Calif. Supreme Court Denies SMC Woman CalWorks Qualification

REDWOOD CITY, CA — The California Supreme Court in San Francisco on Monday unanimously turned down a San Mateo County woman's bid to calculate her family income in a way that would make her eligible for welfare benefits.

The applicant, Angie Christensen, applied in 2010 for welfare for herself and three children under the California Work Opportunity and Responsibility to Kids program, known as CalWORKS. Her husband, Bruce Christensen, was having his wages garnished to pay child support for his three children from a prior marriage, who were living in a different household. Angie Christensen sought to have the garnished wages excluded from the calculation of her family income, since the garnished money was not available to her family.

But the high court said unanimously that the California Department of Social Services was correct in concluding that even garnished wages should be included in the calculation. The amount made the difference as to whether Angie Christensen's family met the welfare requirement of having an income below $828 per month.

Justice Goodwin Liu wrote: "We conclude that (the department's) determination was reasonable and therefore valid."

—Bay City News