CalWORKs check only $95 this month - did anyone else get this tiny amount?
I just went to check my EBT card balance and my CalWORKs deposit is only $95 this month. I usually get $823 for me and my two kids. Nothing's changed with our situation and I didn't get any notice about a reduction. Tried calling the county but been on hold forever with no luck. Did anyone else have their payment cut to almost nothing? Is this some kind of error? I'm freaking out because rent is due next week and I was counting on that money.
22 comments
Join the conversation
Andre Dubois
Did you start working recently or get child support? They reduce your CalWORKs when you have income. Or maybe you didnt turn in your SAR7 on time? That happened to me and i got a really small payment before they cut me off completely
0 coins
Carmen Flores
•No new job and definitely no child support (my ex is useless). I got my SAR7 in on the 5th which was before the deadline. I report everything exactly the same each time. This makes no sense!
0 coins
CyberSamurai
omg this just happened to my cousin!! she got like $100 instead of her normal amount. turned out they thought she got a job because someone with same name reported wages in the county
0 coins
Carmen Flores
•Wait seriously?? How did she fix it? I have a pretty common name so maybe something like that happened to me too?
0 coins
Zoe Alexopoulos
Check if you went over your IRT (Income Reporting Threshold) without realizing it. Sometimes even a small gift can put you over if you were already close to the limit. The worker is supposed to send you a Notice of Action explaining any reduction, though.
0 coins
Carmen Flores
•My IRT is like $2400 and I've barely made $1000 last month at my part-time job. Same as always. And yeah, no Notice of Action either which seems really wrong.
0 coins
Jamal Carter
It sounds like there might have been some kind of calculation error in your case. A sudden drop from $823 to $95 without any Notice of Action is definitely something that requires immediate attention from your eligibility worker. Common reasons for drastic reductions include: 1. Unreported income being discovered 2. Child support enforcement kicking in 3. Someone in your household aging out of eligibility 4. A penalty being applied for non-compliance with WTW requirements 5. Simple calculation errors in the system You need to speak directly with your eligibility worker ASAP to find out what happened and request an appeal if it's incorrect. If this isn't resolved before rent is due, you might also want to ask about emergency assistance options.
0 coins
Carmen Flores
•Thank you for this list. None of these should apply to me! My kids are 5 and 7, I report all my income, no child support happening, and I've been doing my WTW activities. I've been trying to reach my worker for two days with no luck 😞
0 coins
Mei Liu
Have you tried using Claimyr to get through to someone at the CalWORKs office? After spending days trying to reach my worker with no luck, I used their service and got through in about 15 minutes. They basically call for you and when they reach a person, they connect you. Saved me hours of frustration when I had a similar issue with my benefits being wrong. Their website is claimyr.com and there's a video showing how it works: https://youtu.be/jzISHxCPLwE
0 coins
Carmen Flores
•I've never heard of this before. Does it actually work? I'm desperate at this point so I'm willing to try anything. I've been calling for 2 days straight with no luck.
0 coins
Mei Liu
•Yes, it definitely worked for me when I had a benefits crisis last month. I was skeptical too but it saved me from taking a day off work just to sit on hold. They got me through to a real person who fixed my case.
0 coins
Liam O'Donnell
This hapened to me last year and it turned out they counted my tax refund as income!!!! I had to file for a hearing to get it fixed because the county kept saying they were right even tho TAX REFUNDS DONT COUNT AS INCOME for calworks!!! so frustrating
0 coins
Carmen Flores
•OMG I did get my tax refund about six weeks ago! But it wasn't even that much, like $1800 for the EITC. Can they really count that against me? That seems so wrong.
0 coins
Jamal Carter
•Tax refunds are NOT counted as income for CalWORKs eligibility. They're exempt as lump sum income. However, if the money remains in your bank account past the month you received it, it could potentially count as a resource in future months if it puts you over the resource limit. If they did count your tax refund as income, that's an error you can appeal.
0 coins
Andre Dubois
Check your EBT account and see if theres a mesage there sometimes they leave notes there. And do u have BenefitsCal account? Sometimes notices are posted there even when they dont send a paper one
0 coins
Carmen Flores
•Just checked both - nothing! Literally no explanation anywhere. This is driving me crazy.
0 coins
Amara Nwosu
The $95 is oddly specific. Makes me wonder if they're only counting one person in your household for some reason. Like maybe your kids got removed from your case accidentally? This happened to my neighbor and she had to go in person to the office to get it fixed because it was some computer error.
0 coins
Carmen Flores
•That's a good point! $95 does seem like it could be just for me alone. But how could my kids get removed for no reason? They've been on my case for years. This system is so broken.
0 coins
Jamal Carter
Update from your original post: I spoke with a CalWORKs specialist today and there is currently a known system issue affecting some cases in certain counties. A recent software update has caused some multi-person households to temporarily calculate as single-person households, resulting in exactly the kind of dramatic payment reduction you're seeing. The good news is they're aware of it and working on a fix. The specialist advised that affected individuals should: 1. File for an immediate hearing (you don't need to wait to speak to your worker) 2. Request an immediate payment correction due to agency error 3. Ask for expedited processing due to imminent harm (rent due) This qualifies for a 1-day response due to the emergency nature. Document everything and specifically mention the "household calculation system error" when you speak to someone.
0 coins
Carmen Flores
•THANK YOU SO MUCH for this information! I finally got through to someone using that Claimyr service another person mentioned, and they confirmed exactly what you said - it's a system error! They're issuing me an emergency payment for the difference tomorrow. Such a relief but still so stressful that this happened without any notice.
0 coins
CyberSamurai
thats so good they fixing it!! the system is always messing up peoples benefits its like they dont even care that were real people who need to pay bills and feed are kids!
0 coins
Dylan Cooper
I'm so glad you got this resolved! This is exactly why we need better communication from the county when these system errors happen. Nobody should have to panic about rent money because of a software glitch. It's ridiculous that they can just cut people's benefits by 90% without any notice or explanation. Thank you to everyone who shared helpful advice - especially about Claimyr and knowing our rights to emergency hearings. This community really helps when the system fails us.
0 coins