What Do You Need To Know?
CalFresh is a federal funded Supplement Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) which is a new name for Food Stamp in California. The program assists people with low-income households to get healthy and nutritious food to improve their health conditions. The qualified applicants are provided with a food card that can be used at food stores allowed by the program. The Electronic Benefits Transfer (EBT) card acts as an ATM card which can be used to buy food. This makes the whole purchasing experience very convenient for the beneficiaries of the CalFresh program.
Are You Eligible?
The applicant needs to meet the following requirements to be able to apply for the CalFresh benefits. Those are,
- The candidate has to be a permanent resident of the California state to be eligible for the CalFresh benefit program
- The candidate must have a US citizenship or a legal alien (or have lived in the U.S for at least 5 years) to receive the CalFresh program’s benefits.
- The candidate must have a current bank balance under $2001
- If the candidate is sharing a household with a person then the current bank balance should be below $ 3001
- All members of the household need to show their employment status. There are no work compulsions for candidates with a disability or with children who are six years old or young than that.
- The candidate needs to show their social security number (SSN) to apply for the CalFresh program
- The candidate has children who are under 18 years of age
- The candidate has some kind of disability and lives on some disability-related assistance
- People who are not California citizens but are living there on humanitarian reasons for on permanent basis might be qualified for the program. Although it is not guaranteed that all the members of the households will be able to get the benefits. Some people who are only temporary citizens cannot apply for the program like exchange students, students on a study visa are not eligible for the California CalFresh program.
The number of members in a household and total household income is also very important factors while considering a candidate for the CalFresh program.
The amount of the maximum gross income level before taxes must be less than or equal to
| Size Of Household | Maximum Annual Income Level ($) |
| 1 | 16237 |
| 2 | 21983 |
| 3 | 27729 |
| 4 | 33475 |
| 5 | 39221 |
| 6 | 44967 |
| 7 | 50713 |
| 8 | 56459 |
In case, the household size is greater than 8 members, an additional amount of $5,746 is considered per member. The amount of annual income level might change time to time therefore; it is a good step to contact the managing agency in your area. They will be able to provide you with the most recent and up-to-date guidelines about the program.
You can also check your eligibility from on the official CalFresh website. You will be required to answer questions related to you,
- Earnings
- Rent or mortgage
- Utility expenses
- Child support expenses
- Day-care expenses
- Medical bills, if you are older than 60, or disabled
- Other benefit programs you have applied to
- Any other payments
How To Apply?
After making sure your eligibility for the CalFresh benefit program, the next step is the application process. To make the process simple and painless, Department of Social Services (which looks over the CalFresh program) has come up with several ways through which an applicant can submit the application form for the CalFresh program.
To download the application form online kindly visit the CalFresh website. You will get detail information regarding the program and also will be able to get your hands on the application form. Before filling the application form make sure you have all the required information and documents to speed up the process. Once you have filled out the application form you can return it to the County welfare office either by
- Fax
- In-person
In case, you wish to return the application form in person you will have to locate a nearby Department of Human Services office in your area. There is a possibility that you might find more than one office in your county.
For Further Information
In case you have other queries please call the CalFresh Helpline office at the toll-free number 1-877-847-3663. The CalFresh representatives will make sure that you are provided with accurate and updated information regarding the program to ease the application process. You can choose any of the above options to get the application form and apply either in person or online however you feel comfortable.