Will CalWORKs send investigators to your home if husband is working but applied for benefits?

CalWORKs doesn't send "investigators" to your home without notice. What you're referring to is probably the Home Call verification process, but that typically only happens in specific situations, not as standard procedure for every applicant. They usually verify income through pay stubs, employer verification forms, and tax documents. However, your husband DOES need to report ALL income, including the weekend cash work. Unreported income is considered fraud and has serious consequences - including benefit repayments, disqualification, and in extreme cases, legal penalties. Being upfront now is much better than being caught later. You can still qualify for benefits with part-time work through their earned income disregard policies. Call your worker and update the application with the complete income information. They won't take your kids away for this kind of situation, but honesty is important.

they DEFINITELY do home checks!!!! my cousin got one last year they just showed up at 8am on a tuesday with no warnign. they went thru her whole apartment looking at everything she owned and asked a bunch of questions about who lived there. super invasive!!!

we been on calworks 4 years and nobody ever came to my house. one time they called to verify our address but thats it. your overthinking this just be honest about all the money coming in

You need to report ALL income sources on your application, including any cash or side work. CalWORKs uses the IRT (Income Reporting Threshold) system, which means you must report if your total monthly income goes above a certain amount that they'll tell you on your approval notice. For inconsistent income like weekend work, they usually average it out over time. Your husband should estimate his average monthly income from this side work and report it. Even with this additional income, you might still qualify for partial benefits depending on your family size and total household income. Don't panic about investigators showing up unannounced - that's rare and typically only happens if there's already evidence of serious fraud. However, if you're caught intentionally hiding income, the consequences can be severe, including having to pay back benefits with penalties.

I went through something similar last year with my partner's seasonal work. Just be 100% honest now - don't wait. Call your eligibility worker immediately and update the application. When you're upfront about correcting information, they're usually understanding. For the variable income, they'll probably ask for estimates of how much he makes in an average month. They might also request more frequent income reporting from you. And no, they absolutely cannot take your kids away just for income reporting issues on CalWORKs! That would require serious neglect or abuse allegations and a completely different department (CPS). This is about benefits, not child custody.

Everyone's giving you great advice about reporting the income, but I know how hard it can be to actually REACH someone at the CalWORKs office to update your information! It took me 8 calls and 3 hours on hold last month to finally talk to my worker about a change in my situation. I recently discovered a service called Claimyr that helped me get through much faster. They hold your place in the county's phone queue and call you back when a real person answers. Saved me hours of waiting on hold. You can check them out at claimyr.com - they have a video showing how it works here: https://youtu.be/jzISHxCPLwE Just make sure you get that income reported ASAP - waiting makes it look worse if they do find out later.

its so stupid how they expect people to survive!!!! if your husband reported all that side income they probably would deny u completely and then how are u supposed to pay rent??? the system is designed to keep people poor i swear

my friend's boyfriend didn't report his doordash income and they found out somehow. they made them pay back like $4000 and they couldn't get benefits for a whole year after that. its not worth it just tell them everything

One more thing - make sure to explain why your husband didn't initially report the weekend income when you call to update the application. Was he confused about whether to include irregular income? Did he misunderstand the question? Being transparent about why it happened can help show it wasn't intentional misrepresentation. Once your case is approved, you'll receive a SAR7 form every 6 months where you'll need to report income changes again. Mark your calendar for these deadlines because missing them can result in benefit discontinuance. With the lower construction hours plus some weekend work, you might still qualify for a partial grant which could be very helpful for your family right now.

That's wonderful news! I'm so glad you were able to get through and that your worker was understanding about the situation. This is exactly why it's always better to be upfront - the system is designed to help working families, not penalize them for trying to make ends meet. Keep all your documentation organized for future reporting periods, and don't hesitate to reach out to your worker if you have questions about what needs to be reported. You did the right thing by being honest, and it sounds like you'll get the help your family needs during this difficult time with your husband's reduced hours. Wishing you and your family all the best as you navigate this process!

As someone who just joined this community, I'm really glad to see how this situation turned out! Your story is a perfect example of why transparency with government benefit programs is so important. It's scary when you're in a tight financial spot and worried about losing help, but the earned income disregards are specifically there to support working families like yours. For anyone else reading this who might be in a similar situation - don't let fear of "getting in trouble" prevent you from reporting all income sources. The consequences of hiding income are always worse than being upfront about variable or inconsistent work. CalWORKs workers deal with these situations all the time and understand that people are just trying to survive and provide for their families. Thanks for sharing your experience and the positive outcome. It gives hope to other families navigating these programs!

I'm new to this community and this whole thread has been incredibly helpful to read through! Anna, I'm so glad you got everything sorted out with your worker and that you'll still qualify for some assistance. Your experience really highlights how important it is to be honest upfront rather than letting fear drive decisions. As someone who might need to apply for CalWORKs myself soon due to job uncertainty, this conversation has taught me so much about how the system actually works. I had no idea about the earned income disregards or how they handle variable income. It's also reassuring to know that the workers are generally understanding when people are trying to do the right thing. Thank you to everyone who shared their knowledge here - especially those who explained the technical details about reporting requirements and income calculations. This kind of community support makes navigating government assistance programs so much less intimidating for newcomers like me!

As a newcomer to this community, I've been following this thread and I'm really impressed by how supportive and knowledgeable everyone has been! Anna, congratulations on getting through to your worker and resolving the situation - your courage to be honest despite your fears is really admirable. This discussion has been incredibly educational for someone like me who is still learning about how these programs work. I had no idea that CalWORKs has earned income disregards specifically designed to help working families, or that they have processes for handling irregular income. It's reassuring to know that the system isn't as black-and-white as I initially thought. The consistent advice from experienced members here - to always be transparent about all income sources - really drives home how much better it is to deal with any complications upfront rather than risk the serious consequences of unreported income later. Thank you all for creating such a helpful and judgment-free space for people navigating these challenging situations!