CalWORKs child support case vs. filing directly with county court - which impacts my Cash Aid more?

With CalWORKs, you actually don't have a choice - cooperation with child support is REQUIRED to get Cash Aid unless you qualify for a Good Cause exemption (like domestic violence situations). When you apply for CalWORKs, your case is automatically referred to LCSA (Local Child Support Agency) and they handle everything for you. The main difference is that when CalWORKs/LCSA handles it, the state keeps most of the child support payments to "pay back" the Cash Aid you receive. You only get the first $100 per month (called the "disregard amount") and the state keeps the rest. This is because they consider Cash Aid to be an advance on child support. If you filed directly with the court without being on Cash Aid, you'd get the full child support amount, but then you wouldn't get Cash Aid.

I've been through this whole mess and can explain how it works. When you're on CalWORKs, the LCSA (child support agency) will handle everything - locating the father, establishing paternity if needed, filing court papers, etc. You WILL still need to attend court hearings in most cases, just like if you filed yourself. The BIGGEST difference is what happens to the money: 1. On CalWORKs: First $100 goes to you, rest goes to the county to "reimburse" your Cash Aid 2. Filing yourself: You get ALL the money, but then you lose CalWORKs The amount ordered should technically be the same either way because CA uses the same formula for calculating support. But sometimes people say the LCSA isn't as aggressive in pursuing maximum amounts as a private attorney would be. Consider this: if dad is inconsistent with employment, CalWORKs might be more stable even with them taking most of the support. If he starts paying consistently, you might do better without CalWORKs.

Thanks for the explanations! So basically while I'm on Cash Aid, the county is going to take most of the child support to reimburse themselves? That makes sense I guess, but kind of frustrating too. Does anyone know if there's any way to estimate how much child support he might be ordered to pay? His income varies a lot since he's in construction, sometimes making good money and sometimes barely working. I'm trying to figure out if it would even be worth it to give up CalWORKs if the child support might not be reliable anyway.

I'm going through this exact situation now and its SO frustrating!!! Child support is a REQUIREMENT for CalWORKs unless you can prove domestic violence or danger to you/your kid. My ex owes almost $9,000 already and I've only seen like $200 of it cause he never pays and they don't do nothing about it!!! But I still have to go to all these stupid court dates and the caseworkers keep asking me where he works and I DONT KNOW!!! 😡😡😡 The system is rigged against single moms I swear.

My sister was in this exact situation and found out 2 importamt things: 1) you dont actually have to go to court most time if the father agrees to the support amount 2) if your getting less in cash aid than you would from support, you can close the cash aid case and just get the full support instead. But is his job unstable maybe calworks is better? Just food 4 thought 👍

Try calling the LCSA (Child Support) directly to ask these questions. I've been trying to reach my CalWORKs worker for WEEKS about my child support situation with absolutely no luck. Constant busy signals, voicemails that never get returned, and getting disconnected after waiting on hold for hours. I finally used this service called Claimyr (claimyr.com) that got me through to a real person at the child support division in 20 minutes! They have a video showing how it works: https://youtu.be/jzISHxCPLwE. They kept calling until they got through and then connected me. The child support worker was actually super helpful and explained everything way better than my CalWORKs worker ever did about how the payments work and what my options were.

Here's a breakdown of pros and cons to help you decide: Pros of letting CalWORKs handle child support: - LCSA services are free (no attorney fees) - They handle all paperwork and enforcement - You get stable CalWORKs benefits regardless of whether father pays - Can include enforcement tools like license suspension, tax intercepts - Good if father's income is unstable Cons: - You only get $100/month of actual child support ($200 if 2+ kids) - County keeps the rest to reimburse Cash Aid - Some say LCSA isn't as aggressive as private attorneys - Limited control over the process If the father would reliably pay an amount significantly higher than your Cash Aid, you might consider just taking the child support instead. But if his income is inconsistent as you mentioned, the stability of CalWORKs might be more valuable.

one thing nobody mentioned - if u get off calworks and just do regular child support, u can still get calfresh and medi-cal so its not like ur losing all benefits. my friend did this when her ex finally got a good job and the support was way more than her cash aid. she gets like $750 a month in support now.

As someone who went through this decision a few years ago, I'd strongly recommend sticking with the CalWORKs route for now, especially given what you said about his inconsistent construction work. Here's why: Even though you only get to keep $100/month of the child support while on CalWORKs, you have the security of knowing your Cash Aid will come every month regardless of whether he pays or not. With construction workers, income can be feast or famine - I've seen too many friends get burned when their ex made good money for a few months, they dropped CalWORKs, then suddenly he's "laid off" and they're left with nothing. The other huge advantage is that LCSA will do all the heavy lifting for enforcement. They'll garnish wages when he IS working, intercept tax refunds, suspend licenses if he doesn't pay, etc. If you filed privately and he stops paying, you'd have to go back to court yourself and pay attorney fees to enforce it. My advice: Let CalWORKs handle it for now. Once the support order is established and you can see a pattern of consistent payments for at least 6-12 months, THEN consider whether dropping CalWORKs for full child support makes sense. You can always change your mind later, but it's harder to get back ON CalWORKs if the support stops coming.