41-500.H. Minor Parent Assistance Unit

Table of Contents

The Minor Parent Assistance Unit section includes the following information: Topic Minor Parent Requirement Exemptions to Minor Parent Requirements Minor Parent Eligibility Determination Minor Parent Claiming an Exemption Minor Parent Who Claims a Risk Minor Parent Risk Assessment Minor Parent with Verification Exemption Responsible Adult as the Payee Minor Parent - Questions and Answers: General Application/Processing Eligibility Grant Computation

Minor Parent Requirement Back to Table of Contents

A minor parent is a pregnant or parenting minor under age 18 who has never been married. Minor parents must live: · With a senior parent or legal guardian; or · With a relative age 18 or older who is within the degree of relationship specified for caretaker relatives; or · In a state licensed, group or maternity home, adult-supervised supportive living arrangement.

Exemptions to Minor Parent Requirements

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The minor parent and his/her dependent child(ren) are exempt from the Minor Parent requirement:

When…	Then the HSS Action Is…
There is no living senior parent/legal guardian	Verify with third party documentation; death certificate, SSA award letter based on death, newspaper account of the death.
The senior parent/legal guardian whereabouts is unknown.	Obtain authorization from the minor to contact the senior parent. Make attempt to contact senior parent by phone or U.S. mail.
The senior parent/legal guardian will not allow the minor parent to live with them.	Obtain authorization from the minor to contact the senior parent. Obtain confirming statement from the senior parent/legal guardian.
A Children’s Services (CS) Social Worker has determined that the minor parent or minor’s child is at risk of abuse or neglect living with the senior parent or legal guardian.	When a minor parent alleges risk, FAX form CW25, to Minor Parent Services at (619) 767-5221.
The minor parent has lived apart from the senior parent/legal guardian for at least 12 months.	Obtain authorization from the minor to contact the senior parent. Obtain confirming statement from the senior parent/legal guardian.
The minor is legally emancipated.	Obtain authorization from the minor to contact the senior parent. Obtain confirming statement from the senior parent/legal guardian.

Minor Parent Eligibility Determination Back to Table of Contents

All minor parents are required to complete a Supplemental Statement of Facts - Minor Parent (CW25) at: · Application; and · Annual renewal; and · When the minor has been living in a supervised setting and there is a change of address and/or living arrangement. Deny or discontinue aid when there is a failure or refusal to complete and return the CW25 after timely notification.

Minor Parent Claiming an Exemption Back to Table of Contents

When a minor parent claims to have an exemption the Human Services Specialist (HSS) must: · Verify the exemption, and · Grant CalWORKs if all other eligibility conditions are met, and · Forward the CW25 to CS for Minor Parent Services (MS-W466), unless the minor is emancipated.

Minor Parent Who Claims a Risk

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The following actions apply to those cases with a minor parent claiming an at risk status.

When…	Then the HSS must…
The minor parent alleges that living with a senior parent/legal guardian will jeopardize the physical or emotional health or safety of themselves or their child(ren).	· Determine that the AU meets the basic eligibility criteria for income, property and deprivation, then · FAX the CW25 to Minor Parent Services at (619) 767-5221, and · Send the original to MS-W466.
There is a minor parent new application case.	Hold the case in pending status until the CS assessment is completed.
The minor parent requests an immediate need.	Mark “Immediate Need” in the county use only section of the CW25 and FAX to (619) 767-5221
There is apparent eligibility in a minor parent application case.	Homeless assistance can be granted while the assessment is pending.
CS does not verify the exemption within 15 days after issuing aid on apparent eligibility.	Deny the application and process the apparent eligibility as an overpayment.
The minor parent is in a granted case status.	Continue to aid the minor parent pending the result of the assessment.

Minor Parent Risk Assessment Back to Table of Contents

The CS Social Worker will complete risk assessments within 20 days. Immediate need risk assessments will be completed within 15 days. The CS Social Worker will complete the CWS portion of the CW25 and return it to the Human Services Specialist (HSS). If the CS Social Worker determines that there is a safety issue, the Human Services Specialist (HSS) must grant aid if all other eligibility conditions are met. If the CS Social Worker determines that there is not a safety issue, deny or discontinue.

Minor Parent with Verification Exemption

All eligible minor parents who have a verified exemption from the Minor Parent requirement are referred for on-going Minor Parent (MP) services. HSSs must to FAX a copy of the CW25 to (619) 767-5221. CS will complete assessments within 30 days of the referral.

Responsible Adult as the Payee

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Form QR25A, Payee Agreement for Minor Parent, is required as a condition of eligibility, when the minor parent lives in the home of a senior parent, legal guardian, or adult relative. The HSS must process the QR25A as follows:

Step	Action
1	Allow 10 calendar days for the return of the QR25A.
2	Deny/discontinue when the QR25A is not completed by both the minor and adult payee, and
3	Ensure that the adult appears as the case payee when he/she agrees to act as payee for the minor parent, and
4	Ensure that the minor is the payee when the adult refuses to act as payee.
NOTE	A QR25A is not needed when the minor resides in an adult-supervised living arrangement. In this situation the HSS must use the facility as the payee.

Minor Parent Requirement – Questions and Answers

General

1. When a minor parent (MP) moves out of an unaided senior parent’s (SP) home and neither the SP or MP reports the change timely, who is charged with the overpayment?

If the MP who has his/her own AU moves out of the home, a new CW 25 must be completed to determine whether the minor meets an exemption.

· If the minor remains eligible for CalWORKs, there is no overpayment.

· If the MP moves out of the home and is no longer eligible, the MP is responsible for the overpayment.

If the MP was included in the SP’s AU, the SP is responsible for the overpayment.

2. Does the MP requirement apply to unaided MPs (i.e., undocumented aliens and SSI/SSP recipients)?

Yes, all MP’s must be living in an acceptable living arrangement or meet one of the exemptions as a condition of eligibility for the child. If the MP does not meet MP requirements, the entire AU is ineligible.

Application/Processing

3. Are all MPs who meet exemption criteria referred to Children’s Services (CS) for minor parent services?

No, legally emancipated minors are not referred for minor parent services because they are treated as adults.

4. How often does the CW 25 need to be completed?

Once the CW 25 is in the case file, another CW 25 is not needed unless there is a change until the next annual renewal.

5. How do we treat a MP who moved to California from another state when the SPs are still living in the other state?

The same MP rules apply to all MPs regardless of where they lived prior to applying for aid.

6. How does the confidentiality of both the MP and the SP affect contact between HHSA and the SPs?

When the MP completes the CW 25, the MP gives the Human Services Specialist (HSS) the authority to verify the information provided on the form. The HSS may contact the SPs to inform them that the MP has applied for CalWORKs and to verify the information provided regarding the exemption being claimed. However, if the SPs have moved since the MP left the home, the HSS should request the SPs permission to release information to the MP.

7. What is the beginning date of aid (BDA) in the following situation? The MP applies for aid on 7/2. At the time of application, the MP alleges that a health and safety factor prevented her from returning to her parent’s home. On 7/18, the CS HSS determines that the MP can and should live with her parents. The MP returns to her parent’s home on 7/29.

Since the MP met all eligibility criteria prior to authorization of aid by moving back home, the BDA is 7/2, the application date. If the MP’s application was denied prior to her return to her parent’s home, the MP can provide verification that she moved into an acceptable adult-supervised living arrangement within 30 days of the denial notice and the denial will be rescinded. In this case the BDA would be the application date.

8. In order for a MP to be exempt from the live-at-home requirement, must the exemptions be evaluated for each parent separately?

Yes, an exemption must exist with respect to each SP. For example, the MP may be unable to live with one parent and has lived apart from the other parent for the 12 months previous to the application date or the date the CW 25 was signed.

Eligibility

9. The MP states that she does not know where the SPs are currently living and aid is granted. A few months later, the District Attorney locates the SPs and discovers that the MP had run away from home shortly before applying for aid. The SPs then contact the HSS to find out where the MP is currently living because they want her to return. What should the HSS do?

The HSS should contact the MP and inform her that her parents have informed HHSA that she ran away from home prior to applying for aid and that her parents want her to return home. She should also be informed that she is not eligible for CalWORKs because there is no basis for an exemption. The HSS should send the MP a NOA discontinuing the MPs case and another NOA informing the MP that an overpayment exists for the entire period she received aid, because she did not meet an exemption allowing her to live independently (The recipient failed to accurately report, therefore, she was not eligible to receive aid for the entire time on aid).

10. A MP applies for aid and requests an exemption from the MP rules claiming that her parent’s whereabouts are unknown. The HSS has information that indicates that the SPs are on aid in another county. How is this handled?

The HSS should contact the other county to obtain information on the MP and his/her family. The HSS cannot contact the SPs to inform them that the MP has applied for aid in another county due to confidentiality. If the MP previously resided with the SPs at the SPs current residence, the MP must be notified that we are aware of where her parents live and that she must return to the SP home, or another relative, or meet another exemption to be eligible. Neither county can supply confidential case information to the recipients but can pass written communication from parent to child or vice versa.

11. Can a MP be exempt from living in the SP’s home if the minor claims that her child was conceived as a result of incest or rape by the SP or an adult male living in the SPs home?

Yes, if the CS HSS determines that it is unsafe for the MP to return to that home. When a MP makes this kind of allegation, her case should be referred to the CS 908 unit (minor parent services unit) for an investigation (see the Minor Parent Who Claims a Risk section).

12. If two MPs live together and apply for aid, who must meet the exemption criteria?

Each MP must be living in an appropriate adult-supervised living arrangement or meet one of the exemptions. If only one MP meets this condition of eligibility, only that MP and the baby are aided. The MP who does not meet MP provisions is excluded from the AU.

13. If the MP lives with the adult father of the baby, does she meet the definition of living in an acceptable adult-supervised living arrangement?

No, the father is not a caretaker of the MP. However, if the MP meets an exemption criteria and the adult father meets the deprivation criteria related to unemployability or disability, the MP, adult father and baby can be aided.

14. If the MP has been living on her own and receiving aid prior to the completion of the CW 25 and she does not meet an exemption, when should the HSS discontinue the case? For example, the MP claims that she cannot return to her parent’s home due to a health and safety issue. CS determines that it is safe for the MP to return home, but the MP refuses to return home.

Once it is determined that an exemption does not exist, the MP must be given both adequate and timely notice, unless waived. The MP becomes ineligible the first of the month following the month the determination is made. If the MP moves into an acceptable adult-supervised living arrangement by the first of the month following the determination, the MP continues to be eligible for aid.

15. If the MP is a current recipient of CalWORKs, how are the MP provisions applied if the MP is living on her own at the time the CW 25 is completed?

When the MP completes the CW 25 at renewal, the HSS must determine that the MP is living in an acceptable adult-supervised setting or that the MP meets one of the specified exemptions.

16. When a MP is ineligible because the SP income computation exceeds the income limit, is the MP eligible for Medi-Cal?

A separate Medi-Cal application would have to be completed for the MP to determine eligibility.

Grant Computation

17. How is the MP’s grant computed if the SP has no income which can be deemed to the MP AU (i.e., SP receives SSI/SSP or has a small income, but the MP has income)?

When the MP lives with the SP, all countable income from the SP is added to the MPs income. The grant amount is the less of the potential grant amount or the sum of the MAP plus special needs for the AU only.

18. If the MP’s eligibility is suspended for a month because of a temporary increase in SP income, is the MPs child(ren) still eligible to receive a grant based on the MAP for the child(ren)?

Yes.

19. When a MP moves home to live with the SP and the SP receives CalWORKs, will the AUs be combined?

Yes, this is based on mandatory inclusion rules.

20. What happens when the MP turns 18? Does the SP income computation stop in the month the MP turns 18 for cases where the MP is aided in his/her own AU, or does it continue to be retrospectively budgeted? Does it make any difference if the MP is included in the AU with the SP or if the MP is in his/her own separate AU?

In cases where the MP is aided in his/her own AU, do not count the SP’s income beginning with the month following the MP’s 18^th birthday. When the MP is aided in the SP’s AU the MP can be aided in his/her own AU after he/she meets age requirements.

21. How is the grant for a pregnant minor with no other dependent child calculated? Does the MAP for one still apply?

The MP deeming provisions do not apply until the child is born. The normal eligibility and grant determination rules are applied to the pregnant minor.

22. How is the grant computed when the minor mother and the baby’s father live with the minor mother’s SP? Who is included in the baby’s AU?

Since the minor mother lives with her SP, the SPs income is combined with any income received by the minor mother or the baby’s father to determine eligibility and grant amount for the AU. If the baby’s father is also a minor, he must meet an exemption to be included in the AU. The minor mother is included in the AU, regardless of whether the baby’s father is included or excluded, the potential aid payment is based on the lesser of the potential grant amount or the sum of the MAP plus special needs for the AU only.

23. How is the grant computed when two MP siblings who live with their SP (who is not receiving aid) apply for aid?

Since each MP is applying for aid as the caretaker of her child, separate eligibility is established for each MP based on half of the SP’s income.

24. What regulations take precedence Minor Parent or MFG?

MFG regulations always take precedence.