(a) (1) For purposes of determining the maximum aid payment specified in subdivision (a) of Section 11450 and for no other purpose, the number of needy persons in the same family shall not include a stepsibling or a half-sibling, as defined in subdivision (d).
(2) One hundred percent of any child support payment received for a child described in subdivision (d) shall be paid to the assistance unit. Any child support payment received for that child shall not be considered as income to the family for the purpose of calculating the amount of aid for which the family is eligible under this article.
(b) Each county welfare department shall notify applicants for assistance under this chapter, in writing, of the provisions of this section. The county welfare department shall also provide the notification to recipients of aid under this chapter, in writing, at the time of redetermination, or sooner.
(c) Both the department and the Department of Child Support Services shall each seek all appropriate federal waivers for the implementation of this section as necessary. If federal waivers are deemed necessary, this section shall be implemented only if federal waivers are granted.
(d) For purposes of this section, “stepsibling” or “half-sibling” means a child who meets all of the following conditions:
(1) He or she lives with at least one eligible child.
(2) He or she is a child for whom child support payments are received.
(3) The monthly child support payments received for the child are greater than the monthly amount of aid that the child would receive under Section 11450.
(4) The parent or caretaker relative for the assistance unit has requested in writing that the child not be included in the number of needy persons used to calculate the maximum aid payment.
(e) The designation of whether or not a child is a stepsibling or half-sibling, as defined in subdivision (d), shall only be made or reevaluated at the same time as the annual redetermination of eligibility and the processing of the semiannual report, except when it has been determined by the county that good cause exists for the designation to be made at a different time when the parent or caretaker relative voluntarily reports mid-period pursuant to Section 11265.3 or 11265.47 that the child support payment or payments have decreased or ended.
(f) This section shall become operative on November 1, 2018.
(Added by Stats. 2017, Ch. 729, Sec. 3. (SB 380) Effective January 1, 2018. Section operative November 1, 2018, by its own provisions.)
Last modified: October 25, 2018