FAQ
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What happened to SAWS-TA project?
WDTIP supersedes the project formerly called Statewide Automated Welfare System Technical Architecture (SAWS-TA). The delay of consortia implementations, coupled with the immediate need for statewide data tracking as mandated by Welfare Reform, has prompted the move forward with WDTIP as an interim solution. This solution will provide important recipient data across time and across counties, and will enhance the ability to determine eligibility for CalWORKs and Food Stamp benefits.
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Who has access to WDTIP TRAC (Tracking Recipients Across California) system?
WDTIP uses the same security protocol used by the MEDS system. All counties will have access to all inquiry screens. All county staff that has inquiry access to MEDS will have inquiry access to the TRAC system. The update screens will be used by counties when they are unable to send the information via their eligibility system. Access to the update screens is limited to those individuals having update capability in MEDS.
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A program participation record was added for an individual with a participant type code “A” and with a valid aid code which ticks the TANF 60-month and CalWORKs 60-month clocks. The TANF clock is correct; however, the CalWORKs 60-month clock is off by several months
The CalWORKs 48-month clock does not tick for individuals under the age of 18. Even though the participant type code is “A”, TRAC uses Date of Birth to determine whether the individual is an adult or child. The CalWORKs 48-month clock will start ticking the month following the individual’s 18th birthday.
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Why do the Update Exceptions (UPEX) or Update Program Participation (UPRG) screens sometimes display “blank” record information when I hit the “PF5” or “PF6” function keys (to navigate to the previous or next record) right after deleting a record on-line in the TRAC system?
The TRAC system is written in CICS/COBOL and this display issue is caused by a limitation with the CICS software. All data entered/deleted/modified into the UPEX or UPRG screens is being saved to the database correctly. One way to maneuver around this display issue is to always press the “Enter” key after adding/deleting/modifying an on-line record. Another way to maneuver around this issue is to go back to Program Summary (PSUM) or to the Time Clock Exception Summary (ESUM) screen, and then return to the UPRG or UPEX screen.
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How can the counties enter Tribal TANF into the TRAC system?
If a county worker has MEDS update capability, they may enter Tribal TANF through the Non-California Participation (UNCP) Screen. The UNCP is used to enter Tribal TANF or Non-California Cash Participation. A valid Tribal TANF code must be used when entering the Tribal TANF record. Valid Tribal TANF codes may be found in the TRAC Reference Codes document. The WDTIP web-site has a training module on how to Enter Tribal TANF: http://www.wdtip.cahwnet.gov/docs/Training_flash/how_to_add_tribal_tanf2.swf .
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An individual has a program participation record and an overlapping sanction record. Why are the clocks still ticking? Per the TRAC Reference Codes, a sanction record should not tick any of the three clocks (TANF 60, CalWORKs 60, and CalWORKs 18/24 month clocks).
Under the TRAC Reference Codes, Program Exception Reason Type Code section, there is note about sanctions: *Important note: For Program Exception Code 02 Sanction (with Reason codes 200, 201, 202, 203, 204, 205) and 05 Excluded Person (with Reason code 500), the county must first end-date the current aid by sending a CalWORKs program discontinuance transaction with a discontinuance date the month prior to the start date of the exception. If the county fails to send in a CalWORKs program discontinuance transaction to end-date the aid, the CalWORKs time clock will continue to tick. For example, if the county wants the Program Exception to start on November 1, 2005, the current CalWORKs Program Participation record (in PSUM screen) must have an end-date of October 31, 2005. To have the correct time clock calculations, a county must discontinue their program participation record the month prior to the sanction’s effective start date. The time clock detail screens (TCAL, KCAL, and WCAL) will display the sanction effective month with an “-“.
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An individual has reached their 60th month and are now on an extender. When the extender records are sent to TRAC, how many months will be reflected for the CalWORKs 60-month clock (KCAL)? Will this individual’s CIN appear on WDTIP Exceeding Clocks Report for the CalWORKS 60-month clock?
Example, if an individual has 60 CalWORKs months due to the program participation records and two months due to an extender, the KCAL screen will reflect a total of 62 months on the CalWORKs 60-month clock. The threshold for the Exceeding Clock Report for the CalWORKs 60-month clock is the total CalWORKs months less the extender months. In this example, the net CalWORKs months equals 60 (60 months on the clock less 2 months for the extender). Individuals who have 60 months or less do not appear on the TRAC Exceeding Clocks Report for the CalWORKs 60-month clock.
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The TANF 60-month clock (TCAL) screen shows an individual received aid but there was no corresponding program participation record for that month on the Program Summary (PSUM) screen, why is the clock ticking?
There are other types of records, such as Diversion, Supportive Services, and Non-California Participation records which may also tick the TANF 60-month clock. Please look up the UDIV, USSO and UNCP screens to see if there is another record that causes the clock to tick.
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An individual has two CINs pointing to the same person. Each CIN has its own set of time clock data in WDTIP. How can we synchronize all of the clock information under one CIN?
If both CINs are in MEDS and the county wants to combine CINs, then the county can use the EW11 transaction to combine the records in MEDS. The MEDS process will generate a combine transaction to SCI. After the combination is completed, SCI generates a CIN Combination File that is loaded into WDTIP’s database during the nightly batch processing. Once completed, the CINs are combined in the WDTIP system. If for some reason(s), the CINs did not combine the time clock information; county staff can call the WDTIP Help Desk to have the CIN combination process done manually.
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The TRAC system displays an “N” indicator on the future month (beyond the process date) for future Program Participation records on the Time Clock screens (TCAL, KCAL, WCAL) – does this future month indicator affect Time Clock calculations at all?
No, all future month Program Participation displayed “N” indicators do not affect the Time Clock calculations.