Confused about CalWORKs IRT calculations - does it include both Cash Aid and CalFresh?

Your IRT only applies to your earned income (like from a job), not to the benefits you receive. The Income Reporting Threshold is the amount of income your household can earn before you have to report it to the county between regular reports. Cash Aid and CalFresh actually have separate IRTs, and they should both be listed on your paperwork. The Cash Aid IRT is usually lower than the CalFresh one. You need to report if your income goes over EITHER threshold. Hope that helps clarify things!

I had same question before!! My worker told me wrong info first time and I got overpayd and had to pay back money. Make sure u understand cuz if u go over IRT and dont report they can say u committed fraud even if u didnt mean too!!! Call again and get better worker who explains it right.

The Income Reporting Threshold (IRT) is the maximum income your household can receive before you're required to report it mid-period (between your SAR7 and annual redetermination). Your IRT is calculated based on your household size and is printed on your approval notices and Semi-Annual Reports. To directly answer your question: No, your CalWORKs benefits and CalFresh benefits are NOT included in calculating whether you've hit your IRT. Only actual income (like wages, self-employment, disability, unemployment, etc.) counts toward your IRT. And yes, CalWORKs and CalFresh have separate IRTs. For CalWORKs, the IRT is 130% of the Federal Poverty Level (FPL) for your family size. For CalFresh, it's 130% of the FPL or 230% of the FPL if your household is Categorically Eligible. The IRT is calculated on a MONTHLY basis. If your monthly income exceeds your IRT, you must report it within 10 days.

For me the IRT was confusing too. What they told me is CW and CF have different IRT amouts. If I make too much money in a month, I have to tell them even if it's not time for my SAR7 yet. But my cash aid and calfresh benefits don't count toward the IRT. Only money I make from a job or childsuport or stuff like that.

Slightly off topic but make sure your getting the child support disregard if u have open child support case. They take $50 of child supprot u receive and don't count it against ur CalWorks cash aid! Took me 4 YEARS to find this out and missed out on lots of $$$!

I'd been having the same issue understanding my IRT until I finally got through to a worker who explained it properly. I spent TWO WEEKS trying to reach someone by phone - kept getting disconnected or waiting on hold for hours only to have the call drop. Finally, I used this service called Claimyr (claimyr.com) that got me through to a real person at CalWORKs in less than 30 minutes. They have a video showing how it works: https://youtu.be/jzISHxCPLwE Anyway, the worker explained that the IRT is only about income YOU earn, not benefits you receive. And yes, CalWORKs and CalFresh have different IRTs. If your income exceeds either one, you need to report it within 10 days - even if it's not time for your SAR7 yet.

One more important thing to remember: if you start a new job, you DO need to report that at your next SAR7 or annual redetermination, even if your income is below the IRT. But you don't have to report it mid-period unless your total monthly income exceeds your IRT. And just to clarify on the timing - the 10-day reporting requirement starts from when you KNOW your income will exceed the IRT, not necessarily when you receive the payment. So if you know in advance you'll be getting a large payment that puts you over the threshold, you should report it within 10 days of finding out.

Dont forget they count GROSS income for IRT not net!!! Thats what got me in truble. I was only thinking about what I toke home after taxes but they count before taxes for the IRT!

Looks like you've gotten great answers! Just to summarize since there's been a lot of information: 1. Your IRT is about YOUR income (wages, unemployment, etc.), not the benefits you receive 2. CalWORKs and CalFresh have separate IRTs - you need to report if you exceed either one 3. The IRT is based on GROSS monthly income (before taxes/deductions) 4. You must report within 10 days of knowing your income will exceed the IRT 5. Starting a new job doesn't need to be reported mid-period unless it puts you over the IRT Hope that helps clarify everything!

Just wanted to add one more tip that helped me - keep a simple spreadsheet or notebook tracking your income each month so you can easily see when you're getting close to your IRT. I write down each paycheck (gross amount) and keep a running total. That way I'm not scrambling to figure out if I need to report something at the last minute. Also, if you're unsure about whether something counts as income toward your IRT (like gifts, one-time payments, etc.), it's better to call and ask rather than guess. Better safe than sorry with these reporting requirements!

Great advice from everyone here! I'm new to CalWORKs and was actually wondering about this exact same thing. My intake worker mentioned the IRT but I didn't really understand what it meant. Reading through all these responses has been super educational - especially the part about it being gross income, not net. I would have definitely made that mistake! One quick question - if I'm working part-time and my hours vary week to week, should I be calculating the IRT based on my highest earning month or my average? Sometimes I might go over the threshold one month but be under it the next. Thanks for all the helpful info everyone!

This is such a helpful thread! I'm also on CalWORKs and was confused about the IRT until I read through all these responses. One thing that helped me was asking my worker to write down both my CalWORKs and CalFresh IRT amounts during our phone call, because like you said, it's hard to remember everything when you're dealing with kids at the same time! I also learned the hard way that if you're getting any kind of irregular income (like occasional babysitting money or selling stuff online), that counts toward your IRT too. It's not just regular job income. The county workers don't always explain all the different types of income that count, so it's good to ask specifically about anything you're unsure about. Hope your new job goes well!