CalFresh amount jumped from $211 to $1,831 after reporting son's SSI - potential overpayment issue?

DON'T SPEND ANY OF IT!!!! This happened to my cousin last year when she reported her daughter's disability. They accidentally issued her a HUGE overpayment and when she spent it, they made her pay back EVERY PENNY. The county makes mistakes ALL THE TIME but WE are the ones who get punished for it. Call them IMMEDIATELY and get it in writing that you reported it.

This is almost certainly an error in how they calculated your household income after adding your son's SSI. When you report SSI income, it actually should LOWER your CalFresh benefits, not increase them, because SSI recipients in California can't be included in CalFresh households. It sounds like they may have incorrectly coded something in the system. Here's what you should do: 1. Don't spend the excess funds if possible 2. Call your county office and specifically ask to speak with someone about an "apparent overissuance" on your CalFresh case 3. Document everything - who you speak with, date/time, what was said 4. Send a message through BenefitsCal confirming the conversation If you reported the change when it happened and again yesterday, you're protected from fraud accusations. This is clearly a county error.

Same thing happen to me but with Cash Aid not CalFresh. I got like $1200 extra one month and I spent it cause I needed to catch up on bills. BIG MISTAKE. They hit me with an overpayment notice 2 months later and now they taking 10% of my benefits every month til its paid back. They don't care if it was there mistake they still make u pay it back so don't touch that money!!!

Have you tried using Claimyr to get through to a CalFresh worker? I was having the same problem getting disconnected after waiting forever. Someone on here recommended claimyr.com and it worked great - they call the county for you, wait on hold, then call you when a real person answers. I watched their demo video (https://youtu.be/jzISHxCPLwE) and it was pretty simple. For something this important where you need to talk to someone ASAP about a potential $1600 overpayment, it might be worth trying.

Let me explain what likely happened here. When a household member starts receiving SSI in California, they are removed from the CalFresh household entirely (both their income AND their person). This often results in a DECREASE in benefits since there are fewer people in the household. However, it sounds like they may have made one of two common errors: 1. They removed your son from the household count but failed to remove his SSI income from the calculation (which would incorrectly show you have less income for fewer people) 2. They may have entered the SSI amount incorrectly as a deduction rather than income Either way, this is definitely a county error that needs immediate correction. Document everything and keep reaching out until you get someone. Meanwhile, don't spend the excess funds - you'll almost certainly need to return them. When you do reach someone, request a detailed breakdown of how your benefit amount was calculated.

have you checked your benfitscal account? sometimes they post notices there faster than they come in the mail. might explain whats going on without having to call

One more thing to check - does anyone else in your household receive CalWORKs Cash Aid? Sometimes when there's a change in household composition due to someone going on SSI, they recalculate both programs and may have accidentally added Cash Aid to your account instead of just CalFresh. The amount ($1,831) sounds more like it could be a combined CalWORKs + CalFresh issuance rather than just food benefits.