{"id":326273,"date":"2026-05-21T15:08:08","date_gmt":"2026-05-21T15:08:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/326273\/"},"modified":"2026-05-21T15:08:08","modified_gmt":"2026-05-21T15:08:08","slug":"rollout-of-changes-to-calfresh-puts-600k-californians-at-risk-of-losing-food-benefits-long-beach-post-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/326273\/","title":{"rendered":"Rollout of changes to CalFresh puts 600K Californians at risk of losing food benefits \u2022 Long Beach Post News"},"content":{"rendered":"

This article was originally published by LAist<\/a> on Wednesday, May 20, 2026.<\/p>\n

More than 600,000 Californians are at risk of losing CalFresh food benefits after expanded work requirements imposed by the federal government go into effect next month, state and county officials warned Wednesday.<\/p>\n

The \u201cOne Big Beautiful Bill<\/a>,\u201d signed into law by President Donald Trump last summer, included \u201cmultiple significant changes to CalFresh,\u201d the state\u2019s version of SNAP that serves about 5.4 million people, according to the\u00a0Legislative Analyst\u2019s Office<\/a>.<\/p>\n

They include requirements that some adults work, volunteer or participate in a school or job-training program for 20 hours a week.<\/p>\n

People who don\u2019t meet the expanded work requirements will be restricted to three months of CalFresh benefits every three years, according to the state\u00a0Department of Social Services<\/a>. CalFresh benefits can be used to buy\u00a0almost any food<\/a>, as well as seeds or plants that can grow food.<\/p>\n

The new federal rules will now affect people experiencing homelessness, veterans and former foster youth, unless they are excused for other reasons.<\/p>\n

About 260,000 people in L.A. County are at risk of losing CalFresh benefits under the new requirements, according to Hilda Solis, chair of the L.A. County Board of Supervisors.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese expanded work requirements are going to create more barriers for people who are already struggling to meet ends,\u201d she said at a briefing Wednesday. \u201cIt\u2019s not about creating opportunity, it\u2019s about making it harder for people to keep the benefits that they already qualify for.\u201d<\/p>\n

About 108,000 people in L.A. County have already lost their CalFresh benefits since the bill was passed last July, which Solis said is putting more pressure on local food banks and community-based organizations that are already operating at capacity to meet residents\u2019 needs.<\/p>\n

What are the changes to CalFresh?<\/p>\n

Three main changes to CalFresh are planned for this year: expanded work requirements, disqualification of some people without U.S. citizenship and a new funding model that will pull more money from state and local sources instead of the federal government.<\/p>\n

The work-requirement changes go into effect in June and are expected to affect about 665,000 Californians, according to the Legislative Analyst\u2019s Office. The rules will be expanded to include people up to age 64. Previously, it applied to those up to 54 years old, according to officials.<\/p>\n

There are some exemptions, including people who would be unable to meet the necessary hours because of a physical or mental illness and those caring for children under 14 years old.<\/p>\n

Back in April, eligibility guidelines changed for certain Californians without U.S. citizenship. They disqualified some groups from being eligible for CalFresh, including refugees and victims of trafficking, according to the Legislative Analyst\u2019s Office.<\/p>\n

An estimated 72,000 people were expected to lose benefits because of limited eligibility.<\/p>\n

In October, the way CalFresh is funded is expected to change, shifting more costs to states and counties. California could face roughly $480 million in new annual costs and $190 million for counties, according to the Legislative Analyst\u2019s Office.<\/p>\n

How could it affect LA County?<\/p>\n

The roughly 260,000 Angelenos likely to be affected by the expanded work requirements may not lose their benefits immediately. People will be evaluated on the new rules when they apply or recertify to keep their CalFresh benefits, according to Jackie Contreras, director of the county\u2019s Department of Public Social Services.<\/p>\n

Contreras said people don\u2019t need to take action today, and the department will notify Angelenos directly before any changes affect their case. She encouraged residents to keep their contact information up to date, carefully review all notices and\u00a0contact the department<\/a>\u00a0for questions or assistance.<\/p>\n

What if I need assistance now? LAist, the Long Beach Post and Boyle Heights Beat compiled a list of food resources in L.A. County, Los Angeles, Orange County and Long Beach last fall:\u00a0Need food assistance? Where to go when CalFresh and WIC benefits are delayed<\/a>. You can also find a flyer from Nutrition Access LA in\u00a0English and Spanish here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The Los Angeles Regional Food Bank is preparing to see people lose their benefits in the fall as recertifications roll in, according to CEO Michael Flood. The organization has been shoring up the supply through private donations from farmers and manufacturers, as well as purchasing food with funding from the county.<\/p>\n

L.A. County committed $12 million to the Food Bank during the\u00a0federal government shutdown last fall<\/a>, which translated into about six million pounds of food, or roughly 5.5 million meals.<\/p>\n

Flood said the organization was able to stretch those resources into this year, distributing some of the purchased food now and in the coming months to help offset the loss of CalFresh benefits. But the L.A. Regional Food Bank is already seeing an increased demand for food assistance, which he said has been driven primarily by higher prices and inflation.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe all see it \u2026 shopping in a grocery store, those who, you know, need to fill up the gas tank to get to work,\u201d Flood said. \u201cThat is something that\u2019s coming through loud and clear and really is causing \u2026 challenges for people\u2019s budgets here locally.\u201d<\/p>\n

During a recent distribution in Baldwin Park, for example, food provided for about 2,000 households ran out half an hour before the event was slated to end, Flood said. He added that it\u2019s likely the surge in demand will continue through the end of this year and into the next, and that the L.A. Regional Food Bank is \u201cdoing everything we can to try to increase resources.\u201d<\/p>\n

On the state level, $20 million has been deployed to help counties prepare for the expanded work requirements, according to Assemblymember Alex Lee, chair of the Assembly Human Services Committee.<\/p>\n

Lee\u00a0co-authored a bill<\/a>\u00a0that aims to exempt former foster youth from the expanded work requirements. The bill is pending in the state Legislature.<\/p>\n

How to help: To support the Los Angeles Regional Food Bank\u2019s work, you can: volunteer, donate financially, donate food \u2014 depending on a food bank\u2019s ability to accept and coordinate. More information can be found at\u00a0lafoodbank.org<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"This article was originally published by LAist on Wednesday, May 20, 2026. More than 600,000 Californians are at…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":326274,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[33],"tags":[131,133,132],"class_list":["post-326273","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-long-beach","tag-long-beach","tag-long-beach-headlines","tag-long-beach-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/326273","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=326273"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/326273\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/326274"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=326273"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=326273"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=326273"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}