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Food stamps, our most important and neglected nutrition program, constitute the largest and most comprehensive part of the hunger-prevention safety net for California’s poor children, families, and individuals.
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State
Legislative Items |
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Overviews
and On-line Guides archive |
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Graphs, Research
and Reports Archive |
Reauthorization
2007 - Coming Soon |
Our new report discusses county food stamp performance by using the Program Access Index to examine the administration of the program in all of California's counties. Click here for the report.
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New Data:
Click here to view county-by-county estimates of lost food stamp funds and the impact on the local economy.
Click to view estimates on eligible non-participants by county.
How long does it take? For an update on county food stamp application times see page 8 of this report click here
Archives:
Knocking Down Barriers: We've been systematically knocking down barriers to food stamp particiaption in Calfiornia. Checkout our poregress report in barriers to food stamp participation and check out our presentation on Knocking Down Barriers.
Calendar of Food Stamp Changes: Because of the many changes happening to the program we've put together this On the Move Calendar
SSI Cash out: Resources on California's policy of food stamp "cash-out" for recipients of SSI/SSP. California is the only state in which low-income elderly and disabled people who receive cash assistance from the SSI/SSP program are ineligible for food stamps. This policy hurts many SSI/SSP recipients' ability to get adequate, nutritious food. At the same time, cash-out benefits some low-income families in which one family member receives SSI/SSP.
For more information about California's complex cash-out policy, please read our newly released report, Cash-Out in California: A History of Help and Harm. For more detailed information to support this analysis, refer to this policy memo from Mathematica Policy Research on the likely outcomes of ending cash-out. For advocates and service providers interested in other programs that can benefit hungry seniors, please see our newly released background paper, Preventing Hunger Among Elderly Californians.
ABAWD Waivers: Nineteen counties in California now have ABAWD waivers!
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Good News & Bad on ABAWD Waivers. Able-Bodied Adults Without Dependents (ABAWDs) can lose their food stamp eligibility after three months—unless their county submits a waiver requesting year-long eligibility to DSS, which then forwards the request to USDA. USDA approves the waivers for counties meeting one of the following criteria: a 12-month unemployment rate of 10% or higher, the designation of being a “Labor Surplus Area” (LSA) or a 24-month unemployment rate that is at least 20% higher than the national average during that time. In 2003, 21 California counties received waivers. As of July 2004, the following 18 counties have received ABAWD waivers. (The rationale for the waiver is given in parentheses.)
• Alpine (LSA) • Calaveras (LSA) • Del Norte (LSA) • Fresno (>10%) • Glenn (>10%) • Kern (>10%) • Kings (>10%) • Madera (>10%) • Mendocino (LSA) • Merced (>10%) • Sacramento (partial waiver; seven zip code areas: 95639, 95655, 95690, 95742, 95814, 95824, 95832) • San Francisco (20%) • San Joaquin (LSA) • Santa Cruz (20%) • Siskiyou (LSA) • Stanislaus (>10%) • Trinity (LSA) • Tulare (>10%)
Monterey County’s board of supervisors will vote on whether or not to submit a waiver application on July 13.
While CFPA is very pleased that so many counties have moved forward in getting the waivers, there is some bad news on the ABAWD front:
1. Although Lassen and Modoc Counties had waivers approved by FNS, they were not able to get approval from their Boards of Supervisors. As a result, the waivers will not be implemented. 2. Humboldt, Mono, Sierra, and Tuolumne did not renew their waivers from last year.
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For more information on getting your county to request a waiver, click here.
Our continuing battles to end finger imaging of food stamp recipients:
State auditors released an audit of the Statewide Fingerprint Imaging System (SFIS). For a summary, click here. FAQ, More Frequently Asked Questions ,
Tri-fold outreach flyers designed for families and ABAWDs. You can download these flyers (in Microsoft Word) and customize them for your county. Click "cancel" if asked for password; you don't need one.
Updated Food Stamp Income Eligibility Standards An updated chart with the income standards and maximum food stamp benefits can be found here.
For more information about California's complex cash-out policy, read our newly released report, Cash-Out in California: A History of Help and Harm. For more detailed information to support this analysis, refer to this policy memo from Mathematica Policy Research on the likely outcomes of ending cash-out. For advocates and service providers interested in other programs that can benefit hungry seniors, please see our newly released background paper, Preventing Hunger Among Elderly Californians.
Ever wondered how many federal food stamp dollars your county loses because of low food stamp participation in California? CFPA has released an analysis of lost federal dollars and it's effect on counties due to low food stamp participation, called "Lost Dollars, Empty Plates.” Get the report and the county-by-county tables.
Almost 90 percent of eligible adults don’t get food stamps. Visit our press page for copies of the report from UCLA, for press releases and other materials.
