Is CalFresh still giving emergency allotments or extra benefits in 2025?

Nope, there's no extra benefits anymore. Those emergency allotments ended in March 2023 and haven't come back. Your friend probably just got their regular benefits and thought it was more than usual.

Thanks for confirming! I was worried I was missing out on something my kids could benefit from.

Actually, some counties ARE giving temporary increases because of the wildfires last month!!! My cousin in Riverside county got an extra $200 on her EBT last week because they were in the evacuation zone. Maybe thats what they were talking about????

This is correct, but it's important to note these are disaster-related CalFresh supplements, not the pandemic emergency allotments that ended in 2023. They're only available in counties with federal disaster declarations and only for households directly impacted (evacuated, lost food due to power outages, etc.). You would have received a notice if you qualified. These are temporary one-time additions, not ongoing monthly extras like during COVID.

The regular COVID emergency allotments ended years ago, but there are several situations where you might see extra benefits on your EBT card:\n\n1. If you reported an income decrease recently and got an increase\n2. If your county is under a disaster declaration (as mentioned above)\n3. If you had a benefit correction after an appeal or reported error\n4. If you recently added household members during recertification\n\nIf you think you might qualify for more benefits, it's worth checking with your county office. Your benefit amount of $810 for a family of 4 seems low if that's your only income support - maximum benefit for a household of 4 in 2025 should be around $1,020.

omg thank u for posting the actual amount!!! i get $760 for me and my 2 kids which seemed right but now im thinking we should be getting more??

Anyone else spending HOURS trying to reach the county about their benefits lately??? I've been calling for THREE DAYS to ask about missing benefits and keep getting disconnected after waiting 2+ hours. The whole system is broken and they don't care if families go hungry while they take their sweet time!!!

I was having the same problem last month trying to get through about my SAR7 questions. Someone on another thread recommended using Claimyr.com and it actually worked! They call the CalFresh office for you and then call you back when they have a worker on the line. Saved me from waiting on hold all day. They have a video showing how it works: https://youtu.be/eZ19FHRETv8?si=_CXnXqNXbLl26WB8. Totally worth it when you're desperate to talk to someone at the county.

not to get off topic but does anyone know when theyre loading benefits in may? my usual date is the 10th but someone told me theyre doing it early this month

CalFresh benefits are always issued on the same schedule based on the last digit of your case number. There's no early issuance scheduled for May 2025 as far as I'm aware. If your regular date is the 10th, that's when you should expect them unless there's a county-specific emergency change (which would be announced through official channels).

To clarify some of the confusion in this thread: The standard COVID emergency allotments that provided extra CalFresh benefits to all recipients ended in March 2023. What exists now:\n\n1. Regular monthly benefits (based on household size, income, expenses)\n2. Disaster CalFresh (D-CalFresh) in federally-declared disaster areas\n3. Transitional CalFresh for families leaving CalWORKs\n4. Expedited benefits for emergency situations\n\nIf someone mentions 'extra benefits,' they're likely referring to one of these specific programs rather than the universal supplements we saw during COVID. If you believe you're eligible for additional benefits, contact your county office for clarification.

Thank you for the detailed explanation! I think what I overheard must have been about the disaster benefits. We weren't in an evacuation zone so we wouldn't qualify, but that makes sense now.

Just wanted to add that if you're not getting the maximum benefit amount for your household size, it's worth requesting a review of your case. Sometimes income or expense changes don't get properly updated in the system. I had to submit documentation of my rent increase twice before it was reflected in my benefits calculation. Also, make sure you're claiming all allowable deductions - things like medical expenses for elderly/disabled household members, dependent care costs, and excessive shelter costs can significantly increase your monthly benefit amount. The BenefitsCal app sometimes doesn't capture all these details during the initial application.