CalFresh / SNAP

COVID-19 Treatment of Pandemic Emergency Assistance Fund payments in various programs

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The California Department of Social Services has provided guidance regarding treatment of the one-time payment issued to CalWORKs recipients pursuant to the Pandemic Emergency Assistance Fund (PEAF) for CalWORKs, CalFresh and Medi-Cal.  The PEAF payment was a $640 payment to CalWORKs recipients that was issued on July 10, 2021.  PEAF is to assist low income families impacted by COVID-19.

PEAF does not count as income for CalWORKs and CalFresh and does not count as a resource for 12 months after receipt.  Both MAGI and non-MAGI Medi-Cal treat the PEAF payment as a disaster payment which does not count as income.

Families who received the PEAF payment were informed of the payment by phone and email message during the week of July 12, 2021.

The PEAF payment does not tick either the CalWORKs or federal TANF time-on-aid clocks.

The PEAF payment will not impact the amount of the CalWORKs unreimbursed assistance pool for purposes of child support distribution.

Lost PEAF payments can only be replaced if the assistance unit incurs skimming or scamming of their benefits.  (ACL 21-65, July 22, 2021.)

COVID-19 CalFresh waiver of interview requirements

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The California Department of Social Services (CDSS) is extending waivers of the initial application and recertification interview and face-to-face interview.  These waivers were previously in effect, and are not being reimplemented because of the Continuing Appropriations Act.  These waivers are now in effective until December 31, 2021.

Per previous guidance, counties must waive the requirement for an interview at initial certification and recertification of eligibility for benefits if the county has verified the identity of the applicant and has completed all mandatory verifications.  If an interview cannot be waived, the county may require a telephone interview even if the household requests an in-person interview.  However, counties can only deny a request for a face-to-face interview once the county has confirmed that the household has access to a telephone or the county provides access to a telephone.  Counties must also conduct a face-to-face interview as a reasonable accommodation for a disability.

Federal Quality Control reviews will resume for July, 2021.  Counties can conduct quality control interviews by telephone through December 31, 2021.  (All County Welfare Directors Letter, July 1, 2021.)

CalFresh state-wide ABAWD waiver

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The federal Food and Nutrition Service has granted California’s request for a state-wide waiver of the CalFresh Able Bodied Adults Without Dependents (ABAWD) time limit requirements. The ABAWD waiver is effective from July 1, 2021 to June 30, 2022.

Despite the ABAWD waiver, counties must 1) identify ABAWDs, screen for exemptions, and inform clients of ABAWD rules; 2) track and report work registrant, ABAWD and Employment and Training data; and 3) apply sanction requirements for work registrants who voluntarily quit a job of 30 hours or more per week, which provides weekly earnings equal to or greater than federal minimum wage times 30, or who, without good cause, reduce the number of hours worked to less than 30.  Counties cannot impose a sanction if a CalFresh recipient voluntarily quits a job of less than 30 hours per week.

Individuals who were previously discontinued from CalFresh for failure to meet ABAWD requirements and reapply to CalFresh may be approved for benefits if otherwise eligible. CalFresh Employment and Training and voluntary quit sanctions do not stop when the individual moves to a county with an ABAWD time limit waiver.  (ACL 21-67, June 15, 2021.)

COVID-19 CalFresh emergency allotment for July, 2021

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California has been approved to issue an emergency allotment of CalFresh for July, 2021.  All households will receive at least the maximum CalFresh allotment.  Households eligible to receive the maximum allowable allotment based on household size are now eligible to receive an emergency allotment of $95 per month. Households who are not eligible to receive the maximum allowable allotment based on household size, but whose emergency allotment would be less than $95 per month to receive the maximum allotment, will receive additional CalFresh benefits to raise their emergency allotment to the new $95 minimum.

The emergency allotment will be issued on August 8, 2021.

Moving forward, emergency allotments may be approved by FNS on a month-to-month basis until the Secretary of Health and Human Services rescinds the public health emergency.  There will be a one-month phase out of emergency allotments after the public health emergency is rescinded.  (ACWDL, June 24, 2021.)

CalFresh Water Pilot implementation

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The California Department of Social Services (CDSS) has announced the implementation date and final ZIP code selection for the CalFresh Water Pilot. The pilot is a program to provide additional CalFresh nutrition benefits to purchase safe drinking water in areas where it is necessary. Pilot benefits will be available to CalFresh households living in selected ZIP codes in Kern County with out-of-compliance water systems under the California Safe Drinking Water Act. The first date of the pilot is March 1, 2022 and will last for 12 months, depending on the final number of pilot-eligible households and continued funding. 

The following Kern County zip codes will participate in the Pilot:

  • 93241 (Lamont)
  • 93220 (Edison)
  • 93243 (Gorman-Lebec)
  • 93311 (Bakersfield)
  • 93387 (Bakersfield)
  • 93386 (Bakersfield)

Notices about the program will be issued to eligible households on February 1, 2022 regarding the implementation date, eligibility criteria, benefit amount, and pilot duration. Notices will be given to households when they approved to participate in the CalFresh Water Pilot, discontinued from the pilot, or when the pilot ends. (ACL 21-50, April 28, 2021). 

The pilot is extended to October 31, 2021.  (ACL 22-101, November 30, 2022.)