Understanding CalWORKs - California Center for Research on ...

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Table 3: Comparison of Federal and State Work Participation Requirements (WPR)PopulationSingle parent withchild under 6Single-parent families withchildren ages 6 and overTwo-parent familiesFederal TANF WorkParticipation Requirements20 hours per week:• A single custodial parent or caretakerrelative with a child under age 6meets the WPR by participating in 20“core” hours per week30 hours per week:• Minimum of 20 hours in core activities• Up to 10 hours in non-core activities35 hours per week:• Minimum of 30 hours in core activities• Up to 5 hours in non-core activitiesState <strong>CalWORKs</strong> WorkParticipation Requirements32 hours per week:• Minimum 20 hours in core activities• Up to 12 hours in non-core activities32 hours per week:• Minimum of 20 hours in coreactivities• Up to 12 hours in non-core activities35 hours per week:• Minimum 20 hours in core activities• Up to 15 hours in non-core activitiesSource: Adapted from CDSS presentation on work participation rates. CFPIC Fall Convening 2008 – Linkages: Working Together to Fight Poverty and ChildMaltreatment, September 2008. Retrieved from: http://www.cfpic.org/downloads/link08/ws11_FedStateWork_comparison.docgrant is reduced by the amount of any unearned income.Families also retain the first $50 of collected child supportwith no grant reduction.Family cap. The Maximum Family Grant (MFG), or theFamily Cap, requires that the grant not increase when achild is born to a family that has received a <strong>CalWORKs</strong>grant <strong>for</strong> 10 months prior to the birth of the child.WELFARE-TO-WORK (WTW)REQUIREMENTSAll <strong>CalWORKs</strong> recipients are required to participate inWTW activities as a condition of aid, unless the recipient isexempt. The program defines work participationrequirements and allowable work activities.Work Participation RequirementsFederal and state law divides work requirements into coreactivities and non-core activities. Core activities includeactivities such as employment, work experience, communityservice, and the first 12 months of vocational education.Non-core activities include job skills training, adult basiceducation, mental health and substance abuse treatment,and domestic abuse services.Under <strong>CalWORKs</strong>, single-parent families are required toparticipate in work activities <strong>for</strong> 32 hours per week, averagedover the month, including a minimum of 20 hours per weekin core activities.* Two-parent families must participate atleast 35 hours per week, averaged monthly, including aminimum of 20 hours per week in core activities. Adults intwo-parent families can share in meeting the requirement,but one of the parents must average at least 20 hours perweek (see Table 3).Allowable Work ActivitiesFor a recipient’s activities to count towards meeting astate’s federal work participation requirements, 20 hoursof their participation must be in one or more core activities.“Non-core” activities only count toward the workparticipation requirement when a recipient has participatedin 20 hours of core activities.Core work activities under <strong>CalWORKs</strong> are the same as federalcore activities. <strong>Cali<strong>for</strong>nia</strong> has expanded the list of non-corework activities; some can be counted toward core workactivities once the 20-hour minimum core-activitiesrequirement has been met, and some cannot be countedtoward core work activities (see Table 4 and “CombiningCore and Non-Core Activities” textbox).Exemptions from Welfare-To-Work ParticipationA recipient can be exempted from participation in WTW ifhe or she is:• under 16 years of age;• 16 -18 years of age and attending school full-time(Cal-Learn);* <strong>Cali<strong>for</strong>nia</strong> requires a higher number of hours per week <strong>for</strong> single parents than the federal TANF work participation requirements.12 www.ccrwf.org
Table 4: Comparison of Federal and State Allowable Work ActivitiesFederal and StateCore Work Activities(must make up atleast 20 hours of work)Federal Non-CoreWork ActivitiesThese non-core activitiesare only countable asnon-core activities andonly when core hourrequirements are met<strong>Cali<strong>for</strong>nia</strong> Non-Core Work ActivitiesOnce core requirementsare met, these non-coreactivities can be countedtoward the core activitiesThese non-core activitiescannot count towardcore activities1. On-the-job training (OJT)2. Vocational educational training(12-month lifetime total) 13. Providing child care to acommunity service program 24. Unsubsidized or subsidizedprivate or public sectoremployment. 3Examples include:• Work experience (allowableunder federal law ifsufficient private sectorwork is not available)1. Job skills trainingdirectly related toemployment2. Education directlyrelated to employment(<strong>for</strong> individuals withno high schooldiploma or equivalentdegree)3. Satisfactoryattendance atsecondary school orin a course leading togeneral equivalencedegree (GED)1. Job skills trainingdirectly related toemployment2. Satisfactoryattendance atsecondary school orin a course leading togeneral equivalencedegree (GED)3. Adult basic education(reading, writing,arithmetic, highschool proficiency orGED, and English as aSecond Language) 31. Vocational educationand training beyondthe 12-month lifetimetotal 52. Other activitiesnecessary to assist inobtaining employment3. Participation requiredby school to ensurechild’s attendance4. Non-credited studytime (available as acounty option)• Community serviceprograms• Job search and jobreadiness training4. Education beyondhigh school (e.g.,community college)directly related toemployment• Grant-based OJT 4• Supported work andtransitional employment 4• Work study 4• Self-employment 45. Mental health,substance abuse,or domestic abuseservices1Only 30 percent of a state’s caseload can meet the work participation requirements through vocational training or through participationof teen parents in high school. Federal law allows only 12 months of vocational education to be counted as a core activity.2This activity only counts as a federal core work activity.3These activities are defined in <strong>Cali<strong>for</strong>nia</strong> state regulations.4This activity is not identified in federal law, but is a <strong>for</strong>m of subsidized or unsubsidized employment.5If hours in this activity are included in the welfare-to-work plan, then hours in any non-core activity cannot count towards the corehour requirement.Source: Adapted from CDSS presentation on work participation rates. CFPIC Fall Convening 2008 – Linkages: Working together to fightpoverty and child maltreatment, September 2008. Retrieved from: http://www.cfpic.org/downloads/link08/ws11_FedStateWork_comparison.docwww.ccrwf.org13
Page 2: Kate Karpilow, Ph.D.Executive Direc
Page 7 and 8: Family FormationTANF includes polic
Page 9 and 10: Child-Only CasesChild-only cases ar
Page 11 and 12: THE CALIFORNIAPROGRAMTwo recent wav
Page 13: Table 2: Region 1 CountiesAlamedaCo
Page 17 and 18: • age 60 or older;• disabled;
Page 19 and 20: When a family, without good cause,*
Page 21 and 22: PUBLIC AND PRIVATE AGENCIESCounties
Page 23 and 24: local One-Stop employment centers,
Page 25 and 26: Plans include:• activities and se
Page 27 and 28: CalWORKs legislati
Page 30 and 31: Congress under ARRA. In FY 2010-11,
Page 32 and 33: MENTAL HEALTH ANDSUBSTANCE ABUSE SE
Page 34 and 35: PROFILE OF CalWORKs</strong
Page 36 and 37: Other Issues Among CalWORKs
Page 38 and 39: CalWORKs Grant Cut
Page 40 and 41: CHILDREN and SERVICESIncrease in Ch
Page 42 and 43: 13 Ibid.14 Califor<
Page 44: About CCRWFThe Cali

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