CalFresh
CalFresh is the California implementation of the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), formerly known as the Food Stamp program, which provides financial assistance for purchasing food to low-income California residents.
Eligibility
Federal Supplemental Security Income (SSI) recipients in states that provide state supplements to SSI are ineligible for SNAP/CalFresh pursuant to 7 U.S.C. § 2015(g). The State Supplementation Program (SSP or SSI/SSP), also known as the SNAP cash-out program, is the state supplement to the SSI program and provides state funded supplemental food benefits to SSI recipients in lieu of SNAP benefits.
Administration
The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) is a federal aid program administered by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), while CalFresh is administered jointly by the USDA, the California Department of Social Services (CDSS), and the welfare departments of the 58 counties of California:
Federal law mostly consists of the Food Stamp Act (7 U.S.C. § 2011 et seq.), and state law mostly consists of California Welfare and Institutions Code (WIC) Division 9, Part 6, Chapter 10 (WIC § 18900 et seq.). Federal regulations are codified in Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) Title 7 (7 CFR 271 et seq.) and state regulations are not part of the California Code of Regulations (CCR) but are separately published as the CDSS Manual of Policies and Procedures (MPP) and are "available for public use in the office of the welfare department of each county".[1] The MPP includes the Eligibility and Assistance Standards Manual (MPP divisions 40-50, 81-82, 89-91), the Food Stamp Manual (MPP division 63), and the Electronic Benefit Transfer System Manual (MPP division 16). In addition to this manual, the CDSS often communicates policy direction to counties through periodic All County Letters (ACLs), All County Information Notices (ACINs), and business letters.[2]
See also
References
- Part 1, Division 2, Title 22 of the California Code of Regulations
- "How the Food Stamp (CalFresh) Program is structured". foodstampguide.org. Legal Services of Northern California. Retrieved 18 January 2013.
External links
- GetCalFresh.org from Code for America
- BenefitsCal.org from the County Welfare Directors Association
- C4Yourself application system from C-IV
- CalWIN application system from WCDS
- Official website
- Food Stamp Manual (alternate)
- UC CalFresh Nutrition Education Program