Can my adult daughter get her own CalFresh benefits while still living in my household?

pretty sure she cant do that. when i applied they were super strict about everyone in house being on same case

The rule is that people who live together AND purchase and prepare food together must apply as one household. The key distinction is whether you're buying and cooking food separately. If your daughter truly buys and prepares her food completely separately from yours (separate groceries, separate meal prep, maybe even separate shelves in the fridge), then she could potentially qualify as her own household despite living at the same address. The county will likely require her to verify this separation though. Keep in mind that even if she qualifies to apply separately, her benefits might be lower than what she's contributing to your household total now. The maximum monthly benefit for a single-person household in 2025 is around $290.

My cousin tried this and got denied cuz they said if u can use the same kitchen ur supposed to be on same case. Maybe different counties have different rules tho??

I went through EXACTLY this with my son last year!! He's 22 and still lives with me but wanted his own EBT card. We had to do an interview where they asked us a bunch of questions about how we buy food and who cooks what. They approved him for his own case, but we had to PROVE we buy and make food separately. They even asked for receipts showing separate grocery trips and pictures of our fridge with separate shelves! But honestly it wasn't worth the hassle because his benefit amount was way less than what we got for him on my case. He only got like $180 a month on his own because of his part-time job, but on my case we got like $250 extra for him. So he ended up just going back on my case after 3 months.

This is a common question! The official CalFresh rule is about "purchasing and preparing food together" - not just living together. So technically yes, your daughter could apply separately IF she truly purchases and prepares her food separately. BUT - here's the reality: the county will scrutinize this situation very closely. They might request: - Separate food storage evidence (photos) - Statements from both of you confirming separate food purchasing - Receipts showing separate grocery shopping - Explanation of kitchen usage scheduling Also consider that if she's approved separately: 1. Your household benefits will decrease when she's removed 2. As a single-person household with part-time income, her benefits might be quite small 3. The total benefits between your two households will likely be less than your current combined household amount If she wants financial independence, maybe you could keep her on your case but work out a system where she contributes her "share" of the EBT to household groceries, and you give her that portion of the EBT card to use independently?

I work with benefit cases, and this situation comes up frequently. The regulation is that people who live together AND purchase and prepare food together must apply as one household. Your daughter would need to establish that she truly buys and prepares food separately. That said, getting through to the county to discuss this properly can be challenging. If you want to get accurate information about your specific situation, I'd recommend using Claimyr (claimyr.com) to connect with a CalFresh worker without the usual wait times. They have a service that gets you through to a live person quickly. I've recommended it to many clients who need to discuss household composition changes. There's a video demo here that shows how it works: https://youtu.be/eZ19FHRETv8?si=_CXnXqNXbLl26WB8

THE SYSTEM IS DESIGNED TO GIVE U THE LOWEST BENEFITS POSSIBLE!!!! If your daughter applies separately they will BOTH give u less benefits than before! They do this ON PURPOSE to discourage ppl from splitting households. My sister tried this and between the two of them they lost almost $200/month in total benefits!!! Its a TRAP!!!

wait does ur daughter buy her own grocerys now or do u all shop together??

One more thing to consider: if your daughter is a student at community college, she needs to meet special student eligibility requirements to qualify for CalFresh on her own. She would need to either: - Work at least 20 hours per week - Participate in federal work-study - Be responsible for a young child - Receive CalWORKs - Be enrolled in certain employment training programs This is another reason why staying on your case might be more beneficial - student eligibility rules don't apply to her while she's part of your household if you (the head of household) aren't subject to them.

I'm going through something similar with my 19-year-old who wants more independence but still lives at home. After reading all these responses, it sounds like the math rarely works out in your favor when you split households. The benefit formulas are designed to give larger households more per person than smaller ones. Have you considered maybe giving your daughter more control over meal planning and grocery shopping while keeping her on your case? Like let her pick out groceries for certain meals or give her responsibility for specific food categories? That way she gets some of the independence she's looking for without the financial hit to your family's total benefits. Also, with rent prices being so crazy right now, it makes sense that she's still living with you. Most young adults I know are in the same situation - working and going to school but can't afford their own place yet.

I actually went through this exact process with my county office last year when my 21-year-old wanted to apply separately. The caseworker explained that even though the rules technically allow separate households if you buy and prepare food separately, they really scrutinize these cases when family members live together. What surprised me was how much paperwork they wanted - not just receipts, but detailed explanations of kitchen schedules, separate food storage arrangements, and even statements from both of us confirming we don't share any meals. It felt like they were looking for reasons to deny the separation. In the end, we decided against it because the math just didn't work. My daughter would have qualified for about $194/month on her own (she works part-time retail), but removing her from my case dropped my benefits by $267. So we would have lost $73 total per month just for her to have her own EBT card. If your daughter really wants some independence with food choices, maybe try what we did - I gave her "her portion" of our monthly EBT (about $250) to spend however she wants, and she's responsible for buying her own lunches and snacks. She gets the autonomy she wanted without us losing benefits.