(a) For purposes of Chapter 2 (commencing with Section 11200), any support payments as defined in § 150 of the Family Code received by an applicant or recipient that does not require assignment or cooperation with the local child support agency pursuant to subdivision (c) of section 11477 is exempt from consideration as income and resources for the purposes of determining initial and continued eligibility and grant amount for the CalWORKs program.

(b) Notwithstanding the rulemaking provisions of the Administrative Procedure Act (Chapter 3.5 (commencing with Section 11340) of Part 1 of Division 3 of Title 2 of the Government Code), the State Department of Social Services may implement, interpret, or make specific this section by means of all-county letters or similar instructions from the department until regulations are adopted. These all-county letters or similar written instructions shall have the same force and effect as regulations until the adoption of regulations.

(c) This section shall become operative on January 1, 2024, or the date that the Department of Social Services has determined that necessary automation within the Statewide Automated Welfare System can be complete, whichever date is later.

(Added by Stats. 2022, Ch. 573, Sec. 17. (AB 207) Effective September 27, 2022. Conditionally operative on or after January 1, 2024, as prescribed by its own provisions.)