Does CalWORKs provide rental assistance? What documents do I need to bring?

Yes, CalWORKs has something called Homeless Assistance that can help in your situation! There are two types: Temporary HA (hotel vouchers for up to 16 days) and Permanent HA (money for security deposit and last month's rent). Since you haven't been evicted yet, you'd likely qualify for Permanent HA to help prevent you from becoming homeless. Documents you should bring: - ID for everyone in your household - Birth certificates for your kids - Proof of income (unemployment award letter) - Eviction notice or letter from landlord - Current lease agreement - Proof of rent amount (receipts) - Any utility bills showing where you live You need to meet the income requirements for CalWORKs first, but with 2 kids and unemployment, you likely qualify. Apply ASAP through BenefitsCal.com or in person at your county office.

they don't actually pay ur back rent, that's not how it works. the permanent homeless assistance is for move-in costs if ur already homeless or about to be. theres a diffrent program called housing support program (HSP) thru calworks that might help with ongoing rent but not everyone qualifies

I was in this exact situation last year and what saved me was applying for both CalWORKs AND CalFresh at the same time. The CalWORKs worker referred me to their Housing Support Program (HSP) which helped with my back rent AND paying partial rent for 6 months while I got back on my feet. BUT - this only worked because I had kids and qualified for the cash aid portion of CalWORKs first. The process was slow though - took almost 3 weeks to see a worker after applying! I finally used Claimyr.com to skip the phone wait times and got through to an actual person at my county office. Just Google "Claimyr" and you can watch their video demo at https://youtu.be/jzISHxCPLwE to see how it works. It connected me directly to a worker who could check my application status and fast-track me to the housing specialist. Literally saved my housing situation because I was days away from eviction by that point.

The money is NOT a loan. CalWORKs cash aid and homeless assistance are benefits you don't repay as long as you qualified when you received them. The only exception is if you committed fraud or got overpaid by mistake. One thing nobody mentioned - if you get approved for CalWORKs, make SURE to ask about the $10,000 asset limit. You're allowed to have up to that much in resources (bank accounts, etc) and still qualify. This changed in 2024 - used to be much lower.

Thank you all for the helpful responses! I'm going to apply for CalWORKs this week and bring all the documents mentioned. I'll also ask specifically about the Housing Support Program since it sounds like that might be my best option for the back rent. One more question - will they verify employment history? I've only been unemployed for a month and I'm wondering if that will be an issue for qualifying.

Don't get your hopes up too much. The system is BROKEN. I applied for homeless assistance back in november and im STILL waiting!!! They keep asking for more and more paperwork and then saying they never received what I already sent. My worker never answers the phone and doesn't return voicemails. Meanwhile im staying on my sisters couch with my 3 kids and calworks gives me $726 a month which is NOTHING in california. The whole system is designed to KEEP US POOR.

Just to add one more thing that might help you - CalWORKs also has childcare assistance so when you do find a new job, they'll help pay for childcare for your kids! It's called Child Care Payment Program and it covers most or all childcare costs while you're working or in approved activities like job training. Definitely ask about this when you apply.