Ms. Camacho was studying to be a registered nurse when she applied for CalWORKs.  After she began receiving CalWORKs, she purchased books and supplies for her classes.  When the County approved her nursing program as a welfare-to-work activity shortly thereafter, it took the stance that the books and supplies, though necessary for the classes Ms. Camacho was currently taking, cannot be reimbursed because she bought them before the program’s approval.  The Court found DSS’ contentions “not particularly enlightening” and correctly reasoned that the law requires payment of supportive services that are necessary for participation without a temporal limitation on when they are purchased.  As Judge Chalfant noted, if Ms. Camacho, facing weekly exams, had waited until after County approval to buy her books, she might have flunked out of the nursing program altogether.  The Legislature could not have intended such an absurd result, the Court reasoned. The Court’s decision upholds the intent of the Legislature to support CalWORKs recipients pursuing education leading to employment as a means of achieving self-sufficiency. 

Our co-counsel in this case was the Legal Aid Foundation of Los Angeles.