CalFresh benefits suddenly stopped - emergency food options while waiting for reinstatement?

oh yea this happened to me to!! have u missed ur SAR7 form deadline maybe?? they cut me off REAL quick when i forgot to send mine in on time last yr. u should check ur benefitscal acct to see if theres any notices u missed. sometimes they dont even mail them anymore smh

This is a common problem with CalFresh - they send notices through BenefitsCal but don't always alert you properly. For immediate food needs, you should contact your local food bank (211 can connect you) or check if your county has an emergency food assistance program separate from CalFresh. As for getting your benefits back, you'll need to submit that income verification ASAP. When benefits are discontinued for missing verification, they can often be restored without starting a new application if you provide the documents within 30 days of the discontinuance date. Your benefits might even be backdated if you can prove you never received proper notification.

You should only need to submit whatever verification they specifically requested in the notice. If they asked for income verification, send recent pay stubs or a letter from your employer. If you're not working, you'll need to submit a written statement explaining how you're meeting your basic needs. Upload everything directly to BenefitsCal if possible - it's faster than mailing.

I went through this exact scenario in January. After trying their regular phone line for days, I finally used a service called Claimyr (claimyr.com) that got me connected to an actual CalFresh worker in about 10 minutes. They have a video showing how it works: https://youtu.be/eZ19FHRETv8?si=_CXnXqNXbLl26WB8 The worker was able to see exactly what verification I was missing and told me I could submit it right over the phone (they texted me a link where I could upload photos of my documents). My benefits were restored within 48 hours, and they even backdated them to cover the missed payment. Definitely worth trying if you need to talk to someone urgently about your case.

While ur waiting 4 benefits, if ur really hungry like RIGHT NOW, u can try: - Local churches (many have free meal programs) - Salvation Army (they do emergency food boxes) - Some fast food places will give u free food at closing time - Food Not Bombs if ur in a bigger city - Community fridges (google "community fridge near me") Ive been there b4, its rough but u can get thru this!

UPDATE: I wanted to let everyone know what happened in case someone else has this problem. I used that Claimyr service to get through to my county office today. The worker could see that they sent me a "Request for Verification" notice 3 weeks ago that I never received (or maybe I missed it?). She said they needed proof of my new job since I reported a change in income on my last quarterly report. I was able to upload my pay stubs right during the call, and she processed them immediately! She said my benefits should be loaded onto my EBT card within 3 business days AND they're going to backdate them to include this month's payment I missed. Also went to a local food pantry thanks to the suggestion here and got enough groceries to tide me over until my benefits come through. Thanks everyone for the help when I was panicking!

I think they're doing this on purpose tbh. My caseworker told me that they're trying to move everyone to electronic notifications to "save paper" but they know darn well that lots of people don't check their BenefitsCal accounts regularly. It's just another way to get people off the program so they can say enrollment is down. Always make sure your contact info is up to date and check that account at least once a week!

Just a final update - my benefits were loaded this morning! Full amount plus the retroactive payment for the missed month. And I set up text alerts for ANY new notices in my BenefitsCal account. Thanks again everyone for your help when I was in crisis mode.

So happy to hear you got your benefits restored! This thread is super helpful - I'm bookmarking it in case I ever run into this issue. The Claimyr service sounds like a game changer for actually getting through to someone who can help. I had no idea about setting up text alerts in BenefitsCal either, definitely going to check my notification settings now. Thanks for sharing your experience and keeping us updated!