WHAT ARE THE PENALTIES?
If you don’t follow the rules, your assistance can stop. Your children’s assistance should continue.
In some cases both parents can have their cash aid cut.
DHA can cut your part of the grant if they can show that you have:
• Failed or refused to participate in your assigned activity
• Failed to make good progress in your assigned activity
• Failed or refused to accept a job
• Failed or refused to keep a job
• Failed to keep the same amount of earnings
DHA must try to contact you and give you a chance to comply. If you fail to comply, DHA will send you a “Notice of Action” no sooner than 30 days before the cut in aid will take place. They will give you an appointment within 20 days to discuss the problem with your worker.
It is very important for you to go to this meeting or call your worker to explain. You also have the right to ask for a fair hearing if you can’t work it out with your worker.
Your part of the grant will be cut until DHA agrees that you are complying with the rules.
Your cash aid cannot be cut if you have good cause for refusing to comply.
“Good cause” includes:
• You are a victim of domestic violence
• You were ill, or caring for a sick member of the family
• Your mental illness prevented you from doing what was asked of you
• You need child care for a child 12 years or younger and none is available
• Transportation is not available to your job or WTW activity
• There was discrimination at the job or training offered in terms of age, sex, race, religion, national origin, or physical or mental disability
• The job or job offer exceeded the daily or weekly hours of work customary for that job
• The round trip travel time to the job or activity is over two hours using public transportation, not counting time you need to take your children to school or child care
• You can only get to the activity by walking and you have to walk more than two miles round trip, not counting the distance needed to take children to school or child care
• The job or activity violates health and safety standards or does not provide worker’s compensation
• Accepting the job or work activity would interrupt an approved job or training program that you have in progress
• The job or community service would result in regular employees being fired, laid off, or having their hours or pay cut.
• Any other good reason that DHA agrees will temporarily prevent or significantly impair your ability to work or participate in WTW regularly.
During a sanction you continue to get childcare for the hours that you work. Your Medi-Cal must also continue.