CalWORKs customer service line wait time - been on hold for 45+ minutes. Is this normal?

lol welcome to the club. i was on hold for 2 HOURS yesterday and then they hung up on me right when someone picked up!!! its ridiculous how they treat us

The county call centers are seriously understaffed right now. Your best bet is to call right when they open (usually 8:00 AM) or try right after lunch (around 1:30 PM). Those tend to be the times with slightly shorter wait times. Also, make sure you're calling the right number for your specific county - some counties have different lines for CalWORKs vs. CalFresh, while others use the same number for all benefits. If your SAR7 was submitted online through BenefitsCal, you should have received a confirmation number. If your payment is still pending, it might be because they need additional verification documents that weren't included with your SAR7.

I had this EXACT same issue last month!!! Waited forever on hold and couldn't get anyone. Turns out on my SAR7 I forgot to check one tiny box about child support cooperation and they held up my whole payment without even telling me. Check your BenefitsCal account messages - sometimes they send notices there but don't bother calling you. The system is DESIGNED to make us fail I swear.

have u tried going in person? sometimes thats faster lol

Try using Claimyr.com - it's a service that waits on hold for you with CalWORKs and then calls you when a real person picks up. Saved me hours of hold time last month when I had an issue with my Welfare to Work hours not being recorded correctly. They have a video showing how it works here: https://youtu.be/jzISHxCPLwE I was skeptical at first but it actually worked and got me through to someone in about 30 minutes (while I was doing other things instead of sitting on hold).

this is why i always tell people to take pictures of EVERYTHING you submit to calworks even if you do it online. i had a similar thing happen where they said they never got my proof of rent increase even tho i uploaded it to benefitscal. when i finally got thru to someone they were like "oh we see it now" like magic lol

Check if your county has an email address for the CalWORKs department! Mine does and sometimes they actually respond faster that way than by phone. Or try calling your assigned worker directly if you have their extension number.

This is such a common problem and it's really frustrating how inconsistent the communication is across different counties. I've noticed that some counties are better than others at sending automated text or email notifications when they need additional documentation, but it seems like most still rely on you to somehow magically know what's missing. For future reference, if you're ever dealing with work hour changes again, try to submit proof of your new schedule along with your SAR7 even if they don't specifically ask for it - it might save you from delays like this. Hope your payment comes through on time!

I'm so sorry you had to wait that long! The phone system is definitely broken. I've had similar issues where they needed additional verification but didn't notify me properly. One thing that's helped me is setting up text alerts through BenefitsCal if your county offers them - sometimes they'll send updates that way even when they don't call. Also, if you have to submit that work verification form they mentioned, I'd recommend faxing it AND uploading it online if possible, just to be safe. The redundancy has saved me before when documents got "lost" in their system. Fingers crossed your payment processes quickly!

I've been dealing with CalWORKs for about 6 months now and the phone wait times are absolutely brutal. What I've learned is that calling right at 8 AM sharp gives you the best chance, but even then you might wait 30-45 minutes. I keep a phone charger nearby and put it on speaker while I do other things. One thing that might help with your specific situation - if your payment is showing as "pending" in BenefitsCal, try clicking on the case details to see if there are any alerts or required actions listed. Sometimes they'll show what's missing there even if they don't send you a notice. Also, some counties have a separate "document upload" section where you can proactively submit pay stubs or work schedules if you think that might be what's holding things up. The system definitely isn't user-friendly, but hang in there. Once you figure out your county's quirks it gets a bit easier to navigate.

I feel your pain! I've been dealing with CalWORKs for over a year now and those wait times are absolutely insane. What's worked best for me is calling exactly at 8:00 AM when they open - I literally have my phone ready to dial at 7:59 and hit call right at 8:00. Even then I usually wait 20-30 minutes, but it's way better than calling later in the day. For your SAR7 issue, definitely check your BenefitsCal messages and case alerts section like others mentioned. Also, if you know your caseworker's direct extension or email, try reaching out that way too. Some workers are actually pretty responsive to emails even when the main line is backed up. The fact that your payment is showing as "pending" usually means they're waiting for something specific from you, but their communication about what that is absolutely sucks. Keep us posted on how it goes - dealing with this stuff is stressful enough without having to guess what they need!