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When will February 2025 CalFresh emergency allotments hit EBT cards in LA County?
Has anyone heard exactly when LA County is releasing the emergency allotments for CalFresh this month? My regular benefits just loaded yesterday (the 10th), but no emergency amount yet. Last month they came on the 15th but sometimes they're earlier. My rent just went up $175 and I'm really counting on that extra amount this month. Called the EBT customer service but the automated system just gave me my regular balance. Anyone know the February schedule for LA County specifically?
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CalFresh won't cover diapers - where to find diaper assistance in Antioch/Pittsburg area?
So frustrated right now! Just realized my CalFresh benefits can't be used for diapers (which makes no sense since my 8-month-old needs them!). I recently got approved for benefits but I'm still struggling to cover all our basics. Does anyone know where I can get diaper assistance in the Antioch/Pittsburg area? My county worker wasn't helpful at all - just said 'CalFresh is for food only' but didn't offer ANY alternatives. I'm down to my last 5 diapers and don't get paid until next Friday. Any resources would be hugely appreciated!
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To add to the great resources already mentioned, you might also consider: 1. Eastbay Diaper Bank - They work through partner agencies in Contra Costa County 2. Applying for Emergency CalFresh if you haven't already - while it won't cover diapers, it might free up some money in your budget. Expedited services can provide benefits within 3 days if you qualify. 3. Healthy Families America home visiting program through Contra Costa Health Services - they sometimes have emergency supplies 4. The National Diaper Bank Network has a locator tool on their website that might show additional resources Remember that if you're working with limited income, you should definitely explore CalWORKs eligibility since it provides cash aid that can be used for necessities like diapers. The program limits increased in 2025, so you might qualify even if you didn't before.
Thank you! I've already got regular CalFresh but I'll look into all these options. I appreciate everyone being so helpful - I was feeling really alone in this situation this morning.
CalFresh benefits dropped from $900 to $186 for family of 6 with teens despite rent increase - help!
Our CalFresh benefits just took a nosedive from $900 to only $186 this month, and I'm completely panicking! We're a household of 6 including 4 teenage boys who literally eat everything in sight. I reported our rent increase (went from $2,100 to $2,750) to our caseworker thinking it would HELP our benefits, but nothing changed. Our income fluctuates - my paychecks vary week to week depending on hours, while my husband's income stays consistent. We're right near the income threshold for a family our size, but with the housing costs in this area, we're drowning. Is there anything I can do to appeal this massive reduction? $186 barely covers 3 days of food with four bottomless teenage boys! Do they even consider how much growing teenagers eat when calculating benefits??
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I bet they messed up the semi annual report (SAR7)!!!! They ALWAYS do this!! Did you fill out a SAR7 recently? If anything is missing or unclear on that form they just SLASH your benefits without even trying to contact you first. Happened to my sister last month - they claimed she didn't report some income but she DID, they just lost the paper!!! The whole system is designed to cut people off I swear!
While frustrating, it's important to note that counties are required to attempt contact before reducing benefits for incomplete reporting. They should send a form requesting the missing information with at least 10 days to respond. If OP didn't receive such a notice, that's grounds for appealing the reduction and requesting restored benefits.
Update: I FINALLY got through to a caseworker today! Turns out there were TWO issues - 1) They were calculating my income based on a single high-earning week where I worked overtime rather than averaging my fluctuating income, and 2) They didn't record our rent increase at all because I reported it through the online portal instead of submitting the official 'Change of Address/Rent' form (even though our address didn't change, just the rent amount). The worker said they'll recalculate everything and I should see an increase in next month's benefits. They're also investigating whether we can get supplemental benefits for this month since the error wasn't our fault. Thanks everyone for the advice - especially about requesting the detailed calculation breakdown, that was what finally got them to look deeper into our case!
Can CalFresh help with diapers for my special needs daughter with genetic disorder?
My 2-year-old daughter has a rare genetic disorder that causes her to need diapers far longer than typical kids. The doctor says she might need them for years to come, and honestly, the cost is killing our budget. We're on CalFresh already (about $650/month for our family of 4), but I was wondering if there's any way to get help specifically for diapers through CalFresh or any related program they might know about? The regular diaper banks only give like 50 diapers a month which barely covers a week for her because of her condition. Has anyone successfully gotten help with this kind of situation? Our monthly diaper expense is nearly $300 which is eating up almost half our food benefits.
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Everyone has given you great advice about getting diapers, but I also wanted to mention - if you're tight on food budget because of spending so much on diapers, you might qualify for more CalFresh benefits than you're currently receiving. When they calculated your benefits, did you make sure to report all your medical expenses related to your daughter's condition? These are deductible for CalFresh purposes and can increase your benefit amount. When it's time for your next SAR7 or recertification, bring documentation of all medical expenses (including travel to medical appointments, special dietary needs, prescriptions, etc.) and make sure your eligibility worker counts them as deductions. This won't help with diapers directly but might give you more food benefits to offset some of your other costs. Also, don't forget to check with her medical specialists - sometimes they have access to foundation grants specifically for families in situations like yours.
Wow, I had NO idea we could count medical expenses for CalFresh! We're spending about $400/month on her medications and special foods that insurance doesn't fully cover, plus all the gas driving to specialists in the city (about 70 miles each way). Our recertification is actually next month so this is perfect timing. Thank you so much for this information!
EBT cards for my kids just arrived with letter H - both loaded and ready in LA County!
Finally got some good news to share! After weeks of waiting and stressing, both of my children's EBT cards arrived in today's mail (marked with letter H). I immediately called the EBT customer service line to check if they were activated and YES - both cards are loaded with benefits and ready to use! Such a relief since we've been struggling with just my card for the past few months. For anyone else waiting on additional household member cards in LA County, they seem to be moving faster now. Has anyone else recently received cards for household members? How long did yours take to arrive after approval?
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my kid's card came with wrong name on it!! they spelled his last name wrong and now i gotta go thru this whole process again smh the system is such a mess
That's awful! Did you have to send the card back or can you just request a new one with the correct spelling? I was really worried about mistakes like that which is why I triple-checked all our info during recertification.
hey did ur kids get the same amount on their cards or different? my caseworker said something about an allotment per person but i didn't really understand how they calculate it
CalFresh benefits are calculated for the entire household, then typically loaded onto the primary cardholder's EBT card. If additional household members have their own cards, they're usually all linked to the same account and share the total household benefit. The calculation is based on household size, income, and eligible deductions. Each person doesn't get a separate "allotment" - instead, the total household benefit is what matters. You can give each person access to whatever portion of the total you want by requesting separate cards, but they all draw from the same monthly benefit amount.
Demi Hall
Just wanted to update everyone - my emergency allotment just hit my EBT card today (Feb 15th)! Checked my balance this morning and it wasn't there, then checked again after dinner and the extra amount had been added. So for anyone else waiting in LA County, they're processing them now!
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Mateusius Townsend
thx for update! gonna check mine now
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Kara Yoshida
Still nothing on mine yet! My case number ends in 9 so maybe they're going in order? Will check again tomorrow. Thanks for letting us know they started going out!
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Philip Cowan
My sister works for Sacramento County and she told me emergency allotments happen the same days for all counties, it's just that they spread them out over a few days so the system doesn't crash. She said to always count on it being between the 15th-18th every month. The emergency allotments are all done through the same state computer system, not individual counties. Hope that helps!
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Pedro Sawyer
Oh that makes sense about spreading them out! I was wondering why some people get them on different days. My friend and I both have CalFresh in the same county but almost always get our emergency amounts on different days, even though our regular benefits come on the same day. The system is so confusing sometimes!
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