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Amara Okafor

Can you get cash aid and unemployment at the same time? California EDD question

Okay so I lost my job at the warehouse about six weeks ago and I've been approved for unemployment but my weekly benefit amount came out to only $215 on the DE 429Z they mailed me. Rent is $1,400 and after utilities and groceries I am literally drowning. Someone at my church mentioned that CalWORKs cash aid might help bridge the gap but I have no idea if you're even allowed to collect both at the same time. I don't want to do anything that would mess up my UI claim or get me in trouble for fraud or something. Has anyone actually tried to combine these two programs? Does one cancel out the other or reduce it somehow?

DE 429Z showing $215 a week is rough, especially with rent that high. The short answer is yes, you can apply for CalWORKs while you're on unemployment, but whether you'd actually get both paid out at the same time depends on your household situation and income rules that the county runs, not EDD. CalWORKs is a county-administered program so it has its own eligibility rules separate from your UI claim. Your unemployment benefits count as income when the county looks at your CalWORKs application, so they'd likely reduce whatever cash aid amount you'd get, but it doesn't automatically cancel your UI.

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So EDD doesn't even know about the CalWORKs application? Like they're completely separate systems?

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Pretty much separate systems, yeah. EDD handles your UI, the county social services office handles CalWORKs. You still need to report all your income accurately on both sides, but applying for one doesn't automatically affect the other.

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The county will ask for proof of your unemployment benefits when you apply for CalWORKs. They count it as income when they figure out how much cash aid you'd get. Bring your DE 429Z to show them what your weekly amount is.

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Waiting week hadn't even processed yet when I had the same panic about income. My weekly benefit amount was low too and I ended up calling EDD to ask whether my CalWORKs application would affect my UI payments. Claimyr (claimyr.com) handled the hold time for me and I ended up talking to an EDD agent directly. I asked the agent specifically whether reporting CalWORKs cash aid as income during my certifications would reduce my weekly UI benefit and they looked at my claim and confirmed that cash aid from the county isn't wages from work so it doesn't get subtracted from my weekly UI amount the way part-time job earnings would. There's a video at https://youtu.be/JmuwXR7HA10 that shows how reaching a live person at EDD works, in case the hold times are getting to you. What I did after the call was go ahead and apply for CalWORKs at BenefitsCal and report my UI income there honestly.

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Wait, so the CalWORKs cash aid doesn't count as wages when I certify for UI? That's actually a huge relief because I was scared it would eat into my $215.

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Cash aid from CalWORKs isn't wages from work, so it doesn't get counted the same way part-time earnings do when you certify. Your $215 should stay at $215 as far as UI is concerned, though you absolutely want to report it correctly on the CalWORKs side.

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Glad someone got an actual answer from an EDD agent on this. I've been going back and forth wondering the same thing about whether county cash aid shows up on the UI side.

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CalWORKs application at the county office was the first thing I did when my hours got cut and my UI didn't cover everything. The county is going to look at your whole household, so if you have kids or dependents that matters a lot. Without children in the household CalWORKs is a lot harder to qualify for, that's just how that program works. CalFresh for groceries is worth looking into separately at BenefitsCal, that one doesn't require kids.

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I do have two kids so hopefully that helps. I had no idea CalWORKs even cared about household size like that.

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Two kids definitely puts you in a much better position for CalWORKs. When you apply the county looks at the number of people in the household versus total income including your UI.

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CalFresh is also worth applying for regardless of the CalWORKs result. Unemployment benefits count as income they consider, but a lot of households on UI still qualify depending on the household size.

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YOUR $215 A WEEK IS NOT ENOUGH AND THE SYSTEM KNOWS IT. I've been through this same situation. The maximum in California is $450 a week and somehow the people who need it most end up with the low amounts because of how the base period wages work. Apply for every single program you can find. CalWORKs, CalFresh, the 2-1-1 hotline for local emergency help. Don't sit around waiting for EDD to magically fix your income.

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I actually called 2-1-1 last week but they put me on hold for so long I hung up. Maybe I'll try again.

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Try calling 2-1-1 at a different time of day, early morning tends to be less jammed. Some areas also let you text into 2-1-1 now.

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The base period thing is real. If your highest earning quarter was lower pay it pulls that weekly amount down. Nothing you can do about it now mid-claim but worth knowing for the future.

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Month two of my claim and I have been piecing together income from multiple sources. Quick thing to know about CalFresh specifically since you mentioned groceries eating up your budget: you apply separately from CalWORKs even though it's through the same BenefitsCal portal. Some people think it's one application but they're different programs with different eligibility rules. I got CalFresh approved within about 10 days of applying.

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10 days is actually pretty fast. I thought government programs always took months.

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CalFresh can move quicker than UI did in my experience. If you're in immediate need of food assistance some counties have expedited processing.

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Agreed on the separate applications. I made the mistake of thinking applying for CalWORKs covered my CalFresh automatically and missed out on a couple weeks I could have had food benefits.

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Something worth checking: when you apply for CalWORKs the county is going to ask about your work search activities too, similar to how UI requires you to be looking for work. I don't know all the details of CalWORKs requirements but just heads up that they may have their own employment participation requirements. It's not exactly the same as the UI work search but you don't want surprises.

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That's accurate. CalWORKs has what's called Welfare to Work requirements and the county administers those. They're separate from your UI work search obligations but they do exist for most adult recipients. The county worker will explain them when you apply.

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Okay so I'm going to be doing double work search requirements? One for EDD and one for the county?

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Potentially yes, depending on exemptions the county may grant you. Having young children sometimes changes those requirements. Worth asking the county directly when you apply.

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Part-time job on top of everything else is what I eventually ended up doing to close the gap because my UI was similarly low. One thing I want to flag for you: if you do pick up any part-time work while on UI, the first $25 or 25 percent of what you earn in a week (whichever is bigger) doesn't reduce your benefit, and the rest gets subtracted. So on a $215 week if you earned $100 from a part-time shift, 25 percent of $100 is $25, so you'd still get $215 minus $75, which comes out to $140 for that week. It's not perfect but it keeps you eligible.

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I hadn't even thought about part-time work. So I can still collect some UI while working part time as long as I report it?

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Yes, report everything during your certification for the week you earned it, not when you get paid. The key is to report the gross amount, not what the check says after taxes.

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The part-time earnings formula catches a lot of people off guard. Full-time work in a week makes you ineligible for that week entirely regardless of what you earn, so part-time is the key.

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Good to know about full-time ending eligibility. I'm looking at a part-time retail job right now so this is actually useful.

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Six weeks into my own claim and hit the same wall with the low weekly amount. For what it's worth I looked into whether Social Security disability would affect UI and an EDD agent told me Social Security benefits don't get deducted from your UI and you don't even need to report them when you certify. That was a relief. CalWORKs cash aid seems like it falls into a similar category of not being wages from work, so it shouldn't touch your $215.

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Social Security is specifically excluded from the certification reporting, that's correct. CalWORKs cash aid isn't wages from work either, though I'd still encourage confirming with EDD or the county how to handle the reporting on both sides.

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Yeah confirming directly with EDD or the county on your specific situation is always the smart move. I just found it helpful knowing what the agent told me about Social Security as a comparison.

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Applied for CalFresh two months before I even lost my job because we were already stretched thin. By the time my UI kicked in the county had already adjusted my CalFresh amount down to account for the UI income. So heads up that once your UI benefit starts showing up as income, your CalFresh amount may get recalculated. Mine dropped but didn't disappear completely.

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That's a really good heads up. So I should tell the county when my UI was approved?

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Report any income change to the county as soon as it happens. If you don't and they catch it later they can ask for the overpayment back.

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The county has a mid-period reporting requirement for income changes above a certain threshold. It varies by county but the safe thing is to report any new income source right away rather than wait for the next renewal.

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Overpayment fear is real and both programs have it. The rule I always remind myself about is to report income where you're supposed to report it, not to assume one system talks to the other automatically. EDD wants to know about wages from work. The county wants to know about everything including your UI. Keep those straight and you'll be fine.

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So basically report UI income to the county, don't report CalWORKs cash aid to EDD as wages? Am I understanding that right?

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That's the general idea, but confirm with EDD and the county directly for your specific situation. The golden rule is report what each program asks for on the form or in the certification.

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If EDD's certification asks about wages from work, CalWORKs cash aid doesn't fit that category. But if it asks about other income or you're unsure what a question means, calling EDD is worth it rather than guessing.

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Notice on my CalWORKs case last month asked me about my UI claim specifically and they adjusted my cash aid. The county is pretty thorough about tracking all your income sources. My cash aid went down by roughly half my UI weekly amount but I was still getting both. So it's not all or nothing for most people, it's just reduced.

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Half your UI amount got deducted from cash aid? So in my case that might mean the county would reduce whatever CalWORKs amount I'd get by around $107 or something based on my $215?

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The math in your situation would be what the county calculates, not exactly how they did it for me since households are different. But yes, they adjust the cash aid to account for other income. Worth applying regardless because even a reduced amount helps.

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How the county calculates the reduction varies and the CalWORKs grant amounts depend on household size and the need standard for your county. The county worker who processes your application will show you the numbers.

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Certifying for UI while also dealing with the CalWORKs paperwork is a lot to manage at once. For the UI side, don't miss your certification windows. You certify every two weeks in UI Online at myedd.edd.ca.gov and if you let it lapse you can lose those weeks. CalWORKs has its own paperwork deadlines too. Put everything in your phone calendar.

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I've been certifying every two weeks, that part I figured out. The CalWORKs side is what I'm still figuring out.

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Once your CalWORKs case opens the county sends you a lot of paperwork at once. Respond to everything within the deadlines they give you, don't assume no news is good news.

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DE 4800 came in my mail around week three of my claim and I realized I hadn't registered on CalJOBS yet, which you're supposed to do within 21 days of that notice. Got that sorted out but it was close. If you're applying for CalWORKs while managing all this, make sure your CalJOBS registration isn't slipping. EDD can pause payments if you don't register in time.

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Oh no I haven't even looked at CalJOBS yet. What do I need to do there?

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Register at caljobs.ca.gov and post a resume within 21 days of when you got the DE 8405 notice from EDD. The notice tells you if you're required to do it. Some people are exempt but most aren't.

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CalJOBS registration is one of those things EDD barely explains but then holds against you. Do it immediately if you haven't already.

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Pension or retirement income is one thing that can reduce UI benefits, but CalWORKs cash aid isn't a pension. For anyone reading this thread wondering about other income types: Social Security doesn't get deducted from UI, and CalWORKs cash aid isn't wages from work. Those are different categories. What does reduce your UI is actual wages when you work part-time or full-time while collecting.

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Good clarification. I've seen people on these forums confuse pension income with cash assistance and they really are different things.

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Pension income from past work is actually on the list of things EDD considers when calculating whether it reduces your weekly benefit. Cash aid programs like CalWORKs are not on that list.

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Medi-Cal is another program worth applying for through BenefitsCal while you're at it. If you lost job-based health insurance when you got laid off, Medi-Cal covers a lot of people who are on UI income especially with kids in the household. Covered California is also an option if you don't qualify for Medi-Cal but that one has premiums.

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I did lose my work health insurance when I got laid off. I've been uninsured for six weeks now which is stressful with two kids.

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With two kids and low income from UI, you may qualify for Medi-Cal pretty quickly. Apply through BenefitsCal and they'll screen you for it at the same time as CalFresh and CalWORKs.

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Covered California also has a special enrollment period triggered by losing job-based coverage, so you have a window to enroll without waiting for open enrollment. Medi-Cal has no enrollment period, you can apply anytime.

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Two weeks after my layoff I was sitting at the county office applying for CalWORKs and the worker told me my UI would be counted as unearned income for their calculation. She used those words specifically, unearned income, as opposed to earned income from wages. That distinction seemed to matter a lot for how they calculated my cash aid. EDD considers it differently from the county. Keeping those two frameworks in your head helps.

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Unearned income vs earned income is exactly the right framing for how the county handles UI benefits. Good to hear it explained that way.

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Unearned income. Okay I'll use that term when I go to the county office so they know I understand what I'm talking about.

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It helps to show up knowing the vocabulary. The workers are more efficient when you can describe your situation using the terms they use.

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Letter from the county arrived about three weeks after I submitted my CalWORKs application saying my cash aid was approved at a reduced amount because of my UI. I was still glad to have it. The reduced amount plus my UI plus picking up a few hours at a friend's small business got me through the worst of it. Report those work hours to EDD when you certify though, don't forget.

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How long was your CalWORKs application process from start to that approval letter? Three weeks seems reasonable.

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About three weeks for me, though I had all my documents ready when I went in. Missing paperwork slows it down significantly.

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Having your documents together before you go to the county office makes a big difference. They'll ask for ID, proof of income including your DE 429Z, rent or utility bills, and documentation for any kids in the household.

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UI Online showed pending weeks for me for a while and I panicked thinking CalWORKs was somehow interfering. It wasn't, the pending status was about an identity verification issue on the EDD side that had nothing to do with my county benefits. Pending weeks in your Claim History just mean EDD still needs to process something, it could be totally unrelated to other programs you're using.

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Mine actually cleared after I verified through ID.me. I think it was an identity thing for me too. Good to know the two systems don't cross contaminate.

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ID.me verification clearing up the pending status is super common. The two programs really do run on completely separate tracks.

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Appeal process for a denied CalWORKs application is different from appealing a UI denial, just so you know going in. CalWORKs appeals go through the county and then the state Department of Social Services, not through EDD or the CUIAB. UI appeals go to EDD first and then to the California Unemployment Insurance Appeals Board if needed. Keep those separate if anything goes sideways.

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Worth knowing upfront. For UI, any denial comes as a Notice of Determination and you have 30 calendar days from the mailing date to appeal using the DE 1000M form or a letter sent to the address on the notice.

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And keep certifying for UI during any appeal on the EDD side. EDD can only pay back weeks that were certified, so don't stop just because something is being reviewed.

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I did not know that about the appeals going to different places. That's actually really helpful to have sorted out in my head before anything bad happens.

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Week eight of my own claim and I finally have a system going. CalFresh approved, CalWORKs approved at a reduced amount, UI certifying every two weeks, and part-time gig work I report during each certification. The first few weeks felt impossible but it gets more manageable. You're asking the right questions early which puts you ahead.

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Week eight and you have all three running. That genuinely makes me feel like this is doable. Thank you for saying that.

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The hardest part for me was accepting that I had to use multiple programs at once. Once I let go of feeling weird about it and just focused on surviving, things clicked.

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Layoffs are what all these programs exist for. Using them all at once when you need them is exactly what they're designed for.

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Report Wages tool in UI Online is worth knowing about if you haven't found it yet. Before you certify you can log any work wages for a week through the Report Wages section. It doesn't correct past weeks, just helps you track current ones before you submit your certification. For cash aid like CalWORKs, that's not in Report Wages because it's not wages from work, so don't go looking for a place to enter it there.

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I've been certifying through UI Online but never noticed the Report Wages section separately. Good to know it exists for when I do start part-time work.

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If you already submitted a certification and something was wrong on it, you have to contact EDD directly instead of trying to fix it in UI Online. Either a message through your UI Online account or the phone line.

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Calling 1-800-300-5616 between 8 and 5 Monday through Friday is the route for fixing a certification issue. Getting through can be hard, so try first thing in the morning if you can.

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My tax situation from last year was actually when I realized UI benefits are federal taxable income but California doesn't tax them at the state level. CalWORKs cash aid, on the other hand, is not taxable at all. So from a tax standpoint receiving both actually simplifies things a little because the cash aid won't add to your federal tax bill either. EDD lets you opt into 10 percent federal withholding from your UI each time you certify if you want to avoid a bill in April.

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I had no idea California didn't tax unemployment benefits. And cash aid isn't taxed at all? That's actually a small bright spot in all of this.

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Form 1099G from EDD at the start of next year will show your UI income for federal taxes. The CalWORKs cash aid won't show up on any tax form because it's not taxable income.

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Opting into the 10 percent federal withholding from UI during your certifications is worth doing if you think the UI income might push you into owing something at tax time. Better to have it withheld than to scramble in April.

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One thing worth knowing for the CalFresh side that caught me off guard: CalFresh and CalWORKs renewals don't always line up on the same schedule. My CalFresh renewal came up two months before my CalWORKs review. Keep track of both renewal dates from the letters the county sends you.

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County sends separate notices for each program and if you miss a renewal deadline the benefit can stop even if you're still eligible. Set a reminder two weeks before each deadline.

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Okay adding this to the list of things to track. DE 429Z for EDD, CalJOBS registration, CalWORKs renewal, CalFresh renewal. It's a lot of moving pieces.

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It really is a lot at first but once you have the dates on a calendar it becomes routine. The first month is the hardest.

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