County of San Diego Health and Human Services Agency HHSACalWORKs Program Guide WelfaretoWork Orientation and Appraisal Number Page 10005D 1 of 2 Revision Date February 1 2022 BackgroundCalWORKs recipients who are referred to Employment Services ES are required to attend an Orientation ORE and complete an Appraisal APR to identify abilities skills education and work history as well as potential barriers to selfsufficiency The Online CalWORKs Appraisal Tool OCAT will be used to document the Appraisal interview and outcome PurposeThe purpose of this revision is to streamline policies and remove Orientation and Appraisal procedures from the program guide A corresponding Processing Guide 10005D1 has been created for this purpose PolicyES ORE is to be conducted prior to APR The ORE and APR must be completed within 15 business days of the ES referral date for individuals who are New ES participants Referred to ES as Exempt Volunteers Rereferred to ES after a break in aid of 30 calendar days or more after an exemption lasting 30 days or more or as mandatory participants after an Exempt Voluntary status has ended Sanctioned participants referred to OREAPR to cure the sanction OCAT The OCAT is an online appraisal tool that is used to assist the Employment Case Manager ECM to identify abilities skills education and work history as well as identify potential barriers to selfsufficiency The OCAT will be used to document APR interview discussions unless the participant declines to complete the OCAT or the OCAT cannot be administered entirely due to language translation not being appropriate for sensitive sections addressing mental healthsubstance use or domestic abuse In those instances participants must be referred directly to the appropriate evaluations rather than using the OCAT for screening A participant will not be sanctioned for declining to complete the OCAT However a sanction may apply if the participant refuses or fails to complete APR via Form 2701 without good cause A participant will be considered compliant with the appraisal process even if they do not wish to disclose answers to specific questions in OCAT as long as they complete the required APR forms and provide enough information to the ECM to evaluate for the appropriate ES activity Behavioral Health Screenings Behavioral Health for Substance Use and Mental Health screenings are required at the time of APR for all recipients referred to ES After ORE is completed the regional Behavioral Health Services contractor will screen the participant in a private setting County of San Diego Health and Human Services Agency HHSACalWORKs Program Guide WelfaretoWork Orientation and Appraisal Number Page 10005D 2 of 2 Learning Disabilities Screening ECMs must offer participants a screening for Learning Disabilities LD at OREAPR Information must be provided both verbally and in writing about the screening Domestic Violence If a customer discloses being a victim of domestic violence during APR the ECM is not required to ask questions related to the alleged perpetrator in the domestic abuse section to avoid placing the victim at further risk of abuse if the participants partner is present OCAT Action Plan and ReferralEvaluation Status An action plan contains specific actions that the ECM assigns to a participant in order to comply with the recommendations in OCAT An action plan and referralevaluation status must be completed by the ECM for each recommendation generated by OCAT for each participant The recommendations may include evaluation for Family Stabilization FS SelfInitiated Programs SIPs ES exemptions Job Search JS andor an assessment for educationtraining These recommendations are to be used to determine the next best steps for the participant in the ES process and assign the most appropriate activities Appraisal Summary and Recommendations ASR The ASR is a printout from OCAT with the participants demographic household and financial information strengths barriers recommendations and action items The ASR does not require a signature Procedure Processing Guide 10005D1 Impacts None References EAS 4271152 ACL 1543 ACL 1569 ACL 1667 ACL 2104 Sunset Date This policy will be reviewed for continuance by February 28 2025 Approval for Release Rick Wanne Director SelfSufficiency Services