M. Treatment of Income

Regulation

State regulation defines all net income of persons included in the assistance unit (AU) is income to the AU.

Treatment of Income

When an AU Resides with an SSI/SSP or Cash Assistance Program for Immigrants (CAPI) Recipient

· Not counted in the “family’s” income and grant computation:

o The aid payment and income of an SSI/SSP or CAPI recipients; and

o Lump-sum retroactive SSI/SSP or CAPI payments.

Note: Earned income of SSI recipients ineligible for a cash payment due to special SSI eligibility status under Section 1619(b) of the Social Security Act [42 USC Section 1382h(b)]. MEDS coding will verify SSI recipient status for these individuals.

· Counted in the “family’s” income and grant computation:

o Payments for goods or services by an SSI/SSP or CAPI recipient to a CalWORKs, recipient;

o Income derived from an interest in the community or joint property of SSI/SSP or CAPI and CalWORKs recipients is prorated between owners and the CalWORKs recipients share is counted; and

o Actual voluntary contributions made by an SSI/SSP or CAPI recipient to a CalWORKs recipient. This does not include pooled income to meet shared living expenses. However, no contribution is required by the SSI/SSP or CAPI recipient.

Income of Children in Foster Care

All net income received by or on behalf of children in foster care is considered income of the child in Foster Care.

Income of a Person who is Sanctioned or Penalized

Income of persons living in the home who are required to be in the AU but are sanctioned or penalized, is available to the AU. The needs of these individuals are not considered except for persons in an AU that are being penalized for failure to cooperate with child support.

Income in Cases in Which a Person is Excluded

The income of a parent is considered when that parent is living in the home, but is excluded from the AU. A parent’s needs are only considered when he/she has income unless the parent is an ineligible alien parent.

Note: The above does not apply to:

· Individuals who have reached their 18/24 month limit who are not employed or participating in Community Service because they have been sanctioned more than one time and have been excluded from the CalWORKs case. These individuals would not have earned income. Should these individuals become employed, they must be added to the AU and referred to WtoW.

· A parent excluded due to a sanction, a recipient of another aid program, or the person is in a different AU.

Parents Whose Needs And Income Are Considered

Parents whose needs and income are considered include, but are not limited to:

· A Stepparent who is the spouse of the applicant/recipient child’s parent when the child’s parent is residing in the home and the stepparent is not the parent of any natural or adoptive children who are required to be included in the AU;

· Natural or adoptive parents who are excluded by law;

· Senior parents excluded from the minor parents AU;

· Fathers of unborn children in Pregnant Woman Only cases; and

· Spouses of aided children in their parents’ AU when the spouse does not have a child in the AU.

MAP/MBSAC

The needs of the following persons are considered in the family MAP (recipient cases) or MBSAC (applicant cases). The family MAP/MBSAC shall include:

· The needs of the following ineligible non-citizens who are related to the AU and who, but for their citizenship status, would be eligible for aid:

o An ineligible non-citizen spouse of an AU member;

o An ineligible non-citizen parent of a child in the AU;

o An ineligible non-citizen parent of an ineligible non-citizen child in common who is deprived of parental support and care;

o An ineligible non-citizen child of an AU member; and

o An ineligible non-citizen child who is the sibling or half sibling to a child in the AU.

· The needs of AU members other than those listed in section above: “Income of a Person who is sanctioned or Penalized”;

· The needs of persons excluded from the AU listed in section “Income in Cases in Which a Person is Excluded” above, whose income is being considered;

· The needs of any children of the person above whose income is being considered, or other dependents living in the home who could be claimed by the person for tax purposes;

· The needs of any spouse of the person above whose income is being considered.

Note: The income of children not required to be in the AU is excluded.

Example

EXAMPLE 1:

FAMILY WITH STEPPARENT WITH INCOME AND STEPARENT’S SEPARATE CHILD

Applicant mother applies on behalf of herself and 2 dependent children. Also living in the home is a stepparent and his separate child. Stepparent earns $1200/month from full-time employment. Mother receives $300/month in SDI benefits. No other income is received by family members. The AU is eligible to Exempt MAP.

Applicant Eligibility Test

$1200	Earned Income
- 90	$90 Earned Income Disregard
$1110	Net Nonexempt Income
+ 300	Disability Based Unearned Income (Not subject to $225 Disregard at application)
$1410	Total Net Nonexempt Income
$1391	MBSAC for 5 (includes AU and Non-AU members)

Since the net nonexempt income exceeds the MBSAC for 5, the family is ineligible

EXAMPLE 2:

FAMILY WITH INELIGIBLE NON-CITIZEN MEMBERS AND STEPPARENT WITH NO INCOME

Mother of two children has earnings of $600 per month. One of the children is her citizen child and the other is her ineligible non-citizen child with deprivation. Mother receives direct child support in the amount of $85 per month for the ineligible non-citizen child. Also in the home is the ineligible non-citizen spouse of the mother. The spouse does not have any income. The family is nonexempt.

Applicant Eligibility Determination

$600	Earned Income of Mother
- 90	$90 Earned Income Disregard
$510	Net Nonexempt Income
+ 85	Unearned income of ineligible Alien Child
$595	Total Net Nonexempt Income
$595	Less than the $1218 Nonexempt Family MBSAC for Four (Family passes Applicant Test)

Treatment of Lump-Sum Income

Lump sum income received by any person whose income would be used in computing eligibility and grant is considered income in the month received and property in subsequent months. Payments which are considered lump-sum include but are not limited to:

· Unemployment Insurance (UIB);

· Social Security Benefits (excluding SSI);

· Wages such as commissions and self employment earnings not received on a regular payment basis (monthly, biweekly, weekly etc.);

· Personal Injury awards and Worker’s Compensation payment not owed for expenses related to the accident or Injury;

· Non-exempt loans and grants;

· State Disability Insurance (SDI) and (private) Disability Insurance Benefits;

· Veterans benefits (excluding educational); and

· Lottery winnings, gifts, and inheritances.

Income of Non-citizens who have been Sponsored

When a non-citizen is sponsored by an individual as defined in “Residence” chapter under “Sponsored Non-citizens” section, the income of his/her sponsor who is not receiving CalWORKs, SSI or other cash assistance payments and the income of the sponsor’s spouse who lives with the sponsor and is not receiving public cash assistance payments shall be deemed to the sponsored non-citizen’s income, using QR22 (Sponsor’s Statement of Facts Income and Resources) and/or QR72 (Sponsor’s Quarterly Income and Resources Report). This income is determined as follows:

Step	Action
1	Determine the total amount of unearned income of the sponsor and his/her spouse.
2	Determine the total amount of earned income received by the sponsor and his/her spouse, as wages or salary or net earnings from self-employment.
3	If the sponsor is the sponsor of more than one non-citizen, divide the total gross income by the total number of sponsored non-citizens who are applying for or receiving CalWORKs. This amount shall be deemed to the income of each applicant/recipient who is a sponsored non-citizen.

If the sponsored non-citizen is…	Then …
not included in the AU	the portion of his/her income deemed from the sponsor shall not be used in determining his/her contribution to the AU unless such income is actually available to the AU.
a member of the AU	the portion of his/her income deemed from the sponsor would be treated as unearned income.
sponsored by an agency or organization, which is unable to meet all of the needs of the non-citizen	income from the sponsoring agency is treated as net nonexempt income to the sponsored non-citizen.
If the sponsor…	Then…
is either an excluded parent or stepparent	his/her income is to be treated in accordance with excluded parent/stepparent deeming computations.