WHAT ARE THE WORK RULES?
1. Weekly Participation Hours
The following rules apply to most families: if you are a single parent with a child under 6, you have to work or participate in “welfare to work” (WTW) activities 20 hours a week, unless you are excused.
If you are a single parent with no children under 6, the participation requirement is 30 hours a week unless someone is exempt. Two-parent families must work 35 hours, which may be shared by both parents.
DHA must give you an exemption from WTW, meaning you do not need to do WTW, if you are:
• Caring for a first child under 6 months old, or any later child under 12 weeks old
• Pregnant, and DHA agrees with medical verification that the participation or work will harm your pregnancy
• Under 16 years old
• A full time volunteer in the Volunteers in Services to America (VISTA) program.
• You are disabled for 30 days or more – can mean physically or mentally unable to participate for 20/30 hours per week for participation or work as verified by a doctor
• You are 60 years or age or older
Any months exempted for the following reasons do not count against your CalWORKs 60 month time clock;
If you do not qualify for an exemption, you may have good cause that excuses you from doing something WTW asks you to do. The 60-month time limit is not stopped by good cause (except see below on domestic violence).
Good cause is a short term issue that stops you from participating. Good cause includes:
• Not getting supportive services you need (such as child care and transportation) to work or go to a WTW activity
• Child sick at home from school
• No transportation (for example your car broke down)
• You are homeless
2. Domestic Violence Waiver:
DHA can waive some of the CalWORKs rules for victims of domestic violence, such as stopping the 60 month time clock, not participating in WTW, or stopping child support collections. The violence can be something that happened in the past or in the present.
3. Learning Disabilities
All WTW participants must be offered a learning disability (LD) screening.
You can say you do not want the LD screening, but if you change your mind, you can ask for LD screening and evaluation anytime.
If the evaluation shows you have a learning disability, your welfare-to-work plan must have activities that help you deal with your learning disability, such as tutoring or extra study time. DHA must decide whether job search will be useful for you, or if your time limits should be extended.