Will our CalFresh get cut because husband made $5k in one month? Family of 5 panicking

You need to report this because it puts you over the Income Reporting Threshold (IRT). When your income goes above the IRT listed on your last approval letter, you have to report it within 10 days, even if your SAR7 isn't due yet. However, the good news is that they shouldn't completely cut your benefits based on just one high month. They'll recalculate based on your anticipated future income. If your husband is going back to his regular $2,800/month, make sure you explain that the $5,000 was a one-time project and not recurring income. Bring pay stubs or some documentation showing his regular income pattern.

same thing hapened to me last yr when my bf got a big bonus at work. we didnt report it bcuz we didnt know we had to and then wen we did our SAR7 they cut our calfresh for 2 month as penalty for not reporting!! make sure u tell them its not regular income

The Income Reporting Threshold (IRT) is based on 130% of the Federal Poverty Level for your household size. For a family of 5 in 2025, your IRT should be around $3,850/month. Since the $5,000 exceeds that, you technically should have reported within 10 days. However, what matters now is reporting it correctly. When you do report, be very clear that this was a one-time payment and provide documentation of his normal income. CalFresh will calculate your benefits based on what you reasonably expect to receive in the future months. One high month shouldn't affect your ongoing eligibility if your regular income remains below the limit. You may see a reduction for the month the income was received, but your benefits should return to normal levels after that - assuming your husband's income goes back to the usual amount. Make sure to keep all pay stubs to prove his normal income pattern.

You guys, I was having THE WORST time trying to report income changes to my CalFresh worker last month. Called like 20 times and kept getting disconnected or waiting forever. Finally used Claimyr.com and got through to an actual person in like 15 minutes. They have this thing where they wait on hold for you and call you back when a worker picks up. Saved me so much frustration! They have a video showing how it works: https://youtu.be/jzISHxCPLwE Definitely worth it when you need to get something important handled quickly like reporting income changes.

This happened to us and we did lose our CalFresh for 3 months because my husband had a big commission check that put us over the income limit. BUT we were able to get back on after those 3 months passed because it was just a one-time thing. The worker told us we should have requested an "income averaging" where they take several months of income and average it out instead of just looking at one high month. Ask specifically for income averaging when you report!

You might also want to check if you're on CalWORKs cash aid too, because the reporting rules for CalWORKs and CalFresh are different sometimes. For CalWORKs there's a different IRT than for CalFresh usually.

The county ALWAYS tries to cut people off their benefits!!! They look for ANY reason!! One month over and they act like you're rich forever. My sister had the EXACT same thing happen and they cut her off completely and she had to reapply and it took MONTHS to get back on!!! The system is BROKEN!!!

After reading all the comments, I want to summarize the correct steps for the OP: 1. Report the income change immediately (even though it's late, better late than never) 2. Clearly explain it was a one-time project and provide documentation of regular income 3. Specifically request "income averaging" or "anticipatory budgeting" 4. Bring the past 3 months of pay stubs to show the normal income pattern 5. If they still calculate benefits incorrectly, request a hearing Your benefits may be reduced for the month the $5,000 was received, but should return to normal levels after that if your husband's income returns to normal.