CalWORKs benefits suddenly disappeared from BenefitsCal account - unable to access Cash Aid

same thing hapnd to me last month. turns out the county did some \

Did your benefits come back after you reached your worker? I'm literally panicking because my rent is due in 5 days and I have NO MONEY if this doesn't get fixed fast.

Did u get a notice before this happened? Sometime they send u paper mail that u have to submit something and if u miss it they just cut u off with no warning. Check ur mailbox too. My cousin had same thing but it was cuz her SAR7 was late by 2 days.

I haven't received anything in the mail about needing to turn something in. I've been really careful about my SAR7 since I got discontinued once before for turning it in late. My last one was submitted in January and my next one isn't due until July.

This LITERALLY just happened to me too. My CalWORKs cash aid was there on Monday, and Tuesday morning everything was GONE from my BenefitsCal account. I thought maybe they discovered I had unreported income or something, but I haven't done anything wrong!Called the county office for 2 DAYS STRAIGHT with no answer. Finally got through today and they said it was a \

Thank you for sharing this! Did they tell you what caused the system migration error? I'm going to try calling first thing tomorrow morning. I hope they can fix mine as quickly as they fixed yours.

Based on what you're describing, this sounds like a technical issue with the BenefitsCal system rather than an actual discontinuance of your benefits. When there's a true discontinuance, you should receive a Notice of Action (NOA) at least 10 days before the benefits stop.A few things to try:1. Check if your case got transferred to a different county (if you moved recently)2. See if there's a fraud alert placed on your account (sometimes happens if mail was returned)3. Verify your identity hasn't been compromised (sometimes benefits get stolen)4. Contact your worker directly about the system errorIf you can't reach anyone by phone, go in person to your county office with your ID and case information. They should be able to tell you immediately what's happening with your case.

I haven't moved counties, so that's not it. I'm worried about the fraud alert possibility though. I did have a neighbor accidentally get my mail once last month and they returned it to me a few days later. Could that have triggered something?

I've been working with CalWORKs clients for years, and this issue has been popping up more frequently since they updated the BenefitsCal system in early 2025. It's usually one of three things:1. A system glitch during the monthly benefit calculation process2. A data migration issue between the old C-IV/CalWIN systems and BenefitsCal3. An accidental case closure during batch processingThe good news is that when it's a technical error like this, they can usually restore benefits within 24-48 hours once you alert them to the problem. The bad news is reaching someone can be extremely difficult.

u have any tips for actually gettin thru to a real person? iv been calling for hours everyday and they just put me on hold forever then disconnect

The county phone systems are incredibly frustrating. My clients have had good results using Claimyr (claimyr.com) - it's a service that waits on hold for you and calls you when a real person answers. They have a video demo at https://youtu.be/jzISHxCPLwE that shows how it works. Most of my clients say it saved them hours of hold time when dealing with CalWORKs issues like this.

This exact issue happened to me back in January! It's terrifying when your benefits just vanish without warning. In my case, it turned out that someone had tried to access my EBT account from another state, so they froze everything as a security measure. But nobody bothered to TELL ME this happened!What's crazy is that when I finally got through to my worker, she acted like I should have somehow known this already? Like I'm supposed to be psychic or something? 🙄Anyway, I had to go into the office in person with my ID and fill out some fraud prevention paperwork. They unfroze my account the next day and did an emergency benefit release since I was about to get evicted.The whole system is designed to make you give up, I swear.

Oh no, I hope I don't have to go through all that! I'm going to try calling first thing tomorrow when they open. How long did your emergency benefit release take to process after you filled out the paperwork?

I'm a CalWORKs eligibility worker, and I want to provide some insight on what might be happening here. We've been experiencing system integration issues with the latest BenefitsCal update that rolled out in February 2025. When benefits suddenly disappear from online accounts but the self-service line is giving contradictory information, it typically means there's a data synchronization problem between systems - not that your actual eligibility has changed.Here's what I recommend:1. Call your county office and specifically request to speak with an EW (Eligibility Worker) about a \

Thank you so much for this detailed information! I'll use these exact terms when I call tomorrow. Should I also bring this up with my WTW coordinator or just stick with talking to an Eligibility Worker?

This happened to my sister and it turns out they had sent her a letter requesting income verification for her part-time job but she never got it!!! So they just cut her off with no warning! Make sure you don't have any pending verifications they're waiting for. The county office here is terrible about actually sending the notices they claim they sent.

I actually got a new job last month, but I reported it right away through BenefitsCal and uploaded my first paystub. The income is below the IRT so it shouldn't affect my eligibility until my next SAR7... but maybe that's related? I'll definitely ask about pending verifications.

u should check if ur card was hacked some1 stole all my cash aid once and the system showed weird things like ur saying. wen i calld they said card was used in another state but i never left California!!! u can see transaction history on the ebt website

I just checked my transaction history and all the transactions are legit and from stores near me. The last one was at the grocery store 3 days ago. Nothing suspicious there, which makes this even weirder.

Have you tried logging out of BenefitsCal completely and logging back in? Sometimes the system just has display errors. My account showed $0 benefits last month but when I logged out, cleared my browser cache, and logged back in, everything was normal again. Worth a try before spending hours trying to reach someone!

I've tried logging out and back in multiple times, even using different devices and browsers. Still showing nothing. I even deleted and reinstalled the BenefitsCal app on my phone. Same issue everywhere. 😞

This is so frustrating and scary when you're depending on those benefits! I went through something similar last year where my CalWORKs just vanished from the system overnight. In my case, it turned out the county had flagged my case for a "quality control review" during their monthly processing, which temporarily suspended my benefits while they did their audit. The problem was nobody told me this was happening! What saved me was going directly to the county office in person with all my documents - ID, last benefit notice, recent paystubs, etc. The front desk worker was able to look up my case immediately and see what was going on. Turns out it was just a routine review that got stuck in the system somehow. Since you mentioned your rent is due soon, definitely emphasize the emergency nature when you call. Use the phrase "emergency aid" - they're supposed to expedite cases where people are facing homelessness. Also ask specifically if your case is under any kind of review or hold status. Sometimes these system glitches happen when cases get pulled for random audits. Hope you get this sorted out quickly! Keep us updated on what happens.