April CalFresh benefits showing as 'pending' - Is this normal for emergency allotments?

mine is showing pending too!! been like that since yesterday. i called but couldnt get thru after waiting 45 min

Emergency allotments definitely ended in 2023. What you're seeing as 'pending' is likely your regular monthly benefits that haven't been processed yet. This has been happening a lot lately with the new BenefitsCal system updates they're implementing in 2025. If your regular issuance date is the 10th and it's still pending, I'd recommend contacting your county worker directly because there might be an issue with your case that needs resolving.

They ALWAYS do this!!! Every few months there's some "system issue" and our benefits get delayed. My worker literally told me last time that sometimes they batch process benefits and it can cause delays up to 3-5 days. But they never bother to tell us in advance!!! How are we supposed to plan grocery shopping when they can't even keep a consistent schedule? It's beyond frustrating.

i had a similar issue last month where my benefits were stuck on pending for almost a week. turned out there was a quarterly verification form they needed from me that got lost in the mail. they never even bothered to call me about it. might want to check if you have any outstanding verification documents they're waiting for?

I worked at the county for 8 years (retired in 2023), and 'pending' status usually means one of three things: 1) system processing delay, 2) verification needed, or 3) eligibility review. With the new fiscal quarter starting in April, many counties do batch recalculations that can temporarily show as pending. If it's still pending after 3 business days, that's when you should be concerned. Your monthly issuance date shouldn't change, but the deposit timing might be delayed by 1-2 days.

When I had this issue last fall, I wasted three days trying to reach someone at my county office. Always busy signals or disconnections after waiting for hours. I finally tried using Claimyr (claimyr.com) to get through. They basically wait on hold for you and call you back when they reach a real person. Saved me so much time and frustration. Here's a video showing how it works: https://youtu.be/eZ19FHRETv8?si=_CXnXqNXbLl26WB8. My pending status turned out to be because they needed documentation of my new address, which no one had bothered to tell me about!

I just wanted to update that my April benefits that were showing as "pending" just loaded this morning! So it was definitely a system delay of some kind. Check your balance again - maybe yours came through too?

this happens like every 3 months tbh. i just budget expecting my benefits might be late sometimes lol. the system is always "upgrading" or having "maintenance" 🙄

For future reference, if your benefits are showing as 'pending' beyond your regular issuance date, you can also check BenefitsCal.com for any notices or tasks that might be waiting for you. They've improved the portal quite a bit in 2024-2025, and many notices that used to only go through postal mail now show up in your online account as well. This is especially useful for seeing if they need any verification documents from you.

This is really helpful information from everyone! I'm dealing with the same issue - my April benefits have been showing as pending since the 2nd. I'm in San Bernardino County and my normal issuance date is the 15th, so I'm not quite at my regular date yet, but seeing "pending" instead of just waiting for the normal deposit date made me nervous. It sounds like this is a system-wide processing delay rather than individual case issues. I'm glad to hear some people's benefits have already loaded - gives me hope mine will come through soon too. Does anyone know if different counties process at different speeds, or is this all handled at the state level?