11050-11063
WELFARE AND INSTITUTIONS CODE
SECTION 11050-11063
11050. Except as provided in Chapter 3 (commencing with Section 12000) of this part and Section 11403 of this code, applications for public social services or public assistance by any person, or in behalf of any person, shall be made to the county department in the county in which the applicant is living. The application may be made in writing or reduced to writing upon the standard form prescribed in regulations of the department and a copy shall be furnished to each applicant at the time of the application. The state is responsible for maintaining uniformity in the public social service programs provided for in Part 3 (commencing with Section 11000) of this division, and in order to promote and insure such uniformity, the department shall be responsible for the control of administering the payment of grants for all aid programs. The department may contract with any county for the performance of eligibility and grant determinations for applicants or recipients within the jurisdiction of the contracting county, or for applicants or recipients within the jurisdiction of another county which has not contracted with the department to perform such functions or whose contract with the department has been terminated or in the absence of such contract the department may act in the place of the county and assume direct responsibility for the administration of such eligibility and grant determinations. The department shall have the right to terminate any such contract immediately if the contracting county fails to carry out its contractual obligations. 11052. Application for aid may be made within 60 days prior to the date on which the applicant meets the technical requirements for such aid which have to do with factors other than need. Application made on behalf of a child deprived of parental support because of separation or desertion may be made within 60 days prior to the date on which he will become eligible. The application shall be promptly investigated and acted upon, but in no event shall the aid, if granted, begin as of a date prior to the date on which he meets such requirements. 11052.1. The department shall undertake activities designed to facilitate the dissemination of information to applicants for, and recipients of, aid under Chapter 2 (commencing with Section 11200) regarding work incentive provisions in existing law, in order to ensure that clients are aware of these provisions and their effect. These activities shall include all of the following: (a) Developing state materials to accomplish this purpose and distributing the materials to county welfare departments for dissemination to clients as part of the regular intake and redetermination process. (b) Modifying the current rights and responsibilities portion of the application process to include positive information about work. (c) Developing other options to facilitate county administrative activities designed to encourage AFDC clients to work, such as including in the regular intake and redetermination process an oral or video presentation regarding work incentives, and using specialized staff, such as Greater Avenues for Independence Program (GAIN) employment counselors, to provide work-related counseling and information. 11052.5. No applicant shall be granted public assistance under Chapters 2 (commencing with Section 11200) and 5 (commencing with Section 13000) of this part until he or she is first personally interviewed by the office of the county department or state staff for patients in state hospitals. The personal interview shall be conducted promptly following the application for assistance. If an applicant is incapable of acting in his or her own behalf, the county department shall verify this fact by personal contact with the applicant before aid is authorized. As used in this section, the term public assistance does not include health care as provided by Chapter 7 (commencing with Section 14000). The interview conducted pursuant to this section shall occur within seven days after the time of application unless there are extenuating circumstances that justify further delay. 11052.6. (a) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the requirements of Section 11052.5 shall not apply to any caretaker relative when all of the following apply: (1) He or she is an approved relative pursuant to subdivision (d) of Section 309 caring for a child who is a dependent child of the court, and is receiving benefits under the CalWORKs program on behalf of the child. (2) The caretaker relative is changing residence from one county to another county and is applying for benefits in the new county on behalf of one or more related children who are current recipients of benefits under the CalWORKS Program under Chapter 2 (commencing with Section 11200) of Part 3. (3) The caretaker relative is not an applicant for or a recipient of benefits under the CalWORKS Program. (b) If the caretaker relative subsequently applies for benefits under the CalWORKS Program, he or she shall be subject to the requirements of Section 11052.5 that are applicable to that program. (c) The county CalWORKs program shall verify that the individual applying for benefits meets the criteria set forth in this section. 11053. It shall be the responsibility of a recipient changing residence from one county to another within the state to promptly notify the county paying aid to the recipient of the move and to apply for a redetermination of eligibility within the new county of residence. The first county shall notify the second county of the recipient's move as soon as the recipient's location in the second county is known. The county to which the recipient has moved will be responsible for determining the recipient's continued eligibility for payment of aid and, to the extent possible, as determined by the Director of Health Services, eligibility for the Medi-Cal program, as of the first day of the month following 30 days after the first county has notified the second county of the recipient's relocation. The first county shall provide the second county with copies of those documents, as specified by the department, necessary to establish current eligibility and grant amount. 11053.2. (a) Notwithstanding any other law, the department shall establish a process of intercounty transfer of eligibility for food stamp benefits provided under Chapter 10 (commencing with Section 18900) of Part 6 when a recipient changes residence from one county to another within the state. The intercounty transfer process shall facilitate a recipient's move from one county to another without a break in benefits and without requiring a new application to be submitted to the new county of residence. (b) (1) For food stamp recipients who are receiving CalWORKs benefits pursuant to Chapter 2 (commencing with Section 11200), the intercounty transfer process utilized for CalWORKs shall be used. (2) For food stamp recipients who are receiving Medi-Cal benefits pursuant to Chapter 7 (commencing with Section 14000), but are not receiving CalWORKs benefits pursuant to Chapter 2 (commencing with Section 11200), the intercounty transfer process utilized for the Medi-Cal program shall be used. (3) This subdivision shall be implemented no later than April 1, 2011. (c) For food stamp recipients who are not receiving CalWORKs or Medi-Cal benefits as described in paragraphs (1) and (2) of subdivision (b), an intercounty transfer process shall be developed, in consultation with representatives of county human services departments and advocates for recipients. To the greatest extent possible, the process shall be simple, client friendly, ensure the client does not need to provide copies of documents that were previously provided to the prior county of residence, build on existing processes for the programs described in paragraphs (1) and (2) of subdivision (b), and minimize workload for county eligibility operations. The process developed pursuant to this subdivision shall be implemented no later than July 1, 2011. (d) Upon the implementation of the intercounty transfer procedures set forth in this section, it shall be the responsibility of a recipient changing residence from one county to another within the state to notify his or her prior county of residence of his or her move. The prior county of residence shall notify the new county of the recipient's move as soon as the recipient's location in the new county is known. The new county of residence shall be responsible for determining the recipient's continued eligibility for payment of food stamp benefits. To the extent permitted by federal law, the new county of residence shall not be required to interview persons in the food stamp household to determine continued eligibility until the next scheduled recertification or other regularly scheduled interview. (e) Notwithstanding the Administrative Procedure Act (Chapter 3.5 (commencing with Section 11340) of Part 1 of Division 3 of Title 2 of the Government Code), the department may implement this section through all-county letters, or similar instructions from the director no later than April 1, 2011, with respect to subdivision (b), and no later than July 1, 2011, with respect to subdivision (c). (f) The department shall adopt regulations as otherwise necessary to implement this section no later than July 1, 2012. Emergency regulations adopted for implementation of this section may be adopted by the director in accordance with the Administrative Procedure Act (Chapter 3.5 (commencing with Section 11340) of Part 1 of Division 3 of Title 2 of the Government Code). The adoption of emergency regulations shall be deemed to be an emergency and necessary for immediate preservation of the public peace, health and safety, or general welfare. The emergency regulations shall be exempt from review by the Office of Administrative Law. The emergency regulations authorized by this section shall be submitted to the Office of Administrative Law for filing with the Secretary of State and shall remain in effect for no more than 180 days. 11054. Each applicant shall be required before approval of assistance or services to file an affirmation setting forth his belief that he meets the specific conditions of eligibility. Such statements shall be on forms prescribed by the department and, in the case of applicants for aid to families with dependent children, shall contain a written declaration that the affirmation is made under penalty of perjury. Any person signing a statement containing such declaration, who willfully and knowingly with intent to deceive states as true any material matter which he knows to be false, is subject to the penalty prescribed for perjury in the Penal Code. Whenever the applicant himself is incapable of completing the required affirmation, and no guardian or conservator of his estate has been appointed, the affirmation may be completed on his behalf by a relative or close personal friend or a representative of a public agency who has all necessary knowledge regarding the applicant's circumstances and is willing to affirm thereto. A copy of the affirmation shall be furnished to the applicant or other person completing it at the time it is filed. Such other person completing an affirmation who willfully and knowingly with intent to deceive states as true any material matter which he knows to be false is subject to the penalty prescribed for perjury in the Penal Code. A county department may also require like statements to be completed prior to approving restoration of aid as provided by Section 11051, and may require new statements at any time for purposes of continuing assistance. 11055. The county shall promptly investigate all applications for public assistance as prescribed by the regulations of the department. 11055.5. (a) In the administration of the Aid to Families with Dependent Children program, counties may conduct an early fraud prevention and detection program pursuant to this section. (b) Funding for an early fraud prevention and detection program pursuant to Section 15204.6 shall not be made to a county if the department determines that an early fraud prevention and detection program would not be cost-effective in that county. (c) Funding for an early fraud prevention and detection program pursuant to Section 15204.6 shall not be available to a county until its operating plan for a program is approved by the department. No operating plan shall be approved by the department unless the plan contains assurances that the county will comply with the conditions specified in subdivision (d). (d) Each county which operates an early fraud prevention and detection program shall be subject to all of the following conditions: (1) No intimidation of applicants or recipients shall occur, either by referral or threat of referral for a fraud investigation. (2) Applicants shall not be referred for a fraud investigation until after they have completed and signed the application for aid. (3) The referral and investigation shall not delay the receipt of aid, including immediate need payments, for eligible applicants and recipients. (4) Uniformed investigators shall not be used by any county welfare department for its fraud prevention program. (5) The county welfare department shall abide by the confidentiality requirements in Section 10850 and the requirements and protections in the California Right to Financial Privacy Act under Chapter 20 (commencing with Section 7460) of Division 7 of Title 1 of the Government Code. (6) The county shall make a referral for welfare fraud investigation when there is reason to believe that a person, on behalf of himself or herself or others, has done any of the following: (A) Knowingly, and with intent to deceive or defraud, made a false statement or representation to obtain benefits, to obtain a continuance or increase of benefits, or to avoid a reduction of benefits. (B) Knowingly, and with intent to defraud, failed to disclose a fact which, if disclosed, could result in a denial, reduction, or discontinuance of benefits. (C) Accepted benefits knowing he or she was not entitled to those benefits, or accepted any amount of benefits knowing the amount of benefits received was greater than the amount to which he or she was entitled. (D) Made any statement which he or she did not know to be true with reckless disregard of the truth, for the purpose of obtaining, continuing, or avoiding a reduction or denial of benefits. (7) The county shall make a referral for fraud investigation when there are reasonable grounds to believe that fraud, as specified in paragraph (6), exists. Reasonable grounds exist when one or more of the following criteria exists: (A) An overpayment or overissuance of benefits, or both, may result from an applicant's failure to report information pertinent to eligibility or benefits. (B) A questionable situation exists and the applicant or third party acting on behalf of the applicant will not cooperate in providing necessary verification of information which would affect the applicant's eligibility or the amount of benefits for which the applicant is eligible. (C) The county welfare program staff person finds conflicting information which could affect the applicant's eligibility or the amount of benefits for which the applicant is eligible, and any further action on the part of that staff person could jeopardize the investigator's ability to investigate. (D) The county is made aware of any situation involving the applicant that could involve embezzlement, collusion, conspiracy, trafficking, black marketing, or any other general program violations. (E) The county is made aware of any situation in which the applicant may have forged, may have caused the forgery of, or is using a forgery of, any warrant or authorization to participate which has been negotiated. (F) The county welfare program staff person has received an allegation of fraud with respect to the applicant from any governmental agency. (G) The county has received a complaint containing facts which allege that a crime involving a public social services program, including, but not limited to, fraud, perjury, trafficking, or embezzlement, may occur. 11056. (a) If the applicant is determined to be eligible, aid shall be granted from the date of application if the applicant meets all eligibility conditions on that date, or from the date on which the applicant meets all eligibility conditions, whichever is later. In any event, the beginning date of aid shall comply with federal requirements for aid programs covered under this section whether or not federal financial participation in the aid payment is available. (b) This section shall include, but not be limited to, payments made under the Aid to Families with Dependent Children-Foster Care program. 11057. Any recipient who becomes ineligible for aid under the public assistance program under which he is receiving aid, but appears to be eligible for aid under another public assistance program, shall be so informed, and his application for aid under that other program taken promptly, so that there is no interruption in warrant payments to the recipient. 11057.5. The State Department of Social Services, after consultation with the County Welfare Directors Association, shall determine the times and methods for providing information regarding the At Risk Child Care Program established pursuant to Article 15.5 (commencing with Section 8350) of Chapter 2 of Part 6 of the Education Code to potentially eligible former Transitional Child Care recipients (Article 8 (commencing with Section 11500) of Chapter 2 of Part 3 of the Welfare and Institutions Code), and former aid to families with dependent children recipients. 11061. The board of supervisors of each county shall file with the department a record of the action of such county in granting or refusing to grant aid to the potentially self-supporting blind to each applicant for such aid. 11062. The sworn statements, affidavits or affirmations of each applicant or recipient of aid under Chapter 5 of this part, shall be presumed to be true, except with respect to degree of blindness. This section shall not be interpreted to preclude a full and complete investigation by the agency administering aid to the blind. 11063. The provisions of this article do not apply to recipients under Chapter 3 (commencing with Section 12000) of this part, unless otherwise expressly indicated.