BenefitsCal website rejecting my login credentials for CalFresh account - anyone else?

Same thing happened to me yesterday! I kept trying different passwords thinking I was going crazy. Finally gave up and called the county, but after 1.5 hours on hold I had to hang up for work. Tried again this morning and it's still not working. Feels like the whole system is down but they haven't bothered to put up a notice or anything.

This is a known issue that started yesterday afternoon. The BenefitsCal system is experiencing technical difficulties that are affecting login authentication. According to what I heard from my eligibility worker (I called about something else), they're aware of the problem and their IT department is working on it. They said it should be resolved within 24-48 hours. Most importantly: this will NOT affect your benefits or renewal dates since it's a system-wide issue. They're putting holds on any adverse actions that would occur during the outage.

I'm having the exct same issue but my EBT card also isn't working at the store!!! I tried buying groceries and it got declined. Is this connected to the website issues?? I can't feed my kids without this money!!!

I was having the same issue and was going crazy trying to get through to my county worker to make sure my SAR7 was received. After being on hold for over an hour and getting disconnected twice, I used Claimyr (claimyr.com) to get a callback from the county. They helped me confirm that my SAR7 was received and processed even though I couldn't see it online. Saved me hours of waiting on hold! You can see how it works in their video: https://youtu.be/eZ19FHRETv8?si=_CXnXqNXbLl26WB8

This happens at the end of EVERY month!! The system gets overloaded because everyone is checking their benefits and submitting recertifications all at once. I've been on CalFresh for 3 years and it's always the same. Just wait a couple days and it'll be back up. As long as you submitted your recertification before the deadline you'll be fine.

have u tried using a diferent browser? sometimes the website doesnt work right on my phone but works on the library computer

I just got through to someone at the county after calling repeatedly for hours. They confirmed the website is having technical issues and they're working on it. The most important thing they told me is that DEADLINES ARE BEING EXTENDED for anyone with submissions due during the outage. So if you have a SAR7 or recertification due right now, you'll get extra time. They couldn't tell me exactly how many days though.

UPDATE: I just tried logging in again and it's working now! Looks like they fixed the issue. Everyone should try again.

Thanks everyone for sharing your experiences! This thread was so helpful. I was starting to think I was losing my mind with the login issues. It's reassuring to know it was a system-wide problem and not something wrong with my account. The information about deadline extensions is especially valuable - I wish the county would communicate these things better instead of leaving us all stressed and guessing. Glad to hear it's working again now!

This is exactly why I always screenshot important pages when the system IS working! I learned this the hard way after missing a deadline during a previous outage. For anyone reading this in the future - when you submit documents or complete forms on BenefitsCal, always take screenshots showing the confirmation page with date/time stamps. It's saved me multiple times when trying to prove I submitted something on time. Also, if you have recurring submissions like SAR7s, set phone reminders a week BEFORE they're due so you're not scrambling at the last minute when these glitches happen. The system seems to have issues right around month-end pretty regularly.

Just wanted to add my experience to this thread - I had the exact same login issues yesterday and was panicking because my recertification interview is scheduled for Friday. After reading through all the helpful comments here, I decided to try the Claimyr service that @Javier Mendoza mentioned. It actually worked! I got connected to my eligibility worker within 30 minutes and was able to confirm that my SAR7 was received and my interview is still on schedule. The worker also mentioned that they're putting extra staff on phones this week because of all the calls from the website outage. For anyone still worried about deadlines or missing documents, I'd definitely recommend trying to get through by phone rather than waiting for the website. This community is amazing - thank you all for sharing your experiences and solutions!

This thread is so reassuring! I've been dealing with the same login issues since yesterday and was starting to panic about my upcoming recertification deadline. Reading everyone's experiences and solutions has been incredibly helpful. It's frustrating that the county doesn't communicate these system-wide problems better - a simple notice on their homepage would save so many people from unnecessary stress and worry. I'm definitely going to try some of the suggestions mentioned here, especially taking screenshots when the system is working and setting early reminders for deadlines. Thank you all for sharing your knowledge and looking out for each other in this community!