PD 25-16: Impacts to Benefits During the Federal Shutdown (Revised)

Date:	10/17/25 (Revised 10/21/25,10/22/25,10/24/25,10/30/25)
To:	DEBS Staff
From:	Vivien Phan, Ana Guitron, SSA BPIS
Reference:	ACL 25-75

Background

As of October 1, 2025, the federal government is shut down, and there is currently no anticipated date of resolution.

Important: When more information becomes available, this PD will be revised.

Communication

BenefitsCal

The following message is displayed on the BenefitsCal website as of 10/27/25:

Federal Shutdown Could Affect Your Benefits. CalFresh (SNAP) and CalWORKs (TANF) benefits will be provided through October 2025, but future benefits may be at risk if the federal government shutdown continues. While no immediate disruptions to Medi-Cal are expected, an extended federal shutdown lasting past December 2025 could impact the program.

California Department of Social Services (CDSS)

CDSS Website

The following message is displayed on the CDSS website as of 10/27/25:

The federal government has shut down due to the failures of the President and Congress to continue government funding. Millions of Californians receiving benefits from State programs may be impacted. No new federal funding supporting programs such as the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program, known as CalWORKs in California, and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), known as CalFresh in California, will be provided until the President and Congress take action. Currently, the State is expected to be able to fund CalWORKs benefits for November 2025. For CalFresh, benefits will be delayed in November 2025. For additional information, please see the following Frequently Asked Questions.

CDSS Messaging for CalFresh

CDSS is notifying clients via the following direct text and email messages below. These messages will be delivered to households over the next 5 days beginning the evening of October 21 after 5:30pm and through October 25, 2025. Households will receive the messages in order of their staggered issuance date.

If the benefits are received on	Then the messages will be received on
November 1 and 2	October 21	Text message: If President Trump & Congress don’t end federal shutdown by Oct. 23, Nov. CalFresh benefits may be delayed. Oct. benefits unaffected. Visit cdss.ca.gov. (character limited) E-Mail message: The state can fund benefits for the month of October. However, if President Trump and Congress do not reopen the federal government by October 23 or take action to provide additional funds, your CalFresh benefits may be delayed in November. You can keep using your CalFresh benefits in October as usual. No action is required. We understand this is a difficult situation and will share more information about your November CalFresh benefits as soon as the President and Congress take action or resolve the shutdown. If you need food now, you can click here to find your local food bank. Visit cdss.ca.gov for more information.
November 3 and 4	October 22
November 5 and 6	October 23
November 7 and 8	October 24	Text message: President Trump & Congress failed to reopen federal government. Nov. CalFresh benefits will be delayed. Oct. benefits unaffected. Visit cdss.ca.gov. (character limited) E-Mail message: The state can fund benefits for the month of October. Since President Trump and Congress have failed to reopen the federal government, your CalFresh benefits will be delayed in November. You can keep using your CalFresh benefits in October as usual. No action is required. We understand this is a difficult situation and will share more information about your November CalFresh benefits as soon as the President and Congress take action or resolve the shutdown. If you need food now, you can click here to find your local food bank. Visit cdss.ca.gov for more information.
November 9 and 10	October 25

Note: Messages will be sent in English, Spanish, Vietnamese, Traditional Chinese, Russian, Farsi, Korean, and Armenian.

Santa Clara County

County Messaging for CalFresh

The county is actively developing and distributing outreach materials to ensure clients are informed about changes to benefits and available resources. These efforts include:

Social media posts, lobby posters, and flyers informing clients and the community about benefit impacts and available resources,
Mass messaging to CalFresh clients with food resource links,
Messaging on lobby monitors and the Social Services Agency public website,
IVR messaging informing callers of impact to benefits, and
- IVR Script: Due to the federal government shutdown, the U.S. Department of Agriculture is not sending money to states for November CalFresh (SNAP) benefits. This means your county cannot add money to your EBT card until federal funding is restored. This impacts all CalFresh households. You can keep using your existing benefits as usual. If you need food now, visit cafoodbanks.org to find your local food bank.
Actively sharing this information at outreach events and presentations.

Note: All messaging efforts, except for the IVR, are available in English, Spanish, and Vietnamese. The IVR messaging is available in English and Spanish only.

Staff Guidance

Due to these messages being displayed on websites as well as messaging being sent to clients, staff may receive an increase in benefit inquiries. Staff should inform the client:

County offices remain open during regularly scheduled hours of operation.
Santa Clara County is awaiting further guidance from the state. As new information becomes available or circumstances change, the county will communicate updates through messaging, social media, or the county website.
CDSS has developed a Frequently Asked Question webpage that they can refer to: https://www.cdss.ca.gov/benefits-services/food-nutrition-services/calfresh/calfresh-frequently-asked-questions.

If clients inquire on food resources, staff can refer them to:

Second Harvest Food Bank: Dial 1-800-984-3663 or visit https://www.shfb.org.
211CA: Dial 2-1-1 or visit 211ca.org to connect with local food pantries, meal programs, and other essential services. Available 24/7 and in multiple languages.
Food banks across California: Visit www.cafoodbanks.org/find-food/.

CalFresh (CF)

November 2025 CF Benefits

Until further direction is received from the United States Department of Agriculture, Food and Nutrition Service (FNS), CDSS has instructed counties to hold CF benefits for November 2025.

Applications Received Between October 16 and October 31, 2025

CF policy requires the issuance of benefits for both the current month and the following month when an application is received after the 15th day of the current month. This applies to both applications processed under normal processing and under expedited processing timeframes. Applications received between October 16th and October 31st, 2025, would normally receive both prorated October 2025 benefits and November 2025 benefits as a combined issuance. Since FNS has directed states to hold their November issuances, the issuance of combined prorated October and November benefits is prohibited.

Note: October 2025 and prior months CF benefits are not impacted, and counties must continue to issue benefits clients were eligible to receive for these month(s).

Eligibility Workers (EW) must continue to run Eligibility Determination Benefit Calculation (EDBC) and authorize both the October and November 2025 benefit months in CalSAWS.

November benefits will not be issued and available on the client’s EBT card until funding is available. The Immediacy Indicator must be changed for November 2025 from the default of Rush to Routine. Not updating the Immediacy Indicator to Routine will cause November 2025 benefits to be made immediately available to the client. Neither CalSAWS nor CDSS can stop the issuance of these November 2025 benefits if action is not taken as described above.
The following journal entry must be added in CalSAWS:
- November 2025 benefits not issued as Rush due to FNS guidance regarding federal government shutdown. Refer to PD 25-16.

Note: November 2025 benefits issued as “Rush” prior to this PD do not require further action.

Example:Example:

If the client applied on October 11th, and the application is processed on October 22nd, CalSAWS will not default to Rush issuance for November benefits.

If the client applied on October 16th, and the application is processed on October 22nd, CalSAWS will default to Rush issuance for the application month plus the subsequent month (November). The EW must change the Immediacy Indicator for November from Rush to Routine.

Due to insufficient time for notices to be updated, CalSAWS will follow normal noticing procedures and generate the Notice of Approval for CalFresh Benefits (CF 377.1) which references a combined allotment for October and November 2025. EWs should keep this in mind when communicating with clients regarding the impact on their November benefits.

Processing New Applications Received November 2025 and Beyond

For applications received beginning November 1, 2025, EWs must continue to run EDBC and authorize benefit months for November 2025 and beyond. Benefit issuances for the months of November 2025 and beyond will be held by CalSAWS until further notice, and counties must continue to set the Immediacy Indicator for November benefits to Routine. This applies to both applications processed under normal processing and under expedited processing timeframes.

Continuing Cases

EWs should ensure that when authorizing November benefits, the Immediacy Indicator is set to Routine.

CalSAWS

Before accepting the EDBC results, ensure the Immediacy Indicator is changed from Rush to Routine for November benefits.

Replacement of Benefits

FNS has not made federally funded replacement benefits for household misfortune, such as prolonged power outages, available for the months of November 2025 and beyond, and will be held by CalSAWS until further notice. The federal shutdown does not impact state-funded replacement benefits for benefit theft and will be processed as normal.

State Funded Food Benefits

California Food Assitance Program (CFAP)

Although CFAP is a state-funded program, the issuance of CFAP benefits for the month of November 2025 will be delayed and the guidance provided above applies to both CF and CFAP benefits.

Supplemental Nutrition Benefit (SNB) and Transitional Nutrition Benefit (TNB) Programs

SNB and TNB issuances are not impacted by the FNS guidance regarding the federal shutdown and will be processed as normal.

CalWORKs (CW)

The state has not received any guidance specific to the federal shutdown for CW. CDSS anticipates that CW funding is available for November 2025 benefits.

Refugee Cash Assistance (RCA)/Trafficking and Crime Victims Assistance Program (TCVAP)

CDSS does not anticipate any disruption to RCA/TCVAP at this time.

General Assistance (GA)

GA payments are fully funded by the county and are not impacted at this time.

Cash Assistance Program for Immigrants (CAPI)

CDSS does not anticipate any disruption to CAPI at this time.

Implementation

This PD is effective immediately.