The California Department of Social Services (CDSS) has issued a reminder regarding CalFresh benefit replacement policies. Requests for replacement of food bought with CalFresh benefits that are lost because of household misfortune are made using the Replacement Affidavit/Authorization (CF 303). There is no limit on the number of replacements in the same month if food is lost in a household misfortune.
For multiple replacements from the same household misfortune, replacement issuance cannot exceed the household’s regular monthly CalFresh allotment. For multiple misfortunes in the same month, each replacement request must be assessed independently and can exceed the household’s regular CalFresh allotment.
A signed statement attesting to the household loss is sufficient and verification of food loss is required only if the signed statement is questionable.
Mass replacements allow for automatic replacement of a certain percentage of household benefits. CDSS must get a federal waiver for mass replacement. Mass replacements are typically issued by zip code. Mass replacement is possible if at least half of the households in the zip code were without power for four hours or more. A zip code can only be approved for one mass issuance per month, regardless of how many disasters occur in a month.
Households that receive a mass replacement can receive an individual replacement if they request it and can verify that the mass replacement did not cover the entire food loss or if there is a second misfortune in the same month. A household that received an individual replacement cannot receive a mass replacement for the same month. (ACL 21-15, February 5, 2021.)