{"id":455871,"date":"2026-09-07T01:46:38","date_gmt":"2026-09-07T01:46:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/455871\/"},"modified":"2026-09-07T01:46:38","modified_gmt":"2026-09-07T01:46:38","slug":"calfresh-recipients-could-lose-benefits-under-new-work-rules","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/455871\/","title":{"rendered":"CalFresh recipients could lose benefits under new work rules"},"content":{"rendered":"

Thousands of CalFresh recipients could lose benefits under new work requirements<\/p>\n

\"Andres<\/a>SACRAMENTO, Calif. \u2014<\/p>\n

New federal eligibility rules could cause some Californians to lose CalFresh food assistance after three months if they do not meet work requirements or qualify for an exemption.<\/p>\n

The rules generally apply to adults ages 18 to 64 who live in households without children younger than 14. Those recipients must work at least 20 hours per week to continue receiving benefits beyond three months unless they qualify for an exemption.<\/p>\n

The requirements took effect June 1, but eligibility is reviewed when recipients apply for CalFresh or renew their benefits. As a result, recipients will not lose assistance at the same time.<\/p>\n

The first affected group could reach the three-month limit in October, with additional recipients reaching the limit on a rolling basis.<\/p>\n

People with disabilities and college students attending school at least half-time are among those who may qualify for exemptions.<\/p>\n

River City Food Bank officials said the new rules also affect some people who were previously exempt, including veterans, people experiencing homelessness and former foster youth.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re seeing a much broader range of folks that this applies to,\u201d said Amy Dierlam of River City Food Bank.<\/p>\n

Dierlam said the requirements are already discouraging some people from seeking assistance. She recalled speaking with a young man who had been in and out of work and wanted to reapply for benefits.<\/p>\n

\u201cI told him of the new work requirement, and his response was, \u2018Not worth it,\u2019\u201d Dierlam said. \u201cI\u2019m struggling just to get food, and now you\u2019re telling me I have to work, and I can\u2019t work right now. I\u2019m struggling to get work.\u201d<\/p>\n

River City Food Bank expects demand for food assistance to increase through the holiday season and is seeking additional volunteers and donations.<\/p>\n

CalFresh recipients have begun receiving notices about the changes. Officials are urging recipients to review notices from their counties carefully and seek help early to determine whether they qualify for an exemption. <\/p>\n

See more coverage of top California stories here<\/a> | Download our app<\/a> | Subscribe to our morning newsletter<\/a> | Find us on YouTube here and subscribe to our channel<\/a>. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Thousands of CalFresh recipients could lose benefits under new work requirements SACRAMENTO, Calif. \u2014 New federal eligibility rules…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":455872,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[14774,14852,8490,3302,179933,28692,70694,5615,18442,34156,14608,3906,179930,179932,15256,592,15769,14769,179934,121,123,122,14188,179931],"class_list":["post-455871","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sacramento","tag-amy-dierlam","tag-andres-valle","tag-benefit","tag-calfresh","tag-calfresh-food-assistance","tag-calfresh-recipient","tag-college-student","tag-disability","tag-ebt","tag-exemption","tag-food-stamps","tag-month","tag-new-work-requirement","tag-new-work-rule","tag-notice","tag-people","tag-recipient","tag-river-city-food-bank","tag-rolling-basis","tag-sacramento","tag-sacramento-headlines","tag-sacramento-news","tag-snap-benefits","tag-three-month-limit"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/455871","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=455871"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/455871\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/455872"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=455871"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=455871"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=455871"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}