![\"Maricela](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/19566258-50fb-4e3a-945e-0f88c72a1328_1618183236.jpg\")
<\/a>SACRAMENTO, Calif. \u2014<\/p>\nHundreds of Northern California residents lost their CalFresh benefits overnight as new federal work requirements went into effect<\/a>, impacting multiple counties across the region. <\/p>\n In June, the federal government revised work and community engagement requirements for CalFresh, requiring recipients between the ages of 18 and 64 who are not disabled and do not have a dependent child under 14 to meet specific criteria to retain their benefits. Previously, unhoused individuals and veterans were exempt from these requirements, but that is no longer the case. <\/p>\n Several counties have reported the effects of these changes:<\/p>\n Sacramento County: 55 individuals lost their benefits Wednesday, and 1,500 individuals are under eligibility review in October.Stanislaus County: 156 individuals lost their benefits Wednesday, and 657 individuals are under eligibility review in October.Placer County: 106 people were discontinued from benefits, and 150 individuals are under eligibility review in October.Yuba County: reported 148 residents losing benefits but did not disclose how many are under review.<\/p>\n As residents navigate these changes, many are expressing concerns about how they will afford food. Amanda McCarthy with River City Food Bank said, “People are generally very worried, and there’s a lot of uncertainty about what’s coming down the pike and when.” <\/p>\n The River City Food Bank currently serves about 30,000 people each month at their two Sacramento locations. While the number of people seeking assistance is below expectations, McCarthy said that could change. <\/p>\n “I hope that we will see that number stay low, however, I don’t anticipate that continuing. I think the trend and the trajectory is going to be an increase in people that are losing benefits for a variety of reasons, but I think ultimately that number is going to climb and maybe not just October. I think we really should be looking out in the fall in general,” she said. <\/p>\n For those already relying on CalFresh, rising food costs are adding to the uncertainty. <\/p>\n “Oh, everything’s getting expensive. Food is so high, I don’t care what you eat, what store you go to, you’re still going to spend a lot of money. More than what you expect to spend, I can tell you that right now,” said Arnita Kennedy, a food bank client. <\/p>\n Sacramento County officials said it is still too early to determine which populations are being most affected by the changes. However, they plan to analyze the geographic distribution of those losing benefits to identify any patterns.<\/p>\n CalFresh eligibility and exemptions are determined on a case-by-case basis. Individuals may still qualify for exemptions based on circumstances such as:<\/p>\n PregnancyPhysical or mental health conditionsParticipation in a substance-use disorder treatment programCaregiving responsibilitiesDisability statusParticipation in another qualifying work program<\/p>\n Additional exemptions include:<\/p>\n People caring for a person with a disability.People with a child under the age of 14 in their CalFresh household.Individuals receiving or applying for disability or unemployment benefits.Members of a federally recognized tribe.People participating in another qualifying work program.People attending school at least half-time.<\/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":"Hundreds in Northern California lose CalFresh benefits under new work requirements New federal work requirements for CalFresh have…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":482233,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[9557,33199,8490,14189,3302,14773,7,9,8,10800,5615,188986,413,4915,20217,179930,266,212,492,592],"class_list":["post-482232","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-california","tag-age","tag-amanda-mccarthy","tag-benefit","tag-benefits","tag-calfresh","tag-calfresh-benefit","tag-california","tag-california-headlines","tag-california-news","tag-change","tag-disability","tag-eligibility-review","tag-food","tag-hundred","tag-individual","tag-new-work-requirement","tag-northern-california","tag-number","tag-october","tag-people"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/482232","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=482232"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/482232\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/482233"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=482232"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=482232"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=482232"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}