This thread has been incredibly helpful! I'm also in LA County with a family of 4, and like many others here, I was just assuming my IRT was the standard $3,469. After reading about @Isabella Santos's experience with child support affecting her individual threshold, I realized I need to verify my own situation since we also receive some irregular support payments. The tip about using Claimyr to actually get through to a caseworker is a game-changer - I've literally spent entire afternoons on hold only to get disconnected. And @Saleem Vaziri's suggestion about keeping a spreadsheet to track variable income is so practical. I wish someone had told me this when I first started receiving CalWORKs! What really concerns me is how many of us are navigating this system without knowing our exact IRTs. It seems like such crucial information, but it's buried in paperwork that's easy to misplace. The fact that individual circumstances can change your threshold by hundreds of dollars (like @Giovanni Gallo mentioned being $200 higher) shows how important it is to get your specific number rather than relying on online estimates. Thanks to everyone for sharing their experiences - this is exactly the kind of real-world guidance that helps families avoid costly mistakes with their benefits!

This entire thread has been such a lifesaver! I'm also in LA County with a family of 4 and had been stressing about this exact same issue. My husband just got approved for overtime at his job and I've been losing sleep wondering if I need to report it immediately or wait for the next SAR7. Like so many others here, I was just using the general $3,469 amount I found online, but after reading about @Isabella Santos discovering her actual IRT was different due to child support, I realize I need to get my specific number confirmed. We don't have child support, but we do have a small amount of SSI for one of our kids that comes in monthly. The Claimyr tip from @Diego Ramirez sounds amazing - I'm definitely going to try that instead of spending hours on hold. And @Saleem Vaziri, your spreadsheet idea is brilliant! I've been trying to do the math in my head every time income changes and it's so stressful. It's honestly frustrating how much we have to figure out on our own just to avoid accidentally messing up our benefits, but I'm so grateful for communities like this where people share real experiences. You've all probably saved me from making a costly mistake by assuming I knew my correct IRT. Thank you!

As someone who's been helping families navigate CalWORKs for years, I want to emphasize what others have said - ALWAYS include your paystubs with the SAR 7, even when income hasn't changed. The state regulations are very clear that verification is required for the report month regardless of changes. I've seen too many families lose benefits because they assumed "no change" meant "no verification needed." Also, pro tip: if you submit by mail, send it certified with return receipt so you have proof DPSS received it. And if you're ever unsure about what to include, it's always better to over-document than under-document. The appeal process for discontinued benefits is lengthy and stressful - much easier to just include everything upfront!

I'm new to this community and CalWORKs, and this thread has been incredibly helpful! I just received my first SAR 7 form last week and was completely confused about what documentation I needed to include. Reading everyone's experiences - especially the stories about benefits getting discontinued for missing paystubs - has really opened my eyes to how strict these requirements are. I'll definitely be including all my paystubs from the report month, even though my income has been steady. It's reassuring to know there's such a supportive community here willing to share their knowledge and help newcomers like me avoid costly mistakes. Thank you all for taking the time to explain these requirements so clearly!

This whole thread is so helpful! I'm bookmarking it for future reference. @Kendrick Webb thanks for sharing the exact steps - I had no idea BenefitsCal had that feature either. It's crazy how many useful tools are buried in these systems that nobody tells us about. For anyone else dealing with tight deadlines like this, another tip is to screenshot or save a copy of your verification letter once you download it. I learned this the hard way when I needed to reprint mine a few months later and the website was down for maintenance. Having that backup saved me from having to scramble again. Also want to echo what @Dylan Baskin said about trying during off-peak hours. The difference in website performance is night and day! Early morning around 6-7am seems to work really well in my experience. Hope your kid enjoys the after-school program! 😊

Just wanted to jump in and share another option that worked for me recently! If you have the CalWIN mobile app installed on your phone, you can sometimes access benefit verification letters there too. I discovered this by accident when I was trying to check my benefit balance and saw a "Documents" section. The mobile app interface is actually easier to navigate than the full website in my opinion, and it seems to have fewer technical issues. Plus you can do it right from your phone without needing to find a computer. @Kendrick Webb so glad you got everything sorted out! Your step-by-step breakdown is going to help so many parents in the same situation. It's really frustrating how these helpful features aren't more obviously advertised - like why don't they mention this during orientation or send out reminders that online verification is available? Anyway, hope this adds one more tool to the toolbox for anyone else who might need it! 📱

This is such a great resource thread! I'm bookmarking this for future reference. It's frustrating that we can't just print these documents ourselves from BenefitsCal, but at least now I know about the emergency housing verification option and the Claimyr service. Really appreciate everyone sharing their experiences and solutions - this community is so helpful for navigating all the bureaucratic hurdles we face with these benefit systems.

As someone who's been on CalWORKs for about 6 months now, I can't believe how backward this system is when it comes to basic document access. Like seriously, in 2025 we can order food, pay bills, and do banking all online instantly, but we can't print a simple income verification letter from our benefits portal? It's like they designed the system to make our lives harder on purpose. I'm really glad this thread exists though because I had no idea about the emergency housing verification option or that Claimyr service. Definitely going to remember these tips for when I inevitably need proof of income again. It's sad that we have to rely on third-party services and community knowledge just to access our own benefit information, but I'm grateful for everyone sharing these workarounds. The bureaucracy is exhausting enough without having to figure everything out from scratch every time.

Hi there! I'm new to this community but unfortunately not new to CalWORKs overpayment issues. I went through something very similar about 8 months ago with a $892 overpayment for unreported income. Just wanted to add a couple things that helped me get through it: First, when you respond to the NOA (definitely do this ASAP!), include a brief explanation of your situation and specifically request information about hardship reduction options. Even if you can't reach your worker by phone, getting that request in writing starts the paper trail. Second, I found it really helpful to calculate what different recoupment percentages would actually mean for your monthly budget before you talk to anyone. Like, figure out what 10%, 7%, and 5% of your monthly grant would be, then see which one you can realistically manage. Having those numbers ready made my conversation with the worker much more productive. The whole process took about 6 weeks for me to get everything sorted out, but I was able to get my recoupment rate reduced to 7% and they were actually pretty reasonable to work with once I got the right person on the phone. You're definitely not alone in this - so many of us have been through similar situations. Hang in there!

I'm new to this community but dealing with my first CalWORKs overpayment situation too, so I really appreciate everyone sharing their experiences here! I just received a similar NOA last week for $445 and was panicking about having to pay it all back at once. Reading through all these responses has been incredibly helpful - I had no idea about the hardship reduction options or that there were specific forms like the CW 8572 and CW 2186A. I also didn't realize how important it was to respond to the NOA within 90 days even if you can't reach your worker right away. One question for those who've been through this - when you submitted your hardship request, did you need to provide documentation like bank statements or rent receipts to prove financial hardship? I want to make sure I have everything ready when I submit my paperwork. The certified mail tip is something I'm definitely going to use too since I've had issues with the county losing my documents before. Thanks again to everyone for creating such a supportive space to share information about navigating these systems. It makes such a difference when you're feeling overwhelmed to know others have successfully worked through similar situations!