The governor’s office announced California will change CalFresh student rules so every undergraduate enrolled in a degree program at a California Community College, California State University or the University of California meets initial application requirements.
The office said the state expects more than 200,000 additional eligible students will enroll, which the release said would unlock over a quarter‑billion dollars in additional food assistance; students can receive up to $306 a month to buy groceries.
Under the new approach, financially eligible undergraduates enrolled at least half‑time in an associate or bachelor’s program will begin qualifying simply by being enrolled in a degree program at a CCC, CSU or UC; the release said this removes procedural barriers that discouraged applications.
The administration also launched an outreach campaign called “Full Carts” to notify students and encourage applications; Chris Larsen contributed $1.5 million to fund the campaign, and Instacart and Snap will support outreach on their platforms, the release said.
For students who want to apply, the release directs them to BenefitsCal.com; it also notes EBT cardholders can use the ebtEDGE mobile app to manage benefits and points readers to the CalFresh data dashboard for enrollment figures.
“We can’t expect students to learn if they’re hungry,” Governor said in the release. CDSS Director Jennifer Troia said, “I’m proud of our continued work and commitment to streamlining government in ways that truly help Californians.”
The release noted CalFresh is federally funded and administered locally by counties and serves nearly 5.2 million individuals each month in more than 3.1 million households.
State
Gavin Newsom
Governor · Democrat
Named once in this story.
Portrait: Official portrait
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