Contra Costa County Approves $21M Emergency CalFresh Funding: What To Know

CONTRA COSTA COUNTY, CA — Contra Costa County supervisors voted unanimously Tuesday to make $21 million in emergency funds available for the county's SNAP food assistance recipients and declared a local emergency.

Special debit cards will go to more than 107,000 residents of the county who receive Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits, or SNAP.

More than half — 58,861 — are children and older adults, county officials said. California's version of the federal program is called CalFresh.

The federal government shut down, and he Trump Administration cut off benefits before a federal judge last week ordered the payments to resume.

Recipients can use whatever balance is on their EBT cards, but they cannot add value to them.

SEE ALSO: Judges Order CalFresh Benefits Must Continue

CalFresh participants should pick up debit cards, loaded with two weeks of approved benefit amounts beginning Monday at social services offices in Richmond, Hercules, Pleasant Hill, and Antioch:

• 1305 Macdonald Ave., Richmond
• 151 Linus Pauling Drive, Hercules
• 400 Ellinwood Way, Pleasant Hill
• 4545 Delta Fair Blvd., Antioch

The program serves about 5.5 million Californians under CalFresh and is a major piece of the nation’s social safety net. Official statements from USDA that benefits would be delayed in November sent states, food banks and SNAP recipients scrambling to figure out how to secure food. Some states said they would spend their own funds to keep versions of the program going.

In California, Gov. Gavin Newsom deployed the National Guard to assist at food banks. The governor and California Attorney General Bonta also announced the lawsuit against the Trump administration.

Kat Schuster contributed to this report.