Is Orange County getting additional CalFresh benefits in 2025? Can't find info anywhere

havent heard anything about extra benefits for OC specifically. your friend might be talking about the regular cola increase that happened in october? my benefits went up like $30

There are no Orange County-specific extra benefits for CalFresh in 2025 that I'm aware of. The last time we had "extra" benefits was during COVID when emergency allotments were issued, but those ended in March 2023. Everyone got the annual cost-of-living adjustment in October 2024, which increased benefits by about 3.4%. What your friend might be referring to is the Disaster CalFresh (D-CalFresh) that was briefly available in parts of San Diego and Riverside Counties after the flooding last month, but there's been no disaster declaration for Orange County that would trigger those benefits. If you're struggling to make your benefits last, you might qualify for the utility deduction or childcare deduction which could increase your monthly amount. Make sure the county has all your current expense information.

my sister works for the county and she said theres something coming for families with school age kids but its not exactly calfresh its like a summer ebt program starting this year. maybe thats what ur friend meant?

I work with CalFresh cases, and I can confirm there are NO special Orange County-specific supplements currently authorized for 2025. However, there are a few things that might be confused for "extra benefits": 1. Summer EBT is rolling out in California this year - it provides additional food benefits for families with school-age children during summer months when school meals aren't available. 2. Some households recently had their benefits recalculated due to the utility allowance adjustments that happened in December 2024. 3. There's a retroactive benefit correction happening for some households that were underpaid between 2019-2023 due to a calculation error, but this is case-by-case and not county-specific. If you're struggling to make benefits last, I strongly recommend requesting an SAR7 appointment to review your case and ensure all deductions (especially childcare) are being counted. Also, check if you're receiving the maximum utility allowance.

I was in the same boat trying to reach OC Social Services about my benefits last month - called for TWO WEEKS and couldn't get through or kept getting disconnected. Then someone in another thread recommended this service called Claimyr - it holds your place in the phone queue and calls you back when a worker picks up. Saved me literally hours of hold time. Their website is claimyr.com and they have a video that shows how it works: https://youtu.be/eZ19FHRETv8?si=_CXnXqNXbLl26WB8 I finally got through and was able to add my rental increase info which got me $42 more per month in CalFresh. Totally worth it for me.

I JUST GOT OFF THE PHONE WITH MY ELIGIBILITY WORKER!!! There IS something new but it's NOT extra CalFresh!!! It's called Summer EBT and it's FINALLY coming to California this year! It's for families with school-age kids who get free/reduced lunch. They're saying it will be around $120 per child for the summer months. It's NOT county-specific though - it's statewide. Your friend probably just heard about it and confused it with regular CalFresh. The eligibility worker said more info will be sent out in April/May.

The REAL problem is that base CalFresh amounts are STILL too low with these insane inflation rates! Even with the October adjustment, my family of 4 gets $750/month which doesn't even cover HALF our grocery expenses anymore. The government acts like food prices only went up 3% when in reality milk is up 40%, eggs double what they used to be, and don't even get me started on meat prices! Orange County specifically should get a cost-of-living adjustment because our housing and food costs are way higher than rural areas. The one-size-fits-all approach is FAILING families!

To clarify about Summer EBT: It's a new federal program that California is implementing in 2025. It provides $120 per eligible child for the summer months (June-August) to help with food costs when school meals aren't available. It's separate from regular CalFresh but will use the same EBT card system. This is not specific to Orange County - it's a statewide program. Eligibility is tied to school meal programs, so children who receive free or reduced-price school meals should qualify automatically. The state is still finalizing implementation details, but households should receive notification about eligibility in late spring.

Hey everyone! I'm new to California (just moved to Irvine from Arizona) and I'm trying to navigate the CalFresh system here. Reading through this thread has been super helpful - especially learning about the Summer EBT program coming this year! My 7-year-old gets free lunch at school so it sounds like we'd qualify for that $120 benefit. I'm also dealing with the same issue of benefits not lasting the full month. Back in Arizona my EBT covered way more groceries for the same amount. Is there a list somewhere of all the deductions I should make sure Orange County knows about? I have childcare costs, medical expenses, and I'm paying utilities separately from rent. Sounds like I need to call and make sure they have everything on file to maximize my benefits. Thanks for all the detailed info in this thread - it's exactly what I needed to read!