California has been approved to issue Disaster CalFresh in Lake, Monterey, San Mateo, Santa Cruz, Solano and Yolo Counties for persons affected by the wildfires. Note that after this letter was issue, Santa Clara County was also approved for Disaster CalFresh.
Disaster CalFresh provides food assistance to households affected by natural disasters. To be eligible, families must live or work in the disaster area, plan to purchase food during the benefit period, experience adverse effects from the disaster and meet Disaster CalFresh income guidelines.
Disaster CalFresh has three verification requirements: identity, residency and loss or inaccessibility of income, and household composition and food loss, if questionable. Benefits should be issued within 72 hours of application.
The application period is Wednesday October 14 to Friday October 16 and Monday October 19 to Thursday October 22. Applications can be submitted by phone, online or in person. Applications will not be accepted by mail. Applicants can verbally attest to information. Verification can be submitted, using the Disaster CalFresh pre-registration tool, the SAWS client portals, secure email or fax, and in person at application sites. Pre-registration will be available from October 7 to October 13.
The start date of the disaster for Napa, Santa Clara and Sonoma Counties is August 14, 2020. (ACWDL, October 5, 2020.)