CalWORKs payment suddenly shows $0 for December but November was normal - still active in system?

this happened to me last year!!! i freaked out too but turns out i missed turning in some verification they needed. check ur BenefitsCal messages or ur mail pile, they mightve sent something u missed

There are several possibilities for why this is happening: 1. You may have hit your Income Reporting Threshold (IRT) without realizing it. If your income went over your IRT amount, your benefits could be reduced to $0 for the next month. 2. There could be a system glitch. December is often when system updates happen, and sometimes the payment display doesn't update correctly even though your benefits will actually be issued. 3. Your recertification might be due. If your annual SAWS2 redetermination was due and wasn't completed, they may have discontinued your case. 4. Someone in your household may have timed out on their 48-month time limit. I recommend calling the county's main CalWORKs line rather than just your worker. Ask them to check if there are any pending notices or actions on your case that might explain the $0 benefit.

the same exact thing happened to my sister and it was bcause her kid turned 18 last month and they automatically redid her benefit amount without telling her. do u have any kids who just had birthdays or something that might have changed ur household size?

Have you tried using Claimyr to get through to an actual worker? I was having a similar issue where my benefits suddenly showed $0 and couldn't reach anyone for days. I found this service at claimyr.com that got me through to a real person at the county office in like 20 minutes. They have a video showing how it works: https://youtu.be/jzISHxCPLwE When I finally got through, turns out there was a computer error on their end that was fixed right away. Saved me so much stress since my rent was due too.

This could also be related to the mid-year grant adjustment that sometimes happens in December. CalWORKs occasionally recalculates benefits mid-year based on cost of living adjustments or other factors. What's concerning is that you should have received a Notice of Action (NOA) explaining ANY change to your benefits at least 10 days before the change. Even if they're reducing your benefits to $0, they MUST send you a notice explaining why. I would recommend checking both your physical mail and your BenefitsCal electronic notices very carefully. Sometimes these notices get overlooked or filtered incorrectly online. If you truly didn't receive any notice, you have grounds for an appeal based on lack of proper notification. Document everything including screenshots showing your status as "active" but with $0 benefits.

THE EXACT SAME THING HAPPENED TO ME LAST MONTH!!!! I checked my account and it showed ZERO DOLLARS but I was still active. I panicked and went physically down to the office and waited 3 hours. Turns out they had sent me a form to verify my rent and utilities that I never received!!! They put my case on hold but didn't actually tell me WHY!!! The system is SO BROKEN. You probably need to physically go there because they NEVER answer phones!!!

Try calling right at 8:00am when they open. That's when I've had the most success getting through to a real person. Also, check if your county has an emergency contact form on their website - some counties have added this during COVID and kept it in place. You fill it out and they're supposed to call you back within 24-48 hours for urgent issues. Don't panic yet - sometimes the system shows $0 but they're just processing your payment. My friend had this happen and her money showed up on her EBT card on the regular day even though the website showed $0 for almost a week.

After reading all your responses, I'm more convinced this might be a system glitch. December is when many counties run their year-end processing, and display errors are common. Since you're still showing as "active" and haven't received any discontinuance notice, there's a good chance your benefits will still be issued on your regular payment date. However, I would still make reaching a worker a top priority. If you can't get through by phone, consider using the service someone mentioned above, or as a last resort, go to the office in person with documentation showing your status is still active but payment shows $0. If your benefits don't appear by your normal payment date, immediately request a hearing by calling the state hearing division at 1-800-952-5253. You only have 90 days from the action date to appeal, but the sooner you do it, the better chance you have of getting expedited benefits if this is an error.

I went through something similar earlier this year and it turned out to be a data entry error on their end. My caseworker had accidentally entered the wrong income amount during my last review, which triggered an automatic benefit calculation that zeroed out my payments. Even though I was still "active" in the system, the payment amount was wrong. What saved me was going to the office with all my recent pay stubs and bank statements to prove my actual income hadn't changed. They were able to see the error immediately and fixed it that same day. My back payment came through within 48 hours. Since you mentioned your income hasn't changed and you haven't missed any reporting deadlines, this sounds like it could be a similar data error. When you do get through to someone, ask them to specifically review what income information they have on file for you - sometimes workers accidentally transpose numbers or enter data in the wrong fields during routine updates.

I'm so sorry you're going through this stress right before the holidays! This exact thing happened to me about 6 months ago and I was absolutely panicking too. After reading through all these responses, it really does sound like either a system glitch or a data entry error since you're still showing as active. One thing that helped me was taking screenshots of everything - your account showing "active" status, the $0 payment amount, your November payment being normal, etc. Having that documentation saved me when I finally got through to a worker because they could see exactly what I was seeing on my end. Also, if you do end up having to go to the office in person, try to go first thing in the morning when they open. I've found the wait times are usually shorter then, and the workers seem less overwhelmed. Bring snacks and something to keep you busy because even "short" waits can stretch on. Really hoping this gets resolved quickly for you! Please update us when you find out what happened - these kinds of posts help so many people who go through the same scary situation.

I'm really sorry you're dealing with this stress! Based on what you've described - being active but showing $0 with no notice - this sounds very similar to what happened to my neighbor last month. In her case, it turned out the county had updated their computer system and there was a temporary glitch where active cases were showing incorrect benefit amounts. What really helped her was keeping a detailed log of every attempt to contact them (date, time, who she tried to reach) because when she finally got through, they were able to escalate her case since she could show she'd been trying for days to resolve it. Also, check if your county has a CalWORKs supervisor or manager you can email directly - some counties list these contacts on their website. Sometimes going above your regular caseworker can get faster results when there's an urgent issue like this. Hang in there - from all these responses, it really does sound like this is likely a fixable error rather than an actual discontinuation of your benefits. The fact that you're still showing as "active" is a really good sign!

I've been following this thread and wanted to share something that might help - I had a very similar situation happen to me about 3 months ago. My benefits suddenly showed $0 for the month but I was still active, and like you, I had no changes in income or household size. What ended up happening was that during a routine system update, my case got flagged for "manual review" even though nothing actually needed to be reviewed. The system automatically held my payment while this fake review was pending, but nobody bothered to tell me about it! I finally got through using that Claimyr service someone mentioned above (it really does work - got me through in about 15 minutes after I'd been trying for days). The worker was able to see immediately that my case had been flagged in error and released the hold right away. My payment was on my EBT card the next business day. The frustrating part is that this could have been avoided if they had just sent me a simple notice saying "your case is under routine review, payment may be delayed." But apparently they don't always do that for administrative holds. Keep trying to get through - this really sounds like a system error that will be easily fixed once you reach the right person!

I'm really sorry you're going through this stress! This sounds so similar to what happened to me about 8 months ago. I was showing as active but had $0 benefits for the month with absolutely no explanation or notice. I was terrified because I had no idea what was going on. After reading through all these responses, it really does seem like system errors and administrative holds are more common than we realize. In my case, it turned out my caseworker had left a note in my file about needing to "verify something" but never actually contacted me about it. The system automatically held my payment until this mysterious verification was completed. What finally worked for me was going to the office first thing in the morning and asking to speak with a supervisor instead of just any available worker. The supervisor was able to look at my case history and see that the hold was unnecessary - they cleared it immediately and I had my benefits within 24 hours. I know it's scary when you have bills due, but based on everything you've described, this really sounds like an administrative error rather than an actual problem with your case. The fact that you're still showing as active is definitely a good sign! Keep us posted on what you find out - these threads help so many people who face the same confusing situations.