for all able-bodied CalWORKs
applicants and recipients. Exemptions are listed in the
section titled, "Who Doesn't Have to Participate".
If, for any reason, you do
not do what Welfare to Work requires, the
following steps will be taken:
Cause Determination
- If you do not meet Welfare to Work requirements, you have the
right to explain why. The county will decide if it is a
good reason. (See the section titled, "Good Reasons For Not
Participating".)
If you have a good reason for not doing what
Welfare to Work requires, your Welfare to
Work worker will try to help you so
that you can meet Welfare to Work requirements. If changes can't be made
so that you are able to meet the Welfare to
Work requirements, you will not be
required to participate in Welfare to Work.
Compliance
- If you do not meet Welfare to Work
requirements, we will send you a notice. You will have 20
calendar days after the date of the notice to meet with or call
your Welfare to Work worker to give a good reason for not
doing what you are required
or to agree to sign a compliance plan to do what you are
required, if you do not have a good reason. If you meet
the requirements of the plan, no
penalties will be applied to you.
Financial Sanctions
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If you are a mandatory participant (see the section titled,
"Who
Must Participate") your family's cash aid will be lowered if you
fail or refuse to meet Welfare to Work requirements without a
good reason and do not resolve the problem by signing and
completing a compliance plan.
Your family's cash aid will be lowered if anybody
who must participate does not meet Welfare to Work requirements.
This financial sanction will happen only if the person does not
have a good reason, or they fail to sign or complete a
compliance plan. The person who gets a financial sanction will
not receive cash aid for a period of time.
If your family is a two-parent family getting
cash aid because of unemployment, there are special rules for
financial sanctions. If a parent who must participate in Welfare
to Work causes a financial sanction, both parents will lose
their cash aid. But the parent who did not cause the sanction
can keep his or her cash aid if he or she participates in
Welfare to Work, or is exempt, or has good cause for not
participating.
You can contact the county at any time and
request to cure your sanction and you can get cash aid again if
you complete the activity that the county asks you to do.
Pregnant or Parenting Teen -
The rules are different if you
are pregnant or a parent under 20 years old and you do not have
a high school diploma or GED.
If you are 16, 17, 18, or 19 years old and not
attending school or not making satisfactory progress, your
family's
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cash aid will be lowered
by the amount of cash aid your family gets for you
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If you are under 16 and
not attending school regularly, your family's cash aid will
be lowered by the amount of cash aid your family gets for
your parent(s)/caretaker relative
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If you are under 16 and
are attending school but not making satisfactory progress in
school, your family's cash aid will be lowered by the amount
of cash aid your family gets for you.
Penalties for Volunteers - Individuals who are exempt from participation (see the section
titled, "Who
Doesn't Have To Participate") may choose to
volunteer to participate in Welfare to Work. If you volunteer
for the Welfare to Work program, but fail to meet Welfare to
Work requirements without a good reason, you may not be allowed
to participate in Welfare to Work for a period of time.
See your Welfare to Work worker if you have any
questions regarding these requirements.
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Your
Child's School Attendance
If your child(ren) must attend school and we
decide that he or she does not do so regularly, your
family's cash
aid also will be lowered.
You must show proof that your child is
attending regularly, if we ask for it.
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What You Can Do
If You Do Not Agree
There are three actions you
can take if you do not agree with our decision.
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State Hearing
- If you disagree with any county decision regarding
a Welfare
to Work penalty (see the section titled,
"Good Reasons for Not Participating"), your status
(standing) in Welfare to Work, your Welfare to Work activity
or your Welfare to Work supportive services, you can ask for
a state hearing. For Welfare to Work financial
sanctions, you can use the same process you use when you
disagree with the action we take on your cash aid.
Your Welfare to Work worker will help you file for a state
hearing if you want one. You can request a rehearing
after the state hearing decision is reached.
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If you file for a state
hearing before the penalties start, penalties will not be
applied while the hearing is being decided.
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If you file for a state
hearing for any other county action, different rules apply.
The Welfare to Work hearing rights form explains those
rules. You can ask for copies of the form at any time.
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Independent Assessment
- If you do not agree with the results of your Assessment
or Welfare to Work Plan, someone who is not a county representative will review your
Assessment and do another one, if necessary. The results of
this independent Assessment will be used to set up your
Welfare to Work Plan.
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Formal Grievance set by
the County Board of Supervisors -
This is the process adopted by the Yuba County Board of
Supervisors. Your Welfare to Work worker will tell you
how this grievance process works.
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