County of San Diego Health and Human Services Agency HHSACalWORKs Program Guide IncomeBenefits Excluded or Exempt From Consideration as Income Number Page 44100F 1 of 5 Revision Date 02032020 BackgroundState regulation requires certain types of payments or benefits be excluded or exempted in whole or in part from consideration as income PurposeThis section provides a list of income types that are not considered in CalWORKs program eligibility and benefits determination Any income not listed as excluded or exempt will be treated as either earned or unearned income in the CalWORKs budget The purpose of this revision is to include awards and scholarships provided by a private or public entity to or on behalf of a dependent child as well as income earned for temporary work related to the decennial census from being considered income for CalWORKs program eligibility and benefits determination PolicyIncome InKind The following income inkind is excluded Home produce such as from a garden orchard livestock and poultry used by the assistance unit AU for their own consumption Partial items of need Any income inkind full or partial item of need provided by a private nonprofit organization Infrequent Income Any prospectively budgeted income which is received too infrequently to be reasonably anticipated but not in excess of 30 per calendar quarter per AU Mileage Reimbursement Actual mileage reimbursement when paid at a flat rate per mile or as a repayment of actual costs ChildSpousal Support Disregard The first 50 in current childspousal support received or reasonably anticipated to be received by an AU or collected on behalf of an AU is disregarded as income When a SB 380 childs needs are excluded from the Maximum Aid Payment MAP determination the childs income and resources are also excluded Refer to CPG 44300H for additional information Child Care Payment to the Provider Child Care payments paid directly to the provider by the CalWORKs Child Care Payment System on behalf of CalWORKs customers are exempt as income Earned Income of a Child A child is defined as a person receiving aid under their parents case A minor parent who is an adult in their own case is not considered a child County of San Diego Health and Human Services Agency HHSACalWORKs Program Guide IncomeBenefits Excluded or Exempt From Consideration as Income Number Page 44100F 2 of 5 The following types of income of a child are excluded or exempt from consideration Earning or incentive payments earned by a child 16 years of age or older who is participating in the Independent Living Program ILP Earning of a child received from the Workforce Investment Act WIA Program Earned income of a child under 19 if they are a fulltime student or have a school schedule that is equal to at least onehalf of a fulltime curriculum and is not employed full time part time is less than 173 hours per month School attendance is defined as attendance in a school college university or in a course of vocational or technical training designed to prepare the child for gainful employment and include participation in Job Corps program under the Economic Opportunity Act The income exemption is applied during the school term between terms or during vacations if the child plans to return to school following the vacation period Loans A written agreement signed and dated by the lender and customer as parties to the agreement that clearly specifies both 1 The obligation of the customer to repay the loan 2 A repayment plan which provides for installments of specified amounts that continue on a regular basis until the loan is repaid Student Loans and Grants The following loans and grants are not considered income Loans made under Title III of the Federal Economic Act Loans and grants received under the Carl D Perkins Vocational and Applied Technology Education Act are excluded only to the extent that the proceeds are used to meet attendance costs for a student attending school on at least a halftime basis as defined by the institution Grants to any undergraduate student for educational purposes made or insured under any program administered by the Federal Secretary of Education Loans or grants to undergraduate students when they are awarded based on the students need Certification from an official at the students school is required The certification must state that the award is based on need and that the CalWORKs grant was considered in making the award Educational loans and grants to undergraduate students used to meet educational expenses such as fees equipment special clothing needs or transportation Loans and Grants under Title IV of the Higher Education Act Loans and grants under the Title IV of the Higher Education Act or under the Bureau of Indian Affairs student assistance program which are not considered income include Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant Program Carl D Perkins Loans or Carl D Perkins Vocational Act Robert C Byrd Honors Scholarship Program National Science Scholarship Program Cal Grant Program State Student Incentive Grants or Pell Grant Paul Douglas Teacher Scholarship Program College Work Study Income Contingent ICL Stafford Consolidation or Guaranteed Student GSL Loans County of San Diego Health and Human Services Agency HHSACalWORKs Program Guide IncomeBenefits Excluded or Exempt From Consideration as Income Number Page 44100F 3 of 5 Bureau of Indian Affairs Higher Education Grant Indian Health Services Scholarship Program Federal Family Education Loan FFEL Supplemental Loans for Students SLS Program or Parent Loans for Students PLUS College Work Study Earnings from a college work study program including both Work Study under Title IV of the Higher Education Act and CalWORKs Work Study Academic or Extracurricular Awards or Scholarships Awards or scholarships provided by public or private entity to or on behalf of a dependent child Agent Orange Settlement Payment Payments made from the Agent Orange Settlement Fund and from other funds established pursuant to the Agent Orange product liability court proceedings Native American Tribe Member The following payments are exempt under federal law Funds of Native American Tribes including interest earned and investment income derived from such funds when the funds have been o Distributed by the Secretary of the Interior on per capita basis or o Held in trust by the Secretary of the Interior Individual Native American income of up to 2000 in any 12 consecutive month period that is derived from individually owned interests in a trust or restricted lands Alaskan Claims Settlement Act ANSCA Cash Settlements including cash dividends on stock land or interest up to 2000 per person annually received from a Native Corporation are exempt for individual Natives and descendants of Natives Senior Volunteer Service Income A compensation received by customers 60 years of age or older for volunteer services under the Retired Senior Volunteer Foster Grandparents or Older Americans Service Program of National Older Americans Act program Domestic Volunteer Services Act of 1973 AmeriCorpsVISTA formerly known as Vista Volunteer payments and payments made for supportive services or reimbursement of out of pocket expenses made to people serving in the Service Corps of Retired Executives SCORE and Active Corps of Executives ACE Children of Vietnam Veteran Born with Spina Bifida Monetary allowances from the federal government for children of Vietnam veterans who are born with Spina Bifida County of San Diego Health and Human Services Agency HHSACalWORKs Program Guide IncomeBenefits Excluded or Exempt From Consideration as Income Number Page 44100F 4 of 5 Ricky Ray Hemophilia Fund Any payments made to individuals with bloodclotting disorders who contracted human immunodeficiency virus HIV due to contaminated blood products in the process of medical treatment from any fund established pursuant to this act California Achieving a Better Life Experience ABLE Accounts The ABLE or CalABLE in California accounts allow disabled customers to save and invest money for disability related expenses called Qualified Disability Expenses QDE Disabilitybased income DBI deposited into the ABLE account is exempt However any remaining amount of the income not deposited into the account is counted after applying the 225 disregard DBI may include benefits from the State Disability Insurance Private Disability Insurance Temporary Workers Compensation Social Security Disability or Veterans Disability Compensation The customer family and friends can contribute to the ABLE account up to a maximum of 14000 per calendar year Money in the ABLE account is excluded as income and resources Withdrawals used toward QDE do not count as income United States US Department of Veterans Affair VA Allowances Effective 01012018 under Senate Bill SB 570 benefits or allowances received by a veteran dependents of a veteran or a spouse of a veteran from the US Department of Veterans Affairs VA for education training vocation or rehabilitation are exempt from consideration as income for CalWORKs eligibility and benefits determination The following exempt VA benefits and allowances include but are not limited to the following Education and housing allowance under the Galvanized Iron GI Bill Yellow Ribbon Program Survivors and Dependent Assistance Program Tutorial Assistance License and Certification Reimbursement Vocational Rehabilitation and Employment Services National Call to Service Program Compensated Work Therapy CWT US Census Any censusrelated income or stipend earned during the year preceding a decennial census and during the year of the decennial census will be exempt from consideration as income for the CalWORKs program even if it can be reasonably anticipated to continue This includes all income paid by the US Census Bureau a governmental entity or a nonprofit organization for temporary work related to improving participation in the decennial census ImpactsNone Procedure CPG 45200 Student Loans and Grants Desk Aid County of San Diego Health and Human Services Agency HHSACalWORKs Program Guide IncomeBenefits Excluded or Exempt From Consideration as Income Number Page 44100F 5 of 5 References EAS 44111 ACLs No 1761 17125 19106 Sunset Date This policy will be reviewed for continuance by 02282023 Approval for Release Rick Wanne Director Eligibility Operations