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Can I ask how you got your benefits stolen? I'm terrified of this happening to me. Did you report it to the police too or just to the county? I keep hearing about people getting their EBT cards skimmed.
I'm pretty sure it happened at this small market I went to. The cashier took my card to the back to run it because their machine was "broken" - I should've known better! I filed a police report and they said there's been several cases at that same store. Now I'm super careful about where I use my card.
Update us after you go to the office! I'm curious if they give you a check or actual cash. When I had to get an emergency payment once, they actually gave me a cash voucher that I had to take to the cashier window. The whole process was confusing.
I went to the office this morning! You were right about the lines - it was packed. After 2.5 hours, I finally talked to someone who gave me a paper check! I was able to cash it at my bank right after. Thanks everyone for the help!
One important update: when you request the appeal, make sure you specifically say you want "aid paid pending" in writing. This means they have to continue your old benefit amount until the hearing if you request it within 10 days of the notice date. It's your right, but they don't always tell you about it! Also, double-check if they're incorrectly counting any exempt income. Child support that's assigned to the county shouldn't count against your grant.
That's definitely a deduction they should have applied! The childcare expenses alone could make a significant difference in your benefit calculation. When you get through to them, make sure to tell them about those expenses. And definitely ask about enrolling in the Stage 1 Childcare program - they should pay your childcare costs directly while you're working, which would save you that $350/week!
UPDATE: I finally got through to someone at the county office! You all were right - I qualify for CalWORKs childcare assistance even with the tiny cash grant. The worker is sending me the forms today. This will save us around $1,500 a month in childcare costs! They're also reassessing my Cash Aid amount since they didn't factor in my childcare expenses. Thank you all so much for your help and advice!!
Lol welcome to the wonderful world of Medi-Cal 🎪🤡 Where everything's made up and the timelines don't matter!
Has anyone tried contacting their state representative about this? I've heard sometimes they can help push things along.
Olivia Harris
Im in the same boat, that $95 is my utilitys every month. im so scared about what happens. does anyone know if we can appeal this or something?? its not fair they just stop it when everythings so expensive now!!
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Layla Mendes
•Unfortunately, this isn't something you can appeal. The emergency allotments were always temporary and tied to the public health emergency. I know it's really tough timing with inflation. If you haven't had a mid-year adjustment to your regular CalWORKs grant based on income changes, you might want to report any decreased income or increased expenses (like rent) to see if your regular benefit amount could increase.
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James Martinez
One thing to know - you should see an increase in your regular CalWORKs grant starting January 2025 due to the annual cost of living adjustment. It's not going to make up for the whole $95, but it should help a little bit. My worker told me the standard 2025 COLA should be around 3.7% which isn't huge but it's something at least.
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Ethan Anderson
•That's good to know about the COLA increase. Every little bit helps I guess. I'm still going to have to figure out how to make up that $95 gap in my budget though.
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