Will CalWORKs adjust our SSI/SSP benefits back up after emergency allotment ended?

i think ur mixing up CalFresh and CalWORKs. emergency allotments were for CalFresh (food stamps), they didnt lower ur cash aid bc of pandemic extras. SSI/SSP is totally seperate from CalWORKs.

There's a lot of confusion about this. Let me clarify a few things: 1. Emergency allotments were for CalFresh (food stamps), not CalWORKs cash aid 2. If your husband receives SSI/SSP, he cannot be on your CalWORKs case - this is called the "SSI cash-out policy" in California 3. Your CalWORKs grant should be for just you and your children 4. During the pandemic, there were some temporary changes to reporting requirements and income calculations, but these weren't called "emergency allotments" If your worker reduced your CalWORKs because of "emergency benefits," you should definitely call and ask for clarification. They may have been referring to stimulus payments or other pandemic benefits that were counted differently. I recommend submitting a mid-period report (SAR 3) explaining your rent increase - that's a change they need to know about and might qualify you for more assistance.

the county workers always mess up the calculations!! happened to me too, they counted my ex's unemployment twice during covid and I didn't get it fixed for 5 MONTHS!!! you absolutely have to call them and DONT accept the first answer they give you. ask to speak to a supervisor if they tell you everything is correct.

I spent 2 hours on hold with my county office yesterday trying to sort out a similar issue. Finally gave up after being disconnected twice. I ended up using Claimyr (claimyr.com) to get through - they called and waited on hold for me, then connected me when a worker answered. Totally worth it for urgent issues. They have a video showing how it works: https://youtu.be/jzISHxCPLwE When I finally got through, they explained that my income calculations had changed because some pandemic exclusions expired. Might be what happened to you too.

my neighber had this same issue happin too. turns out that during pandemic they wasnt counting some income that now they do count again. she had to wait til her next SAR7 to get it all straightend out but they did fix it.

You should definitely report your rent increase as soon as possible by submitting a SAR 3 (mid-period report). When your housing costs increase, CalWORKs can sometimes adjust your grant amount to help cover the difference. Regarding the emergency allotment confusion: during the pandemic, there were several temporary rule changes that affected benefit calculations: 1. Some income was temporarily excluded from calculations 2. Some verification requirements were relaxed 3. Some reporting deadlines were extended 4. Stimulus payments were treated differently than regular income Now that we're back to standard rules in 2025, all benefits are being calculated according to the regular formulas. You should request a breakdown of your benefit calculation from your worker to understand exactly what changed. And remember to report the rent increase right away - don't wait until your next regular report is due!

Does anyone know if they're ever bringing back any of those pandemic increases? My Cash Aid is $213 less now than it was during COVID and with inflation everything costs so much more. I'm having to work extra shifts just to make up the difference and my childcare costs are eating all that extra money anyway!!! The system is so broken.

Update: I finally got through to my worker today. Turns out during the pandemic they weren't counting my husband's disability income the same way, and now they are. She explained that it wasn't actually about emergency allotments (I had that wrong), but about special income calculation rules during COVID. She also said I definitely should submit a SAR 3 for the rent increase. I filled it out today and dropped it off at the office with proof of the new rent amount. Thanks everyone for your help sorting this out!