VA education benefits counted as income for CalWORKs? Got denied over GI Bill
I'm a single dad and veteran trying to go back to school using my GI Bill. I applied for CalWORKs to help with living expenses while I'm in school full-time. My caseworker just called saying my VA educational benefits (about $2,225/month) count as INCOME for CalWORKs calculations, which put me over the income limit. This doesn't make sense to me - these benefits are specifically for my education expenses! I need to pay tuition, books, supplies, and transportation with that money. How is this fair? Has anyone else dealt with this? I thought education benefits weren't supposed to count against you for benefit calculations. I'm really stuck now because I can't work full-time while in this program, but apparently can't get CalWORKs either.
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Annabel Kimball
Unfortunately, your caseworker is correct. VA educational benefits ARE counted as income for CalWORKs, even though they're not counted for CalFresh. It's a really frustrating distinction, especially for student veterans. The Montgomery GI Bill and Post-9/11 GI Bill payments are considered income that's available to meet your basic needs according to CalWORKs regulations. The only portion that might be exempt would be any verified amount that goes directly to tuition/fees that the school requires.
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PaulineW
•Wow, that's really messed up. So I'm basically being punished for using my earned benefits to improve my situation? Does this apply to all educational benefits or just VA ones? I have a friend on financial aid who gets CalWORKs.
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Chris Elmeda
This is BS!! The system is TOTALLY rigged against veterans. I had the same thing happen when I tried to use my benefits. They count every penny of GI Bill but if someone gets a pell grant or other financial aid its somehow not counted??? make it make sense!
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Jean Claude
•There is actually a difference in how various educational benefits are treated. VA benefits are federally classified differently than grants like Pell. For CalWORKs specifically, certain educational financial aid like Pell Grants, federal work study, and scholarships intended for educational expenses are exempt from income calculations, while VA educational benefits are not exempt under current regulations. It's not fair, but it is how the system currently works.
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Charity Cohan
have u tried asking for a fair hearing? sometimes they make mistakes with the calculations. they counted my student loans as income once and i had to fight it. maybe the worker doesnt understand the difference between different parts of ur VA benefits?
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PaulineW
•I didn't know about fair hearings. How long does that process take? I'm worried about making rent next month while all this gets sorted out.
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Josef Tearle
I went through this exact situation last year. You might want to check if any portion of your GI Bill is specifically designated for books or supplies - those portions can sometimes be excluded from the income calculation. Also, make sure they're not counting your housing allowance AND your tuition payment as income when the tuition goes directly to the school. I finally got through to a supervisor who helped review my case after weeks of trying to reach someone. If you're having trouble reaching someone at the county office, I used a service called Claimyr (claimyr.com) that helped me actually reach a live person instead of getting disconnected constantly. They have a video demo at https://youtu.be/jzISHxCPLwE that shows how it works. Saved me hours of frustration when I was dealing with this same issue.
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PaulineW
•Thanks for this info. I'll definitely look into whether they're double-counting the tuition portion that goes straight to the school. And I'll check out that service - I've been trying to reach my worker for three days now with no luck.
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Shelby Bauman
This happened to my brother too. Have you looked into the CalWORKs exemptions for students? I think there's still a way to qualify if you're a single parent with a child under 6. Might be worth asking specifically about that.
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Annabel Kimball
•Good point about the exemptions! As a single parent with a child under 6, you should qualify for reduced Welfare-to-Work (WTW) participation hours - only 20 hours per week instead of 30. This doesn't solve the income issue directly, but if you can find part-time work that meets those 20 hours and stay under the income limits without counting your GI Bill, you could potentially qualify. It's definitely worth discussing with your worker.
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Quinn Herbert
what about applying for calfresh instead? they dont count gi bill as income i think. at least thats what my cousin said and hes a vet using gi bill
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Jean Claude
•You're absolutely right about CalFresh! VA educational benefits are NOT counted as income for CalFresh purposes, which is different from CalWORKs rules. This is a great suggestion - OP could still qualify for food assistance through CalFresh even if they're over the income limit for CalWORKs cash aid. As a student, they would need to meet one of the student exemptions, but being a single parent with a child under 12 would qualify them for that exemption.
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PaulineW
I appreciate all the suggestions everyone. I'm going to try several things: 1) Request a breakdown of how they calculated my income to make sure they're not counting the tuition portion that goes to the school, 2) Apply for CalFresh since apparently they don't count VA benefits as income, 3) Ask specifically about the single parent exemption for WTW hours, and 4) Request a fair hearing if needed. This is all so complicated and frustrating, but I'm determined to make this work somehow. I just want to complete my degree and make a better life for my kid.
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Josef Tearle
•That sounds like a solid plan. One more thing to consider - check with your school's Veterans Resource Center if they have one. Some colleges have emergency grants specifically for student veterans facing financial hardships. The VRC staff might also know about county-specific programs that can help bridge the gap. Wishing you the best of luck!
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Tasia Synder
I'm also a veteran dealing with similar issues, though I haven't hit this specific problem yet since I'm still in the application process. This whole thread has been really eye-opening - I had no idea VA benefits were treated differently than other educational aid for CalWORKs. It seems really backwards that we're penalized for using benefits we earned through our service. I'm definitely going to apply for CalFresh first based on what everyone's saying here, and maybe hold off on CalWORKs until I understand all the implications. Thank you all for sharing your experiences - this kind of real-world info is so much more helpful than trying to navigate the official websites and conflicting information from different workers.
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