County of San Diego Health and Human Services Agency HHSA CalWORKs Program Guide Good Cause Determination Number Page 42100G 1 of 3 Revision Date 080118 Background State regulations require penalties for those families in which children are not meeting the school attendance requirement unless good cause exists Purpose This section has been revised to include domestic violence as a reason to evaluate for good cause Policy Good Cause Eligibility Worker Action Determine good cause when good cause is apparent or when parentscaretaker relatives request it Apparent good cause exists when a request is made to provide the school attendance documentation and the school is closed for an extended period of time ie summer break Refer to the School Not In Session below for additional instructions Good cause also exists if the parentscaretaker relatives isare ill and unable to have verification completed by the school and no other responsible adult is in the home and able to have the verification completed In this situation determine when the verification can be reasonably submitted and document the new date and the reason for the extension in the case Evaluate for good cause when the customer is claiming domestic violence If the abuse occurred in the past the issue causing the noncooperation or inability to comply must be related to the current situation CPG 40100O Excess absences When evaluating for good cause determine if the childs chronic truancy is related to any of the following Illness Hospitalization Court appearances Mentalphysical disability Other reasons beyond the control of the child or the parent County of San Diego Health and Human Services Agency HHSA CalWORKs Program Guide Good Cause Determination Number Page 42100G 2 of 3 Good cause exists for the above situations as long as the parentscaretaker relatives provide the following written verifications For Verification Type Illness Doctors statement Hospitalization Hospital verification or Doctors statement Court appearances Court documents Mentalphysical disability Psychiatrists Therapists Physicians or Licensed Social Workers statement Other reasons Parents sworn statement Also work with parentscaretaker relativess to establish good cause when it is clear that the child has underlying issues impacting regular school attendance Provide resources to assist the parentcaretaker and allow adequate time for the parentcaretaker to provide appropriate verification of good cause Any verification that has an expiration date must be followed up to determine future attendance compliance Document and narrate all good cause requests type of verifications provided and actions taken Note In some situations a parent may indicate a child missed only a class or went to school late but the school verification shows as a full day absence In these situations instruct the parent to provide written verification from the school explaining the child is no longer deemed a chronic truant or meeting at least one of the exception criteria CPG 42100F School Not In Session Schools might not be in session when the parentscaretakers is attempting to obtain verification from the school to show that the child is either attending school or meeting at least one of the exception criteria CPG 42100F Follow these procedures for times when the school is not in session Accept verification from the previous school semester showing regular attendance when the school is closed for an extended period of time ie summer breaks etc If aid is being restored accept a previous verification if dated within the past semester or the clients statement if there is no question or conflicting information about the childs attendance Notify the parentscaretakers to provide new school attendance verification when the school reopens Create a reminder to follow up with the request when the school reopens Procedure None Impacts None County of San Diego Health and Human Services Agency HHSA CalWORKs Program Guide Good Cause Determination Number Page 42100G 3 of 3 References EAS 401055 ACL No 1522 1522E 1834 Sunset Date This policy will be reviewed for continuance by 083121 Approval for Release Rick Wanne Director Eligibility Operations