CalWORKs

There are many reasons the county might say your CalWORKs benefits will stop. Some of these reasons are that your income is too high, you have too much property, you don’t have custody of your children or you did not turn in paperwork to the county.

The county must give you a written notice telling you that your CalWORKs will stop and why.  If you think the county is wrong, you can appeal and have your case heard by an independent hearing officer.  If you appeal before your benefits stop, you will get benefits until the hearing officer rules on your case. Even if you appeal after your benefits stop, you have 90 days from the date of the written notice to appeal your case.  If you have a very good reason for appealing late, you can appeal up to 180 days after the date of the written notice.  If your notice does not meet legal requirements, such as not giving a reason or not being in your primary language, you can appeal even after that.

Once you appeal, there will be a hearing scheduled to give you a chance to explain why you are still eligible for CalWORKs and for a hearing officer to decide if the county is right or wrong.  If the hearing officer decides you are right, the hearing Officer can order the county to continue to pay your benefits or to consider whether or not you might still be eligible for CalWORKs.  If the hearing officer decides the county is right and you continued to receive benefits during your appeal, you may have to pay those benefits back.

Download our State Hearing Tips fact sheet