CalWORKs payment after over-income letter due to SSI increase - will I need to repay?

This happens a lot with CalWORKs when there's an income change. The system is designed to be a month behind in its calculations. What likely happened is that your January eligibility was based on November income, before the SSI increase took effect. And your February payment was based on December income, also before the increase. So technically, the payment is correct. However, you should have reported the income change within 10 days of knowing about it (which sounds like you did if you got a discontinuance letter). Double-check your notice of action - it should tell you the exact date your benefits end. If it specifically said January, then February might be an error.

CALL THEM ASAP!!! I had this exact thing happen last yr with my sons disability increase and I SPENT THE MONEY thinking it was correct!!! They hit me with an overpayment notice 3 months later and now I'm paying back $756 at $75 each month. Don't touch that money until you get a straight answer. The county workers messed up on my case, blamed the "system" but I'm still the one paying it back!!

when i got my discontinuance letter it said i had 90 days to request a hearing if i didnt agree...maybe you should request a hearing just to be safe? then you can ask at the hearing if you need to pay back the feb payment

Try using Claimyr to get through to your caseworker quickly. I was in a similar situation with an unexpected payment after a discontinuance notice and spent HOURS trying to reach someone. Claimyr got me through to a worker in about 15 minutes. They have a video showing how it works at https://youtu.be/jzISHxCPLwE and their website is claimyr.com. My worker was able to check my case notes and confirm whether the payment was correct or an error. Better to know now than get hit with an overpayment later!

From what I understand, CalWORKs operates on a prospective eligibility but retrospective budgeting system. This means your February payment was likely based on your December circumstances, before the SSI increase took effect in January. However, once they determined you'd be over income starting in January, they should have discontinued your benefits. Since you received a clear discontinuance letter for January, the February payment is most likely an administrative error. If you don't spend the money and report it immediately, you'll be in a much better position regarding any potential overpayment. Document everything - when you call, who you speak with, and what they tell you.

this happnd to me but opposite...they said i was gettin benefits but my card had NOTHING on it for the month! took 2wks to fix it. the system is so messd up sometimes. good luck!!

Update: I finally got through to someone at the county office! They confirmed it was an error in their system and that I wasn't supposed to receive the February payment. The worker told me to just hold onto the money and not spend it because they'll be sending me an overpayment notice. She said because I reported it before spending it and it was their error, I might qualify for a waiver, but I'll need to apply for that once I get the notice. Thanks everyone for your help!