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Ravi Malhotra

CalWORKs terminated without notice - they never sent required form but still discontinued me

I'm beyond upset with CalWORKs right now! I just completed my recertification interview and submitted EVERYTHING they requested. I've been getting these weird texts saying my recertification wasn't complete, so I called MULTIPLE times. Each time I was told 'don't worry about it, everything is fine with your case.' Then yesterday I called again and suddenly they're telling me I didn't turn in some form?? The worker had the nerve to say 'we didn't send you this form or upload it to BenefitsCal but you're being terminated on the 28th anyway.' HOW IS THAT FAIR?? How am I supposed to know about a form that was never sent to me or posted on my BenefitsCal account?? The workers at my county office are incredibly rude - I even asked for a supervisor who basically said 'nothing I can do.' My kids and I depend on this Cash Aid and now it's being cut off for something that's completely their mistake! Has anyone else dealt with this? What options do I have to fight this before we get evicted??

You mentioned the termination is happening on the 28th - that's actually important info. Under CalWORKs regulations, they must provide at least 10 days notice before discontinuing benefits. Count backwards from the 28th - if you received the discontinuance notice less than 10 days before that date, you can challenge it on procedural grounds alone. Also, check if your Notice of Action lists the specific regulation they're citing for the discontinuance. If they didn't properly cite the regulation, that's another procedural error you can use in your appeal.

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The notice just arrived yesterday (the 23rd) so that's definitely less than 10 days! I didn't even think about that. The notice mentions something about "failure to provide required verification" but doesn't list a specific regulation number. This is so helpful - thank you!

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have u tried contacting ur local legal aid? they do free help for calworks issues, my cousin got her benefits back after they wrongly cut her off

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I didn't think about legal aid! Do you know if they can help quickly? I'm worried about this taking months to resolve.

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they helped my cousin pretty fast! like they called the county worker directly and got it fixed in a week. just google "legal aid" with ur city name

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Misterclamation Skyblue

CalWORKs payment date confusion - why does my account only show 4th/10th without the extra allotment?

Just checked my BenefitsCal account to see when my CalWORKs payment is coming but I'm a little confused. Usually it shows the exact date of our next cash aid payment AND when we'll get the supplemental payment. But right now it only says '4th/10th' without any info about the extra allotment or CalSAWS payment. Is this normal? Does the extra payment not usually show up in the app until right before it's available? This is only my third month receiving benefits so I'm still figuring out how everything works. The worker who helped me apply mentioned something about payments coming in two parts but I'm worried something's wrong with my case since it's not showing both payment dates.

For CalWORKs, your payment date is determined by the last digit of your case number: - Case numbers ending in 1, 2, or 3: Payment on the 1st - Case numbers ending in 4, 5, 6, or 7: Payment on the 2nd - Case numbers ending in 8, 9, or 0: Payment on the 3rd The 4th/10th notation in the app is a generic placeholder and doesn't necessarily reflect your exact payment date. Also, CalWORKs is typically issued as a single payment, not split into multiple allotments (unlike CalFresh which sometimes has supplements). If you've been receiving two separate payments, it's worth calling your eligibility worker to understand exactly what each payment represents. Sometimes special needs payments (like for pregnancy or homelessness) are issued separately from your regular grant.

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Thanks for the detailed explanation! I'll check my case number when I get home. I did receive a special needs payment last month for diapers for my youngest, so maybe that's why I was expecting to see two different payments listed. I'll try calling my worker to confirm everything is set up correctly.

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my worker told me they somtimes split it if theres a change in ur case like if u reported more income or added someone to ur household. did u do ur SAR7 recently? that could be why

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I actually just submitted my first SAR7 last week! That might explain it. I did report some part-time income from a job I started. I'll keep an eye on my account to see how the payment comes through.

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Jacob Smithson

CalWORKs EBT account theft - money disappeared overnight, what to do?

I checked my CalWORKs Cash Aid balance yesterday and everything was fine, then woke up this morning to find $522 completely GONE from my account! I didn't authorize any transactions and haven't lost my card. Called the EBT customer service and they just said there were 3 ATM withdrawals at 2am at some store I've never been to across town. Has anyone else had their benefits stolen recently? The rep said I need to file a 'benefit theft claim' with my county worker but my worker NEVER answers the phone. My rent is due next week and now I have nothing - will CalWORKs replace stolen benefits? How long does it take? I'm freaking out!!!

i got my ebt stolen one time and i never got the money back but that was in 2021 maybe its better now

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One important thing to mention - California passed a new law (AB 75) that improved benefit theft protections. The process is much better than it was in 2021-2022. Make sure that when you talk to your worker, you specifically mention you're filing under the new benefit theft replacement process. Some workers aren't fully trained on the updated procedures yet.

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Thank you - I'll definitely mention that! I was able to get through to someone at the county office finally. They said they'd expedite my claim because it's my entire month's benefits. Fingers crossed it gets resolved soon.

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Myles Regis

Should I recertify for CalFresh with $4500 monthly income for family of 6 with pregnancy?

My transitional CalFresh benefits just ended yesterday and I got the recertification paperwork in the mail. Not sure if it's even worth filling out since our income might be too high now? We're a family of 6 (4 kids) and I'm 5 months pregnant. My husband is bringing home around $4500 a month after taxes from his construction job. Would we even qualify for regular CalFresh with this income? I'm wondering if it's worth the hassle of gathering all the verification documents and doing the interview if we're just going to get denied anyway. Has anyone with similar household size and income still qualified? The transitional benefits were really helpful with our grocery bills.

my cousin has 5 kids & makes like 5000 a month and still gets calfresh so u should b fine with 6 kids

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That's good to hear! I actually have 4 kids plus the pregnancy (so 5 currently, soon to be 6 total), but it sounds like we might still qualify based on what everyone is saying.

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One more thing to consider - you mentioned transitional CalFresh just ended. If you were receiving CalWORKs before and that's why you were on transitional CalFresh, make sure you complete your Semi-Annual Report (SAR 7) for CalWORKs on time if you're still receiving it. Those deadlines can be different from your CalFresh recertification. Many families miss this and lose benefits unnecessarily.

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We actually were on CalWORKs about 8 months ago but my husband got this better paying job so we became ineligible. That's when they switched us to transitional CalFresh. I think we're completely off CalWORKs now, but I'll double check our paperwork to make sure we didn't miss anything!

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Aaron Boston

CalWORKs P-EBT cards not showing up in system - my kids are 'missing' according to tier 2 agent

So frustrated right now! I finally got through to a tier 2 P-EBT agent after waiting on hold for almost 2 hours. I explained that we never received the P-EBT cards for my daughters (7 and 9) who get reduced lunch at school. The agent looked up our information and said she couldn't find my girls in the system at all! Like they don't even exist according to their database. She said there was nothing she could do if they're not showing up and suggested I contact their school. Has anyone else had their kids completely missing from the P-EBT system? Did you eventually get cards? I'm on CalWORKs and we really need this extra food assistance with grocery prices so high right now.

anybody know if the p-ebt is the same as the calfresh? my neighbor says were supposed to get both but i only get calfresh on my ebt card

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No, they're different programs. CalFresh is your regular monthly food benefits. P-EBT is specifically to replace school meals when children can't access them (started during COVID but has continued in some forms). You can receive both, but they come on separate cards, and P-EBT is issued directly to eligible children.

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@OP any updates? Were you able to get this fixed? I'm dealing with the same issue and going in circles with these people!

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Yes! Some good news actually! I went to the school yesterday with all their documents and the lunch program coordinator found the problem. Turns out they had our old address from when we moved last year, and the P-EBT system was rejecting the records because of the address mismatch with what's in the CalWORKs system. She updated it in their database and said it should sync within 10 days. She gave me a direct number to call if we don't receive the cards in 3 weeks. Might be worth checking if your address info is consistent across all systems!

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