CalFresh benefits trapped on shredded EBT card after county transfer - help accessing funds!

This is actually a common issue with inter-county transfers in California. The system doesn't handle them well, especially when there's such a long delay between your move and when they actually process the transfer. Here's what should happen: 1. Your daughter should call LA County ASAP and explain the situation. They can issue a replacement card for the old account if you verify identity. The funds are still in the account even though the physical card is destroyed. 2. Request an emergency replacement card. Since your daughter has a disability, emphasize this is creating a hardship situation. They should be able to expedite. 3. For the Sacramento card - that will indeed activate on Nov 1st when the transfer completes. The system is designed to avoid overlap, but unfortunately creates these gaps instead. I've worked with several clients who've gone through county transfers. It's frustrating but fixable!

omg this happened to me but worse!!! i moved from san diego to alameda and didnt get ANY benefits for almost 3 months!! the counties dont talk to each other at ALL its like the left hand doesnt know what the right is doing. u should def call LA like everyday until someone helps u. sometimes they can transfer the benefits to the new card but tbh its a mess everytime

I used to work for DPSS in Los Angeles County. Here's what you need to do: 1. Call the LA County EBT Customer Service line (not the general CalFresh line) at 877-328-9677. Specifically ask for a "Benefit Conversion" due to a destroyed card. They should be able to access the account even though the case is transferring. 2. Request that they mail the replacement card to your current Sacramento address. They CAN do this despite what some workers might initially tell you. 3. Document everything: get the worker's ID number, case notes reference number, and promised timeline. 4. If they refuse or say they can't help, ask to speak with a supervisor immediately. The benefits should remain accessible on the old account for at least 365 days, even with the transfer happening. The issue is just getting a physical card that can access them. Good luck!

I had a similar nightmare situation when I moved counties. I spent WEEKS trying to reach someone at my old county office who could help. The phone lines were always busy, and when I finally got through, I'd get disconnected after waiting on hold forever. I finally used Claimyr (claimyr.com) to get through to a real person. It basically calls the county office for you and rings your phone when a real person answers. Saved me hours of frustration. They have a video that shows how it works: https://youtu.be/eZ19FHRETv8?si=_CXnXqNXbLl26WB8 For your situation, I'd recommend using it to call LA County since that's where the benefits are currently stuck. Just make sure your daughter has her old case number and identifying info ready when they connect her.

Their is literally NO communication between counties, its SO DUMB!!! when i moved they told me my benafits would transfer in 30 days but it took FOUR MONTHS and i had to reapply from scratch!!! the whole time my old county said "we sent the transfer" and new county said "we never got it" and round and round in circles... ugh IMO you should file a formal complaint while your trying to get the benefits back. The state needs to know how bad they mess up peoples lives with this stuff. My suggestion is keep calling LA county and also talk to Sacramento county SUPERVISOR not just regular worker. The higher up you go the better chance to fix this.

Just wanted to follow up on something I forgot to mention: If your daughter has an active BenefitsCal account (the online portal), she might be able to see both accounts temporarily during this transition period. Sometimes you can see the status of both the old and new county cases during a transfer. Might give you some insight into what's happening behind the scenes. Also, for future reference, California has a CWD (County Welfare Director) transfer desk specifically for these county-to-county transfers, but unfortunately it's not accessible to clients directly. If you continue having problems, ask your new county worker to consult with the CWD transfer desk on your behalf.

btw did they give ur daughter a new case number in Sacramento? when u call LA make sure u have the OLD case # from LA cuz they wont be able to find anything with the new sacramento number. also did u get any letters from LA saying they were closing the case? sometimes they send those but people miss them or throw them away

This sounds so frustrating. When I transferred from Riverside to San Bernardino, they told me I had to spend down all my benefits before the transfer went through. No one explained this to your daughter? The whole point of the 2-card system during transfers is that you can empty the old one before activating the new one. Quick question - did your daughter do her SAR7 and recertification forms on time? Sometimes these county transfers happen when there's a recert due, and if any paperwork was missed, that could complicate things even more.

Just to give you a bit more context on why this happens: The CalFresh system is county-administered, which means each county maintains their own databases even though they're all part of the same program. When you move counties, the new county has to essentially create a new case, and the old county has to close theirs. The problem is that most counties are severely understaffed, and inter-county transfers are low priority compared to new applications and emergency cases. It's not uncommon for them to take 2+ years to finally process a transfer (which appears to be what happened in your case). The good news is that the benefits in the LA account should still be there and accessible with a replacement card. The benefits don't disappear when a card is destroyed - they remain in the account for at least a year, sometimes longer.