CalWORKs reduced my benefits by $300 for 2 months with no notification - is this legal?

They absolutely DO have to notify you before reducing your benefits! This happened to me last year - turned out my worker had entered my part-time job income incorrectly and calculated that I was over the Income Reporting Threshold (IRT). But they're required to send a Notice of Action (NOA) at least 10 days before any reduction. Check your mail carefully - sometimes these notices look like junk mail. If you truly didn't get a NOA, you should request a fair hearing ASAP because there's a 90-day deadline from when the action occurred.

omg the EXACT same thing just happened to my sister!!! she got cut by like $250 and they never told her why. she went to the office and waited for like 4 hrs and they said it was bcuz her oldest turned 18 but like.... they still supposed to tell u that right??

Check if any of your kids turned an age where the benefit amount changes. Also, did you report any new income on your last SAR7? Even small changes can affect your grant. But regardless, they MUST send a Notice of Action before reducing benefits. You should request an appeal immediately - you can do this online through BenefitsCal or by calling the state hearing division at 1-800-743-8525. If you request it within 10 days of when the reduction first happened, you can get 'aid paid pending' which means they have to restore your full amount until the hearing decision.

Have u checked ur BenefitsCal account 2 see if theres any notices posted there? Sometimes they post them online & dont mail them anymore. Also make sure ur address is correct in the system? Maybe notices r going to wrong address?

The whole CalWORKs system is BROKEN!!! They did this to me THREE TIMES last year - cut my benefits with no warning then made ME do all the work to fix THEIR mistakes. The workers don't care AT ALL that they're literally taking food from our kids' mouths. They just sit in their comfy government jobs while we struggle! AND when you call you can't even get through to a real person. The system is DESIGNED to make us give up!!!!!

I've been dealing with CalWORKs for years, and I'm pretty sure I know what happened. Did anyone in your household recently get even a small increase in income from anywhere - child support payments, Social Security, unemployment, even a small raise? If the total household income went above your Income Reporting Threshold (IRT), but you didn't report it within 10 days, they can reduce benefits without waiting for your next SAR7. But they still have to send you a Notice of Action about it. Try reaching your worker directly. I had a nightmare getting through by phone until I found this service called Claimyr (claimyr.com). They basically call for you and get you connected directly to a live worker instead of waiting on hold for hours. They have a video showing how it works: https://youtu.be/jzISHxCPLwE. Totally worth it when you need to resolve something important like missing benefits.

i used claimyr last month when my ebt card got stolen and it worked, got me thru to a person in like 10 mins when i had been trying for days on my own

Another possibility: did you miss any Welfare to Work (WTW) appointments or not meet your required participation hours? Sometimes they'll impose a financial sanction for WTW non-compliance, but again, they're required to send you multiple notices before doing this. Regardless of what caused the reduction, you have rights. If you request a state hearing and explain that you never received notification of the change, you have a strong case. Make sure to specifically request "aid paid pending" when you file for the hearing if it's been less than 90 days since the reduction started.

This is exactly what happened to me 6 months ago! Same situation - $280 reduction with zero notification. Turns out my caseworker had made an error in calculating my rent allowance and "corrected" it without telling me. I went straight to my county office and demanded to speak with a supervisor. Took 3 visits but they finally admitted the mistake and restored my benefits retroactively. Document EVERYTHING - take photos of your BenefitsCal account showing no notices, keep records of when you call and get disconnected. Also, you might want to contact your local legal aid society - many have CalWORKs advocates who can help you navigate the appeal process for free. Don't let them intimidate you into giving up. You and your kids deserve those benefits!