Do I need to report COLA increases for SSI if CalWORKs/CalFresh already knows my benefits changed?

You DO need to report the COLA increase if it puts you over the Income Reporting Threshold (IRT) for your household size. Your IRT amount should be listed on your last Notice of Action or approval letter. If your total income with the COLA is still below your IRT, you don't have to report it until your next SAR7. Even though SSI increases are known to the system, the county needs YOU to report it if it puts you over your IRT, because technically your CalWORKs and CalFresh are separate from SSI in the verification system. Don't assume CalWIN automatically adjusts everything.

Actually as someone who used to handle these cases, each benefit program has different reporting requirements. For CalFresh specifically, you DO need to report the COLA increase within 10 days because it affects your benefit calculation, even if you're under the IRT. The county SHOULD adjust it automatically, but they often don't, and then you end up with an overissuance that you have to pay back. For CalWORKs cash aid, you only need to report it if it puts you over the IRT like the previous poster mentioned. But for food benefits, report it to be safe. Better to report it twice than get hit with an overpayment later.

I had to deal with exactly this last year. I got my SSI COLA notice and didn't report it because I thought they would automatically know. Six months later I got hit with a $340 CalFresh overissuance that I'm still paying back!! The worker told me that even though it's a known change, policy requires ME to report it. So frustrating because I thought they would just adjust it since they know about the COLA increases.

I've been trying to get through to my CalWORKs worker about this exact issue for TWO WEEKS with no luck. I finally used Claimyr (claimyr.com) to get through to a real person yesterday. They have this service where they wait on hold with the county for you and then call you when they get a worker on the line. Took about 45 minutes but saved me hours of trying. You can see how it works at https://youtu.be/jzISHxCPLwE Anyway, the worker confirmed that technically yes, you should report the COLA even though "the system should know about it" because each program has different reporting rules. For CalWORKs you only need to report if it puts you over IRT, but for CalFresh you should report any income changes over $50.

You can report the change in a few ways: 1. Through the BenefitsCal website/app 2. By calling your county office 3. By submitting a written statement If you report through BenefitsCal, there's a specific section for "Report a Change" where you can enter income changes. You should get a confirmation number when you submit it - KEEP THIS NUMBER as proof you reported the change. This way you're covered for both CalWORKs and CalFresh requirements. Even if you're under the IRT, it's better to report and be safe than risk an overissuance later.

i dint report my cola last year and nothing happened they just adjusted my calfresh down like $20 on there own lol but maybe its different for different countys? im in san bernadino

This whole system is RIDICULOUS!!! They already KNOW about the COLA increases because it's THEIR SYSTEM but they still want to punish us if we don't report what THEY ALREADY KNOW!!! Then they hit us with overissuances and act like we're trying to commit fraud. I'm so sick of being treated like a criminal for trying to navigate this impossible system.

Just to clarify something important: even though the COLA is a "known" change, the different benefit systems (CalWORKs, CalFresh, SSI) don't automatically talk to each other as well as they should. The best practice is: 1. If the COLA puts you over your IRT - report immediately (required for CalWORKs) 2. If the change is more than $50/month - report for CalFresh (technically required) 3. If under both thresholds - you can wait until your next SAR7, but reporting now prevents any possible issues Report it through BenefitsCal and get a confirmation number as proof. This covers you completely.