Everyone is right about the prorated first month. But I want to add something important - make sure you're aware of the Income Reporting Threshold (IRT) listed on your approval letter. If your income ever goes above that amount, you MUST report it within 10 days even if it's not time for your SAR-7 yet. This is the #1 reason people get overpayments they have to pay back. Your SAR-7 will come at the 6-month mark, and you'll need to complete recertification after 12 months to keep benefits going.

Just wanted to say this thread was super helpful! I'm new to CalFresh too and had similar confusion about my benefit amounts. It's reassuring to know that prorated first months are normal and not some kind of error. Thanks everyone for sharing your experiences and knowledge - this community is awesome for navigating all the CalFresh details they don't really explain clearly in the paperwork!

I'm so glad to see the P names are finally starting to come through! My son's name is Pablo and we just got our payment this morning too. I was getting really worried because we had already planned our grocery budget around that $535. For anyone still waiting, I noticed mine posted around 6 AM, so definitely check early in the morning. The whole alphabetical rollout system really needs to be reconsidered - it puts so much unnecessary stress on families who are already struggling. At least now we know the technical issues have been resolved!

Just wanted to add my experience - I'm also a parent with a child whose name starts with P (Priya) and we FINALLY received our P-EBT payment yesterday! After reading through all these comments, I checked with some other parents in my daughter's class and it looks like most of the P names in our area got their payments between Monday and Wednesday of this week. For anyone still waiting, I'd definitely recommend checking your balance first thing in the morning like Jacob mentioned - ours posted around 5:30 AM on Tuesday. I also want to echo what others have said about the food banks being understanding about the P-EBT delays. We ended up going to our local food pantry last week when we were running low on groceries, and they were super helpful and didn't make us jump through any extra hoops. Hang in there everyone who's still waiting - it really does seem like they've worked through the technical issues now!

Update: I called this morning after gathering all our expense info. Turns out there were TWO issues: 1) They had my husband's income entered incorrectly - they had him earning $600 more per month than he actually does! 2) They didn't have our updated rent amount. After fixing both issues, our benefits are going up to $380 per month plus the COLA adjustment which will make it about $425! That's a HUGE difference from $150. The worker said the changes should show up in the next issuance. Thank you all for encouraging me to call and for explaining what to ask about!

This is such great news! I'm so glad you called and got everything straightened out. Going from $150 to $425 is life-changing for a family of 4. Your story is a perfect example of why it's so important to advocate for yourself and not just accept what you're given. Income reporting errors happen way too often in the system, and many people probably don't even realize their benefits are calculated wrong. Thanks for sharing the update - it will definitely help other families who might be in similar situations know that it's worth making that call even when it seems overwhelming!

Thank you everyone for all this information! It's been so helpful. I'm going to check my kids' school tomorrow to confirm they're on the CEP list and then just plan on getting new cards in June. I'll make sure to budget accordingly and not count on the current cards being reloaded. I really appreciate all the detailed responses - this community is amazing!

As someone who just went through this whole process, I can confirm what others have said - the Summer 2025 P-EBT cards will be NEW cards, not reloads of existing ones. I spent weeks trying to get a straight answer too! Here's what I learned from finally getting through to someone at CDSS: Keep your current P-EBT cards even after they're empty because sometimes they add retroactive adjustments months later (happened to me last year). The summer cards should arrive between mid-June and early July, and you don't need to apply if your kids already qualify for free/reduced lunch or if you're on CalFresh. One tip that helped me - if you need to call about anything CalFresh related, try calling right when they open at 8am. I had much better luck getting through then instead of calling in the afternoon when everyone else is trying to reach them during lunch breaks. Really hoping they improve the communication next year because this guessing game every season is exhausting for families trying to budget!

be careful!! my cousin got an overpayment notice bcuz she didnt report a side job and now they take money out of her benefits every month to pay it back. its better to just tell them everything even if u dont have to

I just wanted to add some clarification since I've been through this exact situation recently. The SAR 7 form is super important - don't ignore it when it comes! I almost missed mine because I moved and didn't update my address right away. Also, even though your part-time income is way below your IRT, I'd recommend keeping a simple log of when you work and how much you earn. It makes filling out the SAR 7 so much easier when you have everything organized. I use a basic spreadsheet with date, hours worked, and gross pay. One more tip: if your income from this job varies month to month (like if some events get cancelled), just report what you actually received during the reporting period, not what you expected to earn. The county wants actual income, not projected income.