California Code, Welfare and Institutions Code - WIC § 11250

(a) The death, physical or mental incapacity, or incarceration of a parent.

(b) The unemployment of a parent or parents.

(c) Continued absence of a parent from the home due to divorce, separation, desertion, or any other reason, except absence occasioned solely by reason of the performance of active duty in the uniformed services of the United States.  “Continued absence” exists when the nature of the absence is such as either to interrupt or to terminate the parent's functioning as a provider of maintenance, physical care, or guidance for the child, and the known or indefinite duration of the absence precludes counting on the parent's performance of the function of planning for the present support or care of the child.  If these conditions exist, the parent may be absent for any reason, and may have left only recently or some time previously.