The California Food Assistance Program (CFAP) is a state funded program that provides benefits equivalent to CalFresh to qualified immigrants who are not eligible for CalFresh.
based solely on the immigration status restrictions in the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 (PRWORA). Under PRWORA, parolees who are in the United States for over five years were eligible for CalFresh, but parolees in the United States for under five years were not eligible for CFAP.
Currently, California Department of Social Services policy is parolees in the United States for less than one year are ineligible for CFAP. Parolees in the United States between one and five years are eligible for CFAP.
Starting on June 1, 2026, or when automation is completed, people paroled into the United States for less than one year will be eligible for CFAP. These individuals will be eligible for CFAP as soon as they are paroled for up to five years. After being paroled for five years, they will not be eligible for CFAP because after five years they will be ineligible for CalFresh because of HR 1 instead of being ineligible because of PRWORA.
Any household member who was excluded because they were paroled into the United States for less than one year must be added as a CFAP household member at the household’s next recertification, if all other eligibility is met. The DT Code is sufficient verification of parolee status and the county cannot ask for additional verification beyond the DT Code. (ACL 26-03, January 15, 2026.)