CalWORKs deposit came early - should I worry about reporting this unexpected payment?

omg this happened to me in december!! i got paid like 10 days early and freaked out. turns out they were doing early deposits bc of the holidays. check if theres a holiday coming up that might affect county offices?

This is actually pretty common with CalWORKs. If your regular payment date falls on a weekend or holiday, they'll often issue the payment early. The county doesn't always notify recipients about these schedule changes. As long as the amount matches your regular payment and you haven't received any other notices about changes to your case, it's most likely just a payment schedule adjustment. You should still verify by checking your BenefitsCal account to see if there are any messages or notices. But don't worry about fraud concerns - receiving an early scheduled payment from the county isn't something you'd be penalized for.

BE CAREFUL!!!! I had something similar happen last year and it turned out they gave me an overpayment by mistake and then DEMANDED I pay it back!!!! They said I should have known it was too much even though it was the same amount I always get. I would DEFINITELY call and check because they will come after you later and say you should have reported it!!!! The system is designed to TRAP US!!!

I recommend calling your eligibility worker to confirm, just for peace of mind. But to echo what others said, early deposits happen sometimes due to payment processing schedules around holidays or end-of-month timing. For your information: CalWORKs policy specifically states that benefits may be issued early when the regular issuance date falls on a weekend or holiday. This is normal procedure and not something you'd need to report on your next SAR7. If you want to check the status of your case or get confirmation directly from your worker, I've had good luck using Claimyr (claimyr.com) to get through to my county office without waiting on hold forever. They have a video showing how it works: https://youtu.be/jzISHxCPLwE - really helped when I had a similar concern about my benefits timing.

wut about ur Income Reporting Threshold? if u go over that u gotta report it even if its not time for ur SAR7 yet

Speaking from experience, don't stress too much about this. What likely happened is that the 1st of next month falls on a weekend or holiday, so they processed payments early. I've been on CalWORKs for three years now and sometimes my deposit comes a few days early. The county systems are automated for payment processing and they adjust dates around holidays and weekends. If you're really concerned, you could call your worker, but honestly, as long as the amount is correct (which you said it is), there's no need to worry about fraud accusations or anything like that. Just document the deposit date in case you ever need to reference it later.

my worker told me they somtimes do early deposits when theres system maintenance scheduled too. happened to me twice last year

I had a similar situation but it turned out it was my child support that got deposited through the state system which looks similar on my card statement to my regular CalWORKs. Double check that it's not actually a child support payment or retroactive benefit from something else you applied for. The way they label the deposits can be confusing sometimes!

i just wanted to say im so jealous lol... my county is ALWAYS late with my payments, never early!! which county are you in that actually gives early deposits?? ours always has "system issues" 🙄

Update us after you call - I'm curious what they say! And don't forget if you need to provide any verification documents later on, keep the originals and only send copies. I learned that one the hard way when they claimed they never received my pay stubs and almost discontinued my case.

Glad you got it sorted out! This is exactly why I always recommend calling when something seems off, even if it turns out to be nothing. The CalWORKs system can be really confusing and they definitely should give us a heads up about schedule changes. It would save everyone so much stress and worry. Thanks for updating us - this thread will probably help other people who have the same thing happen to them!