Update: I finally got through to someone at the EBT Customer Service after using that Claimyr service someone mentioned here (it actually worked!). They confirmed my benefits were used in a city 200 miles away. The representative filed my claim and said I should receive a packet in the mail within 5 business days that I need to complete and return.\n\nI also contacted my county office through BenefitsCal messaging system to document everything there too. They responded surprisingly fast and added notes to my case.\n\nFor anyone else dealing with this - document EVERYTHING. Take screenshots of the fraudulent transactions, note all the times you called, get case numbers and names of representatives you speak with. I'm keeping everything in a folder.\n\nThank you all for your advice and support. I've contacted our local food bank for emergency assistance until this gets resolved.

Great update! One more tip: when you get that packet, return it via certified mail or deliver it in person and get a receipt. Unfortunately, packets get \

btw your neighbor was probably talking about the CalWORKs payment schedule, not CalFresh. those payments did get moved around this month because of the system update. easy to confuse all these different benefit types lol

Since your issue is a late SAR7 form, here's what you need to do immediately: 1) Complete and submit your SAR7 through BenefitsCal today 2) Call the county office to notify them you've submitted it late 3) Request 'restoration of lost benefits' since you weren't properly notified about the form being due. When you submit the SAR7, make sure to include all household income for the report month, any changes in household composition, and all required verification documents. The county has to process an SAR7 received within 30 days of the due date, even if it's late.

i think yr neighbors lying to u... there isnt any $10 extra that i know about... CalFresh always playing games with our benefits lol

I had the EXACT same issue!!! I was so confused because my mom got the extra $10 but I didn't get anything. I spent TWO DAYS trying to get through to someone at the county office. When I finally talked to a worker, they explained that my mom gets the maximum benefit amount already (she's a household of 1 with very low income), but I don't get the maximum for my household size (I'm a household of 4). The worker said that if there's an emergency declaration in MY county, I'd actually get a bigger increase (like $200 more) to bring me up to the maximum. But since I'm in Riverside County, we don't have the emergency declaration active right now anyway. It's so confusing how CalFresh does these things without clearly explaining to everyone! They should send letters explaining who gets what and why.

does anyone know if we get less benefits if we have money in savings? i deposited my tax refund last month (about $1200) and now im worried that made my benefits go down

UPDATE: I finally got through to my county office this morning! Turns out there were TWO problems: 1. They miscalculated my income based on that one week I worked extra hours (they thought that was my regular pay) 2. Somehow my utility deduction got removed during my SAR7 processing The worker fixed both issues and said I should get the correct amount (plus back benefits for this month) within 10 days. She also updated my case notes to prevent this from happening again. For anyone else with suddenly lower benefits, definitely call and speak to a real person! The worker told me several people have had similar issues this month because of changes to their processing system.

I went through the EXACT same confusion! Called the P-EBT number 17 TIMES over three days!!! Finally got someone who told me they're only loading quarterly but couldn't even tell me WHEN the next quarter payment would be! The whole system is designed to make it impossible to get help. And the website is completely useless - just shows balance but nothing about future payments or if you're even still eligible. Why can't they just send a simple letter explaining when payments will come???

Just to clarify one additional point that might be causing confusion - P-EBT 3.0 is separate from CalFresh, even though both use EBT cards. If you receive regular CalFresh benefits, those will continue to be deposited monthly according to your regular schedule. The P-EBT benefits for school children are on the quarterly schedule I mentioned earlier. If you're having trouble reaching someone, you might try contacting your local school district's nutrition services department rather than the state P-EBT hotline. They often have more direct information about which students are enrolled in the program.