Good news about CalFresh benefits for SSI recipients!
Beginning May 1, 2019, hundreds of thousands of Californians will have a significant barrier to adequate and stable nutrition removed. Regulations barring Supplemental Security Income (SSI) recipients from receiving CalFresh benefits have been lifted, opening access to this critical safety-net program to large numbers of low-income seniors and people with disabilities.
Estimates are that as many as 190,000 people across the Bay Area may newly qualify to receive CalFresh benefits as the result of the policy change, and as many as 1.3 million statewide. CalFresh provides an EBT card to qualified recipients allowing them to purchase healthy foods. It is a critical resource for food security for some of California’s lowest-income residents.
Media coverage providing additional details about this encouraging development includes this story in the April 30th San Francisco Chronicle. Additional resources can be found at: