Update: I called the county and reported my income change. The worker said my benefits will be reduced but not completely cut off. They're sending me a notice with the new amount. Thanks everyone for the help! And they did say I was right to report since I was over the IRT.

Great that you reported it and everything worked out! For anyone else reading this thread, I want to add that if you're having trouble finding your IRT amount, it's usually printed right on the front page of your CalFresh approval notice under a section that says something like "You must report if your income goes over $X.XX per month." You can also find it on your SAR7 form. If you can't locate either document, you can always call and ask your worker what your current IRT is - they should be able to tell you right away. Better to ask than risk an overpayment later!

Glad to hear your payment came through! For future reference, if this happens again and causes serious problems (like late fees on bills), you can request an "Immediate Need" payment from your CalWORKs office if the delay was their fault. You might also want to ask your worker at your next appointment if your regular deposit day or time has permanently changed. Sometimes they adjust batch processing schedules without clearly communicating it to recipients. It's worth making a note of exactly when your deposits have been arriving for the last few months to see if there's a new pattern forming.

This is so stressful when you're depending on that money! I'm in LA County and we had similar issues a few months back where payments were coming 4-6 hours late consistently. What helped me was setting up text alerts through the EBT app so I'd get notified the moment anything hit my account instead of constantly checking manually. Also, if you have a smartphone, the "ebtEDGE" app lets you check your balance and transaction history in real-time, which might be faster than calling the EBT customer service line. Really glad yours finally came through today - hopefully this gets sorted out system-wide soon because the stress isn't worth it!

Glad to hear payments are coming through! For future reference, if your CalWORKs payment is ever more than 5 business days late, you can request an Emergency Payment at your local office. You'll need to show proof of an urgent need (like an eviction notice or utility shut-off). Also, it's good practice to save the EBT customer service number (877-328-9677) and your county office number in your phone for situations like this. The automated system can often tell you if a payment has been authorized even before it shows as pending.

So glad everyone's payments are coming through! This whole thread was super helpful - I'm new to CalWORKs (just got approved last month) and was freaking out when my first payment didn't show up on schedule. Reading everyone's experiences really helped me understand this stuff happens sometimes. Definitely saving those phone numbers and gonna keep an eye out for any official mail. Thanks to everyone who shared info and resources!

Update: My sister was able to withdraw her application! She used that Claimyr service someone mentioned and got through to a caseworker in about 20 minutes. They took her withdrawal over the phone but also told her to send an email confirmation to the general county email with her case number and personal info. They said she'll get a confirmation letter in about a week. Thanks everyone for your help!

That's awesome that your sister got it sorted out! I'm dealing with something similar - applied for CalWORKs but then my hours got increased at my part-time job and now I might not qualify anymore. Reading through all these responses, it sounds like I should probably call to withdraw too rather than risk getting approved and then having overpayment issues later. The written confirmation step seems super important based on what everyone's saying. Thanks for sharing the update!

When I was trying to explain my 1099 situation to CalWORKs, I spent 3 days trying to reach someone by phone. Kept getting disconnected after waiting for hours. Finally used Claimyr to get through to a real person at the county (seriously, check out their demo: https://youtu.be/jzISHxCPLwE). The worker I spoke with actually helped me fill out the self-employment form over the phone. Turns out I was eligible for more benefits after properly accounting for my business expenses!

I'm new to this whole CalWORKs thing and just started doing DoorDash a few weeks ago. Reading through all these comments is honestly overwhelming but also really helpful! I had no idea about the mileage tracking or that I could deduct expenses. I've just been reporting my gross earnings like an idiot. Should I be worried that I'm going to get in trouble for reporting wrong on my first SAR7? I literally just submitted it last week with my total DoorDash earnings and didn't mention any expenses because I didn't know I was supposed to. Now I'm freaking out that they're going to think I was trying to hide something or get more benefits than I deserve. Do I need to call them and tell them I made a mistake?