Tag: calfresh

Advocacy Wins 2017

November 1, 2017

We are happy to report that there is a lot to celebrate from California’s 2017 legislative session.

At the beginning of the year, our Policy and Advocacy Team set our sights on 11 bills and two budget issues that we knew could improve food access for our neighbors in need. Throughout the year we wrote letters to our legislators in Sacramento, encouraged our supporters to call their own legislators, and even testified at hearings in the Capitol. And thanks to our partners at the California Association of Food Banks, the California Food Policy Advocates, and the Western Center on Law and Poverty – among many organizations – we saw several important victories in our collective goal to end hunger.  Here are some of the highlights:

Starting in 2018, we will see more State funding for food banks across the state:

  • $8 million for the CalFood fund in 2017-18, which will provide State funding to food banks to purchase more California-grown fruits and vegetables – a big victory considering the fund only received $2 million last year! Thank you to those of you who signed a postcard for Governor Brown or Assemblymember Ting.
  • Senate Bill 61, authored by Senator Hertzberg, will renew and extend the Emergency Food for Families Voluntary Tax Contribution Fund. This will allow taxpayers to keep contributing to the work of food banks in California through their tax returns.

Children and students in California will have better access to nutrition at school:

  • Senate Bill 138, authored by Senator McGuire, will require school districts to identify children who are already on Medi-Cal so that they can automatically be enrolled in free school meals. The legislation also allows very high poverty schools across California to serve universal free breakfast and lunch to all of their students – not just those who are enrolled in free or reduced-price meals.
  • Senate Bill 250, authored by Senator Hertzberg, will ensure that schools cannot deny lunch nor punish students if their parent or guardian hasn’t paid their lunch bill on time.

CalFresh (food stamps) will become easier to access for families and individuals in need:

  • Several bills will make it easier for eligible people to receive and stay on CalFresh benefits starting next year. This includes SB 278, authored by Senator Wiener, which will protect CalFresh participants from penalties related to over-issuances when they were caused by county errors, and SB 282 also authored by Senator Wiener, which will provide clarity to counties on whether they can encourage people to use their CalFresh benefits at restaurants.
  • Assembly Bill 607, authored by Assemblymember Gloria, will streamline and modernize the Disaster-CalFresh program, making it easier and quicker for people to receive benefits in the case of a natural disaster.

You, as supporters of the San Francisco-Marin Food Bank, empower our Policy & Advocacy team to advance legislation and policies that improve food assistance at the local, state and national level.   For that we say thank you.

Click here to sign up for our Advocacy Alerts, so that you can help us to advocate at critical moments in the legislative session in 2018!

Monet’s Story | CalFresh Helps Busy College Student Thrive

September 22, 2017

Monet is a full-time student at San Francisco State with a double major. She’s got dreams of starting a nonprofit to help inner city youth overcome their challenges as she once did.

From the time she was 13, Monet took care of her two younger brothers as her divorced parents struggled to put food on the table. She attributes those responsibilities to her motivation to succeed today.

“We all need to survive,” says Monet. “But we can’t just set up camp in our struggle. We have to strive to do better.”

Right now, Monet juggles a full class load with a full-time job to put herself through school. But with the skyrocketing cost of housing, she has trouble making ends meet.

“Sometimes I thin out my food and eat just rice to pay for basic necessities,” she says. “And I don’t have any money to put in my savings for emergencies.”

Enter the CalFresh Outreach Team, which recently helped Monet secure CalFresh (food stamps) as well as connect her to our pantry at SF State. In addition to food distribution, the Food Bank also works to ensure that people are able to take full advantage of the federal food assistance programs available to them. With CalFresh, Monet can buy food at her regular grocery store and supplement what she gets there with fresh produce and staples from the pantry located on her campus.

“Hunger should never stand in the way of a student’s education,” said Francesca Costa, CalFresh Outreach Program Manager. “By helping Monet and other students focus on their studies instead of where their next meal is coming from, we are investing in their success in school and in life.”

Monet said that the Food Bank helped lift a weight off her shoulders. Wise beyond her years, Monet views her situation as an opportunity: “It’s challenging to survive on my own. But it brings growth.

“Taking care of myself financially, mentally, being on top of school, and being on time for work is a lot. But receiving food has helped, so I don’t have to worry about where I’m going to get grocery money. I’m so grateful for the Food Bank.”

Click here to learn more about CalFresh and how you can sign up for benefits.

Click here to read about our College Pantries.

Take Action

Right now, the Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program (SNAP – called CalFresh in California)  is at risk of federal budget cuts. Will you take just a minute to add your name to our letter to our California legislators, urging them to protect and defend funding for SNAP? Click here to add your name.

Over 60,000 people in San Francisco and Marin Counties rely on the to buy food for themselves and their families each and every week. Without the SNAP program, low-income neighbors, who are already struggling to make ends meet, would go hungry.

CalFresh Success Story | “Food stamps helped me stay in school.”

May 4, 2017

When 29-year-old Julia was in her last year of nursing school, she finally succumbed to the stark reality of her situation. Her husband had recently been laid off from his engineering job, and with bills piling up, the couple wasn’t sure if they could afford for Julia to finish school. They were also struggling to put food on the table for their kids.

“It got pretty scary for a while,” Julia recalls. “My husband and I were just trying to feed our family. We were so careful with our spending, but it just wasn’t enough.”  

After maxing-out their credit cards, Julia realized it was time to reach out for help. They applied for CalFresh, a federally-funded nutrition program (formerly called Food Stamps) that helps low-income households buy healthy foods.

Getting enrolled made a quick but lasting impact on Julia’s family. “I remember how we immediately all started eating better food. We’re talking about fruits and vegetables we had been skipping. And, food stamps helped me stay in school and earn my degree,” Julia says.

After Julia graduated, she landed a job as a labor and delivery nurse at Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital. With her steady income and her husband back at work, the family no longer needed CalFresh. But it’s not far from her mind: part of her job at the hospital is to help new mothers with financial challenges sign up for the program.

“If you’re not doing very well, and you’re not making enough money, CalFresh is one of the best ways to help you get by until you can get back on your feet.  It certainly helped me and my family get over the hump,” she says.

The Food Bank’s CalFresh Team is dedicated to getting eligible families like Julia’s connected to this valuable food assistance program. Last year, we helped 2,144 households apply for CalFresh, and families enrolled by the Food Bank were awarded over $5 million in benefits to buy groceries. Because CalFresh brings federal dollars into low-income communities, it is one of the best tools we have to end hunger.

Donate to our programs that help neighbors like Julia.

Learn more about our CalFresh Outreach. 

CalFresh ‘Churn’ Fueled by Outdated, Inadequate Processes

January 3, 2017

We need strong state leadership on churn in order to boost CalFresh participation rates for all counties.

We have all experienced the chore of renewing annual memberships or subscriptions. Sometimes it’s easy: you get a reminder email, you log in and update your account, and you receive confirmation that everything is settled.

But sometimes it’s not: an inconspicuous notice gets buried in the mail, or the turnaround is tight and you have to hunt for the necessary documents. Sometimes the notice is incomprehensible, and you don’t realize that you’re about to lose services. Maybe you tried to call, but customer service is only open when you’re at work, or the length of the call queue is interminable. Before you know it, the deadline has passed, and you’ve lapsed.

Unfortunately for CalFresh recipients, the program’s twice-yearly reporting and annual recertification requirements are a recipe for churn, causing them to miss out on important food benefits. At every step of the way, outdated and user-unfriendly processes make it harder than it should be to stay enrolled.

To recertify every year, a CalFresh recipient must (1) complete and mail a paper form to the county office; (2) re-submit documents verifying household income and expenses and any changed circumstances; and (3) complete an interview with a county worker.

A typical experience goes more like this: [1]

  • One paper notice is sent by postal mail, alerting the client that their recertification is due. (Email is not an option, even though everyone – even security-minded banks and health care providers – uses email because it’s more reliable and efficient.)
  • The notice is written in bureaucratic language that is at best confusing and at worst, nonsensical. Sometimes the notice is sent in the wrong language.
  • In this notice, the county assigns a mandatory interview date and time without any input from the client. Unsurprisingly, the time often does not work with participants’ schedules; most CalFresh recipients work, and the office is not open outside regular business hours. (Imagine your next doctor’s appointment being assigned to you by the doctor’s office, without consideration of your schedule.)
  • Sometimes the interview date has already passed by the time a notice is received.
  • If any of this is unclear or the assigned interview time requires a change, participants may have to start a long game of phone tag, during which time their benefits expire.
  • Further, if a client’s address changed in the last year, or if mail delivery is unreliable, participants may not receive any notices in the mail at all – in which case, they discover they have lost benefits while trying to buy food.

Churn is a problem across California, despite widespread recognition that it is destabilizing for participants. While some counties are making efforts to tinker with their processes within existing Federal and State requirements, true change will come from efforts to dramatically streamline and modernize those requirements. Without state leadership to identify and require effective consumer-centered policies and protocols, churn will continue to be a drag on California’s CalFresh participation rate.

When critical food benefits are at stake, a smooth renewal process can make all the difference. In our next blog post, we will explore how better churn data collection at the county level could help to uncover ideas for successful solutions, and how the State can help counties to adopt practices and procedures that are known to work. Stay tuned!

In case you missed them, here are the first two posts in this blog series about CalFresh churn:

Post #1: CalFresh ‘Churn’ Means More Missing Meals in SF and Marin

Post #2: The Steep Cost of CalFresh ‘Churn’

[1] Deep research in Contra Costa County found that all of these problems and more combine to create churn. ‘Using Data to Address and Diagnose Churn’ (August, 2016) PowerPoint presentation given to the CalFresh Learning Collaborative: http://calfreshlearningcollaborative.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/webinar-8252016.pdf

Food Safety Net Remains Intact

December 15, 2016

Many of our partners, colleagues, and clients have expressed concerns that proposed changes by the incoming federal administration will change access to safety net programs – including food assistance — that so many in our community depend on.

On November 21st, 2016, the City and County of San Francisco released a statement affirming that at this time, there are absolutely no changes to any of the vital programs administered by the SF Human Services Agency, including CalFresh and Medi-Cal. Marin County released a similar letter on December 6th, affirming its commitment to serving all residents of Marin through these vital programs.

Read the full statement from Trent Rhorer, Executive Director of SF-HSA .
Read the full statement from Grant Colfax, Director of Marin-HHS.

In the coming months and years, we may call on our community to join us in protecting these crucial programs. For now, the San Francisco Human Services Agency, the Marin County Department of Health and Human Services, and the San Francisco-Marin Food Bank remain open for business as usual.

Additionally, San Francisco has affirmed that it will remain a Sanctuary City, meaning that law enforcement will not assist in the deportation of undocumented immigrants. As always, receiving CalFresh and/or Medi-Cal will not impact anyone’s immigration status or future prospects for gaining permanent legal status. Marin County also passed a resolution on December 13th, expressing the County’s commitment to protecting the rights, freedoms and interests of all members of Marin County.

The California Department of Social Services (CDSS) has also released this All-County Information Notice instructing all California counties to assure low-income immigrants that receipt of CalFresh nutrition benefits, or other programs that do not give cash, will not impact their immigration status.

For more information about receiving CalFresh and Medi-Cal as an immigrant, click here: English/Español/中文/Tiếng Việt/русский.

The Steep Cost of CalFresh ‘Churn’

December 15, 2016

Up to $1.16 million lost each year in SF and Marin due to CalFresh ‘recertification churn’

CalFresh recertification churn hurts far too many of our most vulnerable neighbors.  Collectively, they are losing out on thousands of dollars of food assistance:  we estimate that in San Francisco and Marin, upwards of $96,503 in CalFresh dollars are lost by participants each month due to recertification churn.[1]  Recertification churn happens when households do not complete the recertification process (“RRR”) at the one-year mark, only to re-enroll in benefits within 3 months.

In a year, that’s $1.16 million in CalFresh dollars.  When we look at the potential impact on our local economy, the number is even greater – $2 million in lost economic activity over the course of a year.[2] This report found that the administrative costs of recertification were anywhere from 1/2 to 1/3 the costs of processing an initial application. If it takes only 5 minutes more to complete the new applications compared to processing the recertification for those that reapply within 30 days, the added workload would be 100 hours per month.

For neighbors who are struggling to make ends meet, staying enrolled in CalFresh can be a big challenge. In San Francisco County, 25% of people with an RRR due fail to complete it and do not receive benefits the next month. In Marin County, that number is much higher, at 41%.

When counting the losses as missed meals, the numbers are even more alarming. Taking only those cases that reapplied within 30 days and calculating the loss of CalFresh benefits for them at the average benefit rate, San Francisco and Marin are missing out on about 32,000 meals per month. Over a year, that’s almost 400,000 meals.[3]

Two counties that appear to be doing a good job of keeping people continuously enrolled on CalFresh through their RRR process are Tulare and Fresno. In both counties, about 85% of households that have an RRR due are still receiving benefits the following month, compared to 59% and 75% in Marin and San Francisco respectively.

Next week, we will explore why churn is so common and what aspects of the recertification process make it so easy to fall off.

In case you missed it, learn the basics about CalFresh Churn in last week’s blog post.

 

[1] These estimates assume that each household that did not receive benefits in the month following their recertification but then reapplied within 30 days lost a month’s worth of CalFresh benefits at the average benefit level for that county. Those that reapplied in 60 or 90 days are not included in this calculation.

[2] California Food Policy Advocates, ‘Lost Dollars, Empty Plates’ (2014)

[3] It is worth noting that benefits lost due to churn following semi-annual reporting are not captured here.

 

CalFresh ‘Churn’ Means More Missing Meals in SF and Marin

December 1, 2016

CalFresh – known nationally as SNAP and formerly as ‘food stamps’ – is a cornerstone of our food safety net in California. Almost 4.5 million people participate in CalFresh statewide, and more than 60,000[1] people participate in San Francisco and Marin combined. CalFresh participants receive an “EBT card” – which functions like a debit card that gets replenished with CalFresh benefits each month; participants then use CalFresh benefits to buy food in grocery stores and farmers’ markets.

Unfortunately, CalFresh churn is a big problem among many recipients.

Churn is when an eligible recipient unexpectedly loses CalFresh benefits, usually because of missed reporting requirements, only to re-enroll within one to three months.

In order to stay on benefits, CalFresh households must report eligibility information periodically. At six months after initial application, participants must notify the county of any household circumstances that have changed through a form called a SAR 7; at one year, they must re-verify all household information and complete an interview. The idea is that household circumstances sometimes change, and having a regularly scheduled time when participants submit documents and verifications ensures their status with CalFresh remains accurate.

But in practice, many households suddenly find themselves with an empty EBT card, unable to buy groceries. Imagine standing at a grocery check-out counter, only to find that your debit card unexpectedly had a $0 balance? What would that mean for feeding your family and paying the rest of your bills that month?

An interruption in CalFresh benefits, even for a month, can have real, damaging consequences for a family that is living on the edge of financial stability. For example, a household with the average CalFresh benefit of $304 per month would lose about 100 meals during the month when benefits are interrupted.

Statewide, one in five Calfresh applications received is from someone who was on CalFresh in the last 90 days.

Why does this happen? Confusion about the semi-annual reporting process, difficult-to-read letters from the county, language barriers, a missed interview, or a recent change in address or phone number can all result in benefits being terminated. It is not difficult to imagine a situation in which a busy family with multiple jobs, hectic schedules of school and childcare, combined with the stress of paying bills and keeping household paperwork in order, could end up missing CalFresh deadlines. Once benefits have been lost, households sometimes have to reapply for benefits all over again.

In addition to hurting recipients, CalFresh churn is inefficient and troublesome for county administrators. Instead of helping new clients enroll or improving the program overall, workers spend valuable time completing new applications for cases which should never have been discontinued in the first place.

We estimate that in San Francisco and Marin, $280,000 in CalFresh money are lost each month due to churn.

Over the next month, the Food Bank Advocacy Team will share a series of blog posts about CalFresh churn. Next week, we will dive into our county-level data in San Francisco and Marin. In subsequent weeks, we will explore more specifically what causes churn, and provide recommendations to diagnose churn and implement effective solutions.

Join us as we explore this topic!

 

[1] DFA 256 Report, August 2016: http://www.dss.cahwnet.gov/research/PG352.htm
[2] CDSS CalFresh Household Profile, FFY, 2014: http://www.calfresh.ca.gov/PG844.htm

Resource Library

September 27, 2016

Policy & Advocacy Overview

COVID-19 and Food Insecurity

Research and Reports

CalSAWS Advocacy

CalFresh: Data Tools

Partner Organizations and Coalitions

Marin County Resources

San Francisco County Resources