California CalFresh

I just wanted to follow up - were you able to get your replacement card? Which office did you end up going to? It would be helpful for others to know your experience.

So glad you were able to get your card replaced! Thanks for updating us on your experience - that's really helpful info for anyone else who might find themselves in this situation. The 7:30am arrival time is a good tip since you still had to wait 2 hours even getting there early. It's frustrating how long these processes take when people are in emergency situations, but at least the system worked in the end. Hope you and your kids are able to get the groceries you need now!

Just to clarify about the retroactive benefits since many people are asking: Yes, you ARE entitled to back benefits for the period after your sanction was removed from Cash Aid. This is because the removal should have been applied to both programs simultaneously. When you call, specifically request "restoration of benefits due to administrative error" for the 3-week period. Document everything - who you speak with, dates of calls, and what was promised. If they try to tell you the system doesn't allow retroactive benefits, that's incorrect for sanction removal situations.

This is unfortunately a common issue with sanction removals not being processed correctly across both programs. I went through something similar last year where my CalFresh stayed sanctioned for 6 weeks after my Cash Aid was restored. What finally worked for me was calling first thing in the morning (around 8 AM) and asking to speak with a CalFresh eligibility supervisor specifically about "coordinating sanction removal between programs." I also mentioned that I had children and this was causing food insecurity. They expedited my case and I received retroactive benefits for the entire period I was shorted. Don't give up - you're entitled to those back benefits and they know it. Keep detailed records of every call and push for a timeline on when this will be resolved.

wait so we NOT supposed to report the tax refund thingy on the SAR7?????? i already did on mine last month cuz i thought we had to report all money we get

I'm going through something similar right now! Got my Middle Class Tax Refund ($600) about 3 weeks ago and my CalFresh benefits just dropped by $80 this month. I haven't reported anything new and my SAR7 isn't due until June. Reading through all these comments, it sounds like there might be some kind of system glitch happening with the tax refunds even though they're supposed to be exempt. I'm definitely going to call tomorrow - thanks everyone for sharing your experiences! It's really helpful to know I'm not the only one dealing with this.

We haven't gotten ANY letter yet... starting to worry again 😕

Don't worry too much about not getting a letter yet! I'm in the same boat - last name starts with S and I have 2 kids (ages 9 and 11) who qualify for free lunch. No letter or benefits yet but based on what everyone's saying about the N-Z group being this week, we should hopefully see something soon. I called my kids' school yesterday and they confirmed both my children are still listed as eligible for free meals in their system, so at least I know we should be getting it. The waiting is definitely stressful though, especially when you see other families already getting theirs!

UPDATE: Thank you everyone for your help! I called using Claimyr (thanks for that tip!) and got through to an eligibility worker who was super helpful. She said since both employers won't provide letters, we could submit a combination of: 1) A detailed written statement from each of them explaining their work situation 2) Bank statements showing cash deposits when they do deposit some of the money 3) A monthly expense breakdown showing how they manage on their income We're putting this together today and I'll upload it to BenefitsCal. The worker also extended our deadline by 10 days which is a huge relief! Will update if we run into any other issues.

Great to hear you got it sorted out! For anyone else reading this thread who might face similar issues, I want to add that when writing those detailed statements, it's super important to be as specific as possible. Include exact dates of employment, daily/weekly schedules, and even describe the type of work being done. I went through this exact situation with my dad last year (he does handyman work for cash) and the eligibility worker told me that detailed statements actually carry more weight than vague employer letters. She said they can tell when someone is being thorough and honest versus just trying to get by with minimal info. Also, keeping copies of everything you submit is crucial - I learned that the hard way when documents got "lost" in the system. Good luck with your submission!