CalFresh emergency allotment not showing up on EBT - What to do if extra benefits never post?

Those supplemental benefits for families with school-age children should post within 10 business days of approval, so you're right to be concerned. In my experience working with CalFresh recipients, if the worker told you specifically that you qualified, you should be able to see it in your BenefitsCal account under the 'Benefit Details' section. Check there first to confirm it was actually approved and not just discussed as a possibility. If it shows approved but not deposited, you definitely need to contact your county worker directly. The EBT customer service people can only see what's been loaded onto your card, not what's in process with the county.

omg this happened to me too last month!!! approved but never showed up for like 3 weeks!! i was so mad calling everyday and nobody would help. finally got through to someone who said there was a "system issue" with loading certain supplements. did they tell u which day of the month it should post? mine was supposed to be the 23rd but came on the 15th of the next month with no explanation lol

You need to DOCUMENT EVERYTHING!!! I had this EXACT problem in February and they tried to tell me later I was never approved for the extra amount! Take screenshots of your BenefitsCal approval right now. The system is designed to wear you down until you give up asking for what you're entitled to. I had to call 31 TIMES before getting through to an actual person who could help. When you finally reach someone, get their name and ID number and write down the date/time. Ask them to send you an email confirming what they tell you. The county offices are COMPLETELY OVERWHELMED but that's not your problem when your kids need to eat!!!

Sometimes there's a glitch between the approval in their system and when it actually loads to your EBT card. The county worker needs to manually push it through when that happens. It's super annoying but you need to keep calling until you reach a real person. The county hotline disconnected me like 6 times before I got through last time I had an issue. When you do talk to someone, make sure they actually look at your specific case - sometimes they just give generic answers without checking. Ask them to check the "issuance history" specifically, not just the approval status.

Try using Claimyr to get through to a CalFresh worker at your county office - it's the only thing that worked for me after days of trying. They'll call the county for you and wait on hold, then call you when there's a real person on the line. I was skeptical at first but the video demo at https://youtu.be/eZ19FHRETv8?si=_CXnXqNXbLl26WB8 shows how it works. Their website is claimyr.com. I was in the same situation with approved emergency allotment benefits that never posted, and once I finally got through to an actual worker, they fixed it within 2 days. In your case since you can see it's already approved in the system, they should be able to expedite the release to your EBT card.

To answer your question - yes, it worked for me. After connecting with a caseworker, my emergency allotment posted 2 days later. The worker said it was stuck in their system but she could release it manually. Since you already see it's approved in BenefitsCal, you definitely need to talk to a human who can push it through.

wait so theyre STILL doing supplemental benefits?? i thought all the extra COVID benefits ended in 2023??? are these something different? my caseworker never mentioned anything about extra summer benefits for kids not getting school lunch. can someone explain what these are and if everyone with kids qualifies?? i have 2 kids in elementary school

UPDATE: Finally got through to someone at the county office! They said the supplement was approved but got stuck in their system because of a "batch processing error" (whatever that means). The worker said she'd manually release it and I should see it on my EBT card within 3 business days. She also said this is happening to quite a few people right now because of a recent system update. If anyone else is having this problem, definitely keep trying to reach your county office. Thanks everyone for your help!

One more thing to keep in mind - make sure you check your balance daily once they say they've fixed it. Sometimes these supplements come through at odd hours and not necessarily on your regular benefit deposit day. Also, when you get it, check that the amount matches what you were approved for. I've seen cases where they fix the issue but only part of the benefit amount actually posts. If that happens, you'll need to call them again. Glad you got through to someone!