CalFresh benefits dropped from $900 to $186 for family of 6 with teens despite rent increase - help!

This sounds like a potential calculation error or they might not have properly recorded your shelter deduction. When your CalFresh benefits drop that dramatically, it's usually because either: 1) they counted income that shouldn't be counted, 2) missed a deduction, or 3) didn't process your reported changes. Call your county office ASAP and ask for an explanation of the benefit calculation. Specifically mention that you reported a substantial rent increase that doesn't seem to be reflected in your new benefit amount. You have the right to appeal within 90 days if you think there's an error. Make sure they're calculating your income correctly too - if your pay fluctuates, they should be using an average.

omg the SAME THING happened to us last yr!! we went from like $850 to $212 bcuz my husband got a tiny raise but we have 3 kids. the system is BROKEN. they dont care that the cost of everything went up but our benefits went DOWN. good luck getting anyone on the phone too - i spent 4 hours on hold last time i tried 🙄

After dealing with similar frustrations trying to reach CalFresh about my benefits dropping (from $700 to $230), I started using this service called Claimyr that completely changed my experience. Instead of waiting on hold for hours, they had a CalFresh worker call ME back. Just went to claimyr.com, entered some info about my case, and within 40 minutes I had a worker on the phone. They even have a video showing how it works: https://youtu.be/eZ19FHRETv8?si=_CXnXqNXbLl26WB8 In my case, they missed inputting my childcare expenses which was causing the lower benefit amount. Got it fixed on that one call!

When you say your checks go up and down, have you gone over the Income Reporting Threshold (IRT) at any point? They should have told you what your IRT is on your last approval notice - if your monthly income went above that number even for a single month and you didn't report it within 10 days, they might have hit you with a calculation that assumes your income is always at that level. Worth checking!

A big reduction like that usually means one of these things happened: 1) Income calculation error - they may be calculating your income incorrectly if you have variable hours 2) Missing deductions - make sure ALL expenses are counted (rent, utilities, childcare, medical expenses if you have seniors/disabled household members) 3) Household composition change - did they incorrectly change who's in your household? 4) Reached the net income limit - even with deductions, you might be close to the threshold I recommend requesting a detailed benefit calculation breakdown from your caseworker. You have the right to see exactly how they arrived at $186. If there's an error, request an immediate correction. If there's no error but you truly can't make ends meet, ask about expedited emergency allotment options.

lol teenage boys r expensive!!! my nephew eats like 5 meals a day and hes only 15 😂 good luck getting more $$ from calfresh tho, they always tryna cut people off

One more thing to check - make sure they're counting your UTILITIES correctly too. In 2025, California allows a Standard Utility Allowance (SUA) of $677 if you pay heating/cooling costs separate from rent. If they're not applying this deduction, that could significantly impact your benefit amount. Also, double-check they're using your GROSS income (before taxes) for the eligibility test but your NET income (after deductions) for the benefit calculation. They sometimes mix these up.

have u tried food banks too? our calfresh got cut last year and we started going to 2 different food banks each month to supplement. not ideal but helps stretch the budget.

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!

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!