CalWORKs household reporting confusion - will reporting step-daughter get benefits flagged?

u need to report everyone who lives in your house, thats just how it works. if u dont and they find out later you'll be in way bigger trouble. her mom sounds like a piece of work lol

This is actually a common situation with shared custody. You absolutely need to report your stepdaughter as part of your household if she's there 50% of the time. The county offices use what's called "prorating" for children who split time between households. Basically, if the child lives with you 50% of the time, you'd get 50% of the benefit amount for that child. The same would apply to her mother's case. The system is designed to handle this situation. What will cause problems is if you DON'T report her and they find out later during an audit or verification. Be completely honest about the custody arrangement. Make sure you have documentation of the custody agreement to show your worker.

When my ex and I split, we both claimed our kids on our separate cases and it was FINE. 50/50 custody means 50/50 benefits. You HAVE to report her though or youll get in trouble.

If you don't report your stepdaughter, you could be charged with an IPV (Intentional Program Violation) which can result in disqualification from benefits and having to repay benefits. The system is designed to handle shared custody situations. Bring a copy of your custody agreement to your next appointment or upload it to BenefitsCal. Tell your worker explicitly that the child splits time 50/50 between households. The system will prorate the benefits accordingly. If you're having trouble getting through to your worker to discuss this, I recommend trying Claimyr (claimyr.com). It's a service that helps you get through to CalWORKs workers without waiting on hold forever. They have a demo video showing how it works: https://youtu.be/jzISHxCPLwE. I used it last month when I was freaking out about a similar reporting issue and needed to talk to someone ASAP.

THEY ALL TALK TO EACH OTHER!!! Trust me I tried to hide my boyfriend staying with me and they found out and I had to pay back $3,872 and couldn't get benefits for 6 months!!! The computer systems match addresses and names and everything. Just be honest and you'll be fine.

To answer your follow-up question about IPVs - an Intentional Program Violation is when you knowingly break the rules to get more benefits than you're entitled to. This includes not reporting household members or income. It can result in temporary or permanent disqualification and repayment of benefits. However, in your case, since you're actively trying to comply with reporting requirements, you're doing the right thing. Just make sure to document everything. Keep records of when you report information, who you speak with, and copies of everything you submit. This creates a paper trail showing your good faith effort to follow the rules. Also, make sure to report the exact percentage of time your stepdaughter is in your home. If it's truly 50/50, state that clearly. If the schedule varies, explain that too.

my sister had this EXACT thing happen and her ex was getting full benefits for the kid while she was getting nothing even tho they had 50/50!!! make sure u get ur fair share too!!

I work with families in similar situations frequently. Here's what you need to know: 1. You must report all household members accurately, including those who are there part-time 2. For CalWORKs, children in shared custody situations can potentially be on two cases, with benefits prorated based on time in each home 3. When you report, specify exactly how many days/nights the child spends in your home 4. Provide documentation of the custody arrangement 5. Be prepared to explain the situation clearly The system has protocols for this exact situation. It's not considered fraud when both parents accurately report a shared custody arrangement. What would be problematic is if either parent claimed the child was in their home 100% of the time when that's not true. If your worker isn't clear about how to handle this, ask to speak with a supervisor who can explain the shared custody policies more thoroughly.

I went through something similar last year with my stepson. The key thing that helped me was being super clear with my caseworker about the exact custody schedule from day one. I brought in the custody agreement AND created a simple calendar showing which days he's with us vs his mom. My worker really appreciated having it all laid out clearly. The system handled it fine - we get benefits for him for the time he's with us, and his mom gets benefits for her time. No red flags, no problems. The caseworkers deal with this situation all the time, so don't stress too much about it. Just be honest and thorough with your documentation. You're doing everything right by trying to report accurately!