Missing January CalFresh pending deposit - benefits not showing up for next month

This has been happening to a lot of people this month because CalFresh is updating their payment processing system. When was your last recertification or SAR7? If your semi-annual report was due in December, that could explain the delay. Otherwise, it's probably just the system update causing delayed pending deposits. Most people should still see their benefits become available on their regular issuance date (the 7th in your case).

omg same here!!! my benefits always show pending by now but nothing is there! freaking out bc i have 3 kids and we need food money for next week. did u get any mail about this??

The pending deposit feature is separate from actual benefit issuance. I've had months where I never saw a pending deposit but the benefits still loaded on schedule. The EBT system has been glitchy lately with the pending notifications, but actual benefits have still been processing correctly. If you don't have any outstanding verification requests or reports due, your benefits should load on the 7th as usual. I wouldn't panic until after your normal issuance date passes without benefits.

you might be discontinued and dont even know it yet. happened to me last summer. they said they sent a notice but i never got anything. had to reapply and went 2 months with no food stamps. check BenefitsCal account to see if theres any notices

I work for an organization that helps people with CalFresh issues. This happens fairly often at the end of December due to holiday processing schedules and system maintenance. Most counties run their benefit issuance files a few days differently during the holidays. If your BenefitsCal account shows active and you haven't missed any reporting deadlines, your benefits should still arrive on your normal issuance date. If you're really concerned, I'd recommend using Claimyr to reach a real person at your county office. It's a service that waits on hold for you and calls you when a worker picks up. I've had clients save hours of frustration with it. Their site is claimyr.com and you can see how it works in this video: https://youtu.be/eZ19FHRETv8?si=_CXnXqNXbLl26WB8

This isnt the first time the EBT system has issues showing pending benefits. I NEVER trust the pending thing anymore after it caused me so much anxiety last year!!! The actual deposit date is the only thing that matters. If your case is active, you submitted all required paperwork, and your income hasn't changed drastically, your benefits WILL load on your regular issuance date (the 7th). The EBT system and the benefits determination system are SEPARATE and they don't always communicate properly. The pending display is just a courtesy feature and isn't reliable - especially during holiday weeks when they do system maintenance.

just called my county office and they said there was a statewide EBT system update that affected the pending notices but benefits should still post on regular schedule!!

my sister works for the county and she told me they were doing updates to the calfresh system this week so maybe thats why none of us can see pending benefits this month lol but don worry it should still come

UPDATE: My benefits just appeared as pending this morning (Dec 31)! Looks like it was just delayed by a few days. Thanks everyone for the helpful responses and calming my nerves. Hopefully this helps anyone else experiencing the same issue.