Can't reach California CalFresh? Claimyr connects you to a live DSS agent in minutes.
Claimyr is a pay-as-you-go service. We do not charge a recurring subscription.
Using Claimyr will:
- Connect you to a human agent at the DSS
- Skip the long phone menu
- Call the correct department
- Redial until on hold
- Forward a call to your phone with reduced hold time
- Give you free callbacks if the DSS drops your call
If I could give 10 stars I would
If I could give 10 stars I would If I could give 10 stars I would Such an amazing service so needed during the times when EDD almost never picks up Claimyr gets me on the phone with EDD every time without fail faster. A much needed service without Claimyr I would have never received the payment I needed to support me during my postpartum recovery. Thank you so much Claimyr!
Really made a difference
Really made a difference, save me time and energy from going to a local office for making the call.
Worth not wasting your time calling for hours.
Was a bit nervous or untrusting at first, but my calls went thru. First time the wait was a bit long but their customer chat line on their page was helpful and put me at ease that I would receive my call. Today my call dropped because of EDD and Claimyr heard my concern on the same chat and another call was made within the hour.
An incredibly helpful service
An incredibly helpful service! Got me connected to a CA EDD agent without major hassle (outside of EDD's agents dropping calls – which Claimyr has free protection for). If you need to file a new claim and can't do it online, pay the $ to Claimyr to get the process started. Absolutely worth it!
Consistent,frustration free, quality Service.
Used this service a couple times now. Before I'd call 200 times in less than a weak frustrated as can be. But using claimyr with a couple hours of waiting i was on the line with an representative or on hold. Dropped a couple times but each reconnected not long after and was mission accomplished, thanks to Claimyr.
IT WORKS!! Not a scam!
I tried for weeks to get thru to EDD PFL program with no luck. I gave this a try thinking it may be a scam. OMG! It worked and They got thru within an hour and my claim is going to finally get paid!! I upgraded to the $60 call. Best $60 spent!
Ask the community...
- DO post questions about your issues.
- DO answer questions and support each other.
- DO post tips & tricks to help folks.
- DO NOT post call problems here - there is a support tab at the top for that :)
Join the conversation
Join the conversation
Sophie Duck
This reminds me of when my grandfather used to talk about cost of living adjustments for his pension. He'd always say "they give with one hand and take with the other" because prices always seemed to go up more than the adjustments. Same thing with CalFresh - we get a 5% increase but have you seen grocery prices lately? Everything at the store is up like 15% from last year! My ground beef went from $4.99/lb to $7.29!! How is an extra $20-30 in benefits supposed to cover that?
So true! The eggs I buy were $3.99 last year and now they're $6.49. The COLA doesn't even come close to covering how much more expensive everything is getting. My kids are eating me out of house and home ðŸ˜
Savannah Vin
Just to clarify for everyone in this thread - there are three different things being confused here: 1. Annual COLA (Cost of Living Adjustment): This happens every October 1st for all CalFresh recipients. It's an increase to your regular monthly benefits (about 5.6% for 2025). 2. Emergency Allotments: These were extra payments during COVID that gave households the maximum benefit for their household size. These ended completely in March 2023 and are NOT coming back. 3. Disaster CalFresh (D-CalFresh): These are special benefits for people in federally declared disaster areas (like the recent northern California wildfires). These are NOT available statewide - only in specific counties with disaster declarations. So for most people, the only "extra" in October is the annual COLA increase to your regular benefits.
Thank you for breaking this down so clearly! I definitely was confused and thought the "extra" my caseworker mentioned was something special, not just the regular annual adjustment. Mystery solved!
Join the conversation
Oliver Cheng
Just to add some perspective - I help families navigate these benefits professionally. The P-EBT distribution is completely separate from CalFresh, though they do use the same EBT card system. P-EBT cards come in a distinctive blue envelope with California state markings and require activation with a PIN you set up. For anyone still waiting, don't panic yet. The Central Valley distribution for 2025 is still ongoing through May. If you haven't received anything by the first week of June, that's when I'd recommend calling the P-EBT hotline (877-328-9677). Make sure your address is current with your child's school, as that's the address they use. If you're struggling with food costs while waiting, consider applying for regular CalFresh benefits, which provide monthly food assistance based on household income. A family of 4 can qualify with gross monthly income up to about $4,100 in 2025.
Thank you! This is really helpful. Do you know if kids who get free lunch through the school's CEP (Community Eligibility Provision) program automatically qualify for P-EBT? Our whole school gets free lunch regardless of income.
Oliver Cheng
•Yes! Students at CEP schools do automatically qualify for P-EBT. The school should have submitted all student information to the state for processing. That's actually one reason for some of the delays - the massive increase in participating schools through CEP has added several hundred thousand more eligible children to the system compared to previous years.
Ellie Kim
UPDATE: Our P-EBT cards finally arrived yesterday! Blue envelope just like you all said. Each card has $345 on it for my two kids. Thanks everyone for the help and info. I guess they really are still working through the distribution. For anyone still waiting, hang in there!
Fiona Sand
•Glad you got them! Make sure you activate them right away and create a PIN. Sometimes they can get deactivated if you wait too long.
Join the conversation
One additional thing to consider - if you're caring for a child with autism, you might qualify for IHSS (In-Home Supportive Services) which could provide you payment for some of the care hours you provide. This could give you some income while still allowing you to be home with your son. \n\nWhen you reapply for CalFresh, you can also ask for expedited service if your household income and resources are very low. This can get you benefits within 3 days instead of the normal 30-day processing time.
Nia Thompson
I've heard of IHSS but wasn't sure if we'd qualify. That would be amazing if I could get paid for some of the care hours. And I didn't know about expedited service - that would be incredibly helpful since we're really struggling right now. Thank you!
Join the conversation
Ally Tailer
Just to give some additional clarity: Sometimes when people refer to "extra" benefits, they might be referring to retroactive benefits if there was a delay in processing your application or a change. For example, if you reported a change that would increase your benefits but it took the county a month to process it, you might receive the increase for the current month plus a supplement for the previous month all at once. Has anything like that happened with your case recently?
Brian Downey
•No nothing like that has happened. I think my neighbor just confused me with bad information. But good to know that can happen if there are delays.
i just want to say my benefits amount changes slightly sometimes and i never know why lol. i got $432 last month and $447 this month with no explanation. i don't question it anymore, just grateful for whatever helps feed my family. the calfreh system is so confusing sometimes!!
You should always receive a Notice of Action explaining any changes to your benefit amount. If you're seeing unexplained changes, you might want to check if your mailing address is current with the county, or log into BenefitsCal to check for electronic notices. It's important to understand why your benefits change so you can make sure you're receiving the correct amount.
Yuki Yamamoto
my sister told me food 4 less takes the veggie dollars but when i went there they said no so dont go there for that lol
0 coins
Ethan Brown
You might be thinking of the WIC Farmers Market Nutrition Program (FMNP), which is different from Market Match. It's easy to confuse these programs since there are several different food assistance initiatives.
0 coins