Overview
- The federal SNAP change, which takes effect June 1, requires most adults ages 18 to 64 to document roughly 20 hours per week (80 hours per month) of work, school, volunteering or other approved activities to keep CalFresh benefits.
- Groups that were often exempt before are now more likely to be subject to the rule, including veterans, people experiencing homelessness, foster youth aging out, parents with children 14 or older, and adults under 65.
- Feeding San Diego estimates about 93,000 people in San Diego County could be affected by the June 1 phase while California officials say roughly 600,000 to 665,000 people statewide may be at risk.
- County officials say recipients will continue receiving benefits until their next recertification and urge people to update contact information through the BenefitsCal portal to avoid interruptions.
- Advocates and local agencies warn the change will raise demand for food-distribution sites, add paperwork and case-review workload for counties, and compound pressures when states must pick up a larger share of SNAP administrative costs in October.