How to cancel CalWORKs Cash Aid - phone call enough or must visit the county office?

You can just call and tell them. That's what I did when I got my job last year. Just make sure you say specifically that you want to "discontinue" your CalWORKs, not just report income. They might try to keep u on if you only report income but still qualify for partial aid.

You have several options to cancel your CalWORKs benefits: 1. Call your eligibility worker (fastest way but sometimes hard to reach them) 2. Submit a written request through BenefitsCal.com 3. Mail or fax a signed statement requesting discontinuance 4. Visit the office in person (not required but an option) The most important thing is to specifically state you want to "voluntarily discontinue" your Cash Aid. Just reporting your new job income isn't the same as requesting discontinuance. Make sure to get confirmation of your request - either in writing or a case number for your call. This helps prove you tried to stop benefits if there's ever an overpayment issue later.

i went thru this last month. phone worker said everything was cancelled but then i still got money on my ebt card the next month and now they sayin i have an overpayment of $637 i gotta pay back!! so definately get something in writing whatever u do!!

A call is legally sufficient to request discontinuance, but county offices are notorious for not processing verbal requests properly. I always recommend submitting the request in writing (through BenefitsCal or by submitting a signed statement) AND following up with a call. Important: Make sure to specify you want to discontinue effective immediately. Otherwise, they'll typically process it for the end of the current month, which could still trigger an overpayment if you're over the Income Reporting Threshold (IRT) before then. Also, if you're keeping MediCal or CalFresh, make that clear so they don't accidentally terminate those benefits too when they stop your Cash Aid.

Trying to reach someone at the county by phone is almost impossible these days. I spent 3 hours on hold last week trying to report an address change!! I finally used a service called Claimyr (claimyr.com) that holds your place in line and calls you back when a worker is available. Worked great and I got through in about 20 mins after they called me back. Check out their demo video if you want to see how it works: https://youtu.be/jzISHxCPLwE Definitely better than going in person and waiting all day!

Ur making a HUGE mistake cancelling before ur first paycheck!!! Wait till u actually GET PAID from the new job before u cancel! So many ppl get a job offer then something happens - hours get cut, start date delayed, or job falls thru completely. Then ur left with NOTHING while u reapply which takes forever!!!!

To answer the follow-up questions: @OP - Yes, you should receive a Notice of Action (NOA) confirming your discontinuance. This is important to keep as proof you requested termination. @commenter above - Yes, they can stop benefits mid-month if you specifically request immediate discontinuance. However, most workers will process it for the end of the month unless you're very clear about wanting it stopped immediately. And I agree with the last comment - reporting your new job (while stating you expect to be over the IRT) is often safer than cancelling before you've received your first paycheck. If you report the change within 10 days of getting the job, you're protected from overpayment claims even if processing takes time.

To add to what others have said, when you report your new job, make sure to include: 1. Your start date 2. Expected hours per week 3. Hourly wage/salary 4. First expected pay date This gives them all the info needed to determine if you'll still be eligible for partial benefits or if your case should be closed. And definitely keep documentation of when and how you reported the change (screenshots, confirmation numbers, certified mail receipt, etc). Congratulations on the new job, by the way! That's a big accomplishment worth celebrating.

One more thing to consider - if you're also getting CalFresh (food stamps) or Medi-Cal, make sure to specify that you only want to cancel the CASH AID portion of CalWORKs. A lot of people accidentally lose their food benefits or health coverage when they only meant to stop the cash payments. You might still qualify for those other programs even with your new job income, especially if you have kids or other qualifying circumstances. Also, once you do cancel, keep that EBT card! If there's any delay in processing and money gets deposited after you've cancelled, you don't want to be accused of not returning overpayments. Just don't spend anything that comes in after your cancellation date.