New Calfresh rules require 20 hours weekly for many adults

New CalFresh rules took effect Monday, requiring many California recipients ages 18 to 64 to work, volunteer or train for 20 hours a week to keep food assistance. The change comes from President Trump's HR-1 budget bill and applies to adults without dependent children under age 14 unless they qualify for an exemption.

CalFresh benefits are loaded onto an EBT debit card that can be used to buy food at grocery stores. For non-working applicants, the rules allow three months of benefits before they are cut off, and clients have 90 days after reaching their reapplication date to find work.

Alameda County Food Bank

Michael Altfest, director of the Alameda County Food Bank, said the agency expects somewhere between 20,000 and 30,000 people to have benefits eliminated or impacted over the coming year. He said, "Over the course of this coming year, we're expecting somewhere between 20-to-30,000 people having their benefits either eliminated or impacted as a result of this cut," and added, "It definitely will mean that people who are within those definitions will need to meet those work requirements somehow,"

The new rule covers adults ages 18 to 64 without dependent children under age 14, but it exempts students, pregnant women and people with physical or mental disabilities. That leaves a large group of CalFresh clients facing a new compliance deadline as they move through annual reapplication.

Michael Bernick

Michael Bernick, a special counsel at Duane Morris LLP, said the job search side of the rule could be difficult for people trying to keep benefits. "It's a tough, tough, tough world out there in terms of trying to get a job. But that's why you need this work structure and support," he said. He also said, "These work mandates can actually be successful or positive, as they were in the welfare-to-work, but they need to have these other elements that we don't have right now."

Bernick added, "The main point you bring up is the right one, which is, where are these jobs coming from?" That question will shape how many recipients can stay eligible as the year unfolds, since the full impact on the job market and the food safety net may take 12 to 15 months to become clear.