How San Francisco and Contra Costa SNAP Users Can Find Prepaid Grocery Cards

More than 644,000 Bay Area residents who use CalFresh — the state’s version of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, sometimes referred to as food stamps — have been hit by a delay in November SNAP payments due to the ongoing federal government shutdown.

But in San Francisco and Contra Costa County, residents will be receiving prepaid cards this month to cover at least some of their missing food funds.

The money will come at a time when it’s still unclear how soon SNAP payments will be distributed this month. On Thursday, Gov. Gavin Newsom’s office confirmed that some CalFresh recipients have begun to see benefits payments arrive in full onto their EBT cards, after a judge ruled a second time that the White House must pay these benefits in full by Friday. The U.S. Department of Agriculture also announced Friday it will comply with the court order and start sending out full November SNAP benefits.

But it’s still not known exactly how these funds will continue to roll out, especially since the Trump administration asked a federal appeals court on Friday to block the judge’s order, and has now appealed to the Supreme Court after that request was denied.

Amid all this uncertainty, if you’re on CalFresh and you live in San Francisco or Contra Costa County, here’s what to know about getting your prepaid card — from how to activate it to how much money the card will contain.

• Jump straight to: How Contra Costa residents on CalFresh can access their debit card

I’m a San Francisco resident using CalFresh. When will my prepaid grocery card arrive?

Roughly 112,000 people in San Francisco receive benefits through CalFresh.

According to the San Francisco Human Services Agency, all SNAP recipients in San Francisco will receive a letter in the mail this week — the first week of November — with instructions on how to receive their grocery card.

Trent Rhorer, executive director of the SFHSA, said that if you’re a CalFresh user living in San Francisco, your letter will most likely arrive on Wednesday.

You don’t need to contact the city to request your card — it’ll be mailed out automatically to you, as long as you were signed up for CalFresh by the end of October.

A SFHSA spokesperson told KQED that the agency isn’t publicizing the details of the instructions contained in the letter, “to help prevent fraud.”

What if I don’t have a fixed address within San Francisco?

An estimated 5,000–6,000 people experiencing homelessness in San Francisco use CalFresh, Rhorer said.

If you’re unhoused or currently living in a shelter, and if you have your mail delivered via general delivery to the Hyde St. post office, your letter about the grocery card will be delivered to that location, Rhorer said.

Alternatively, he said, you can speak to staff at the San Francisco community support agency, homeless shelter or Navigation Center you use, and they’ll be able to help you activate the card too.

“You don’t need to receive the letter to activate the card,” Rhorer said, since “you can actually call the call center with your personal identifying information, and they can activate the digital card right there.” Support staff at these agencies and shelters will provide the correct phone number for you to call.

How can I access my grocery card?

You won’t receive the actual grocery card itself in the mail. Instead, the letter will contain an activation code, which will be unique to you and which will allow you to access a digital gift card either online or by phone, Rhorer said.

You’ll then be able to load your card funds onto your phone through Apple Wallet or Google Play, he said. If you prefer, you can request a physical card in the mail, but this will take 5–7 business days to arrive, SFHSA said.

Only one card will be sent to San Francisco CalFresh users, and you’ll have to activate your card by Dec. 31 for it to remain valid.

What kind of information will I have to provide to access my card?

You should follow the instructions in the letter to activate your card either online or through a call center, when you’ll be prompted to “enter personal identifying information,” Rhorer said.

This means that if your letter was stolen by someone else who attempted to use your activation code to access your gift card, they still won’t know your personal information to be able to complete the process, he said.

You’ll never be asked for your bank account details or Social Security information to redeem the grocery card, SFHSA said.

Once I have my virtual or physical card, how do I spend the funds?

SFHSA said that you’ll be able to use the prepaid grocery card at grocery stores and “most markets that accept EBT.”

“The replacement card will work exactly as their CalFresh EBT card would have worked,” Rhorer said.

Like EBT, your card’s funds “cannot be used to purchase sugary or alcoholic beverages or tobacco products,” SFHSA said.

How much money will I get through my prepaid grocery card?

One thing to note: the amount on your grocery card might not match the amount you’d have normally received in November through your CalFresh benefits.

That’s because how much each household receives on their card has been calculated “based on the average CalFresh benefit amount for households of a similar size to yours,” SFHSA said.

The amount you’ll see on your card:

•  For a 1–2 person household: $200
•  For a 3–4 person household: $350
•  For a household with 5 or more people: $500

“Some households might get a little bit more in the gift card” than their regular EBT funds, Rhorer said — but “some households might get a little less.”

Can I still use my card if the government shutdown ends or partial SNAP benefits are paid this month?

Yes. The grocery card program is intended to “help offset the impact of federal actions that have delayed the reloading of EBT cards for CalFresh recipients,” SFHSA said, and will move ahead regardless of what happens this month at the federal level.

Rhorer said that even if the federal government releases partial SNAP funds this month, he suspects that this might happen “maybe in mid-November or late November” — which would still be some time after CalFresh payments were meant to arrive, in the first 10 days of the month, and after San Francisco CalFresh households have accessed their prepaid gift cards.

“So, hopefully, at the end of the day, the households are certainly made whole for their benefits in November,” Rhorer said. “And perhaps many households will receive a little bit more than they otherwise would have received.”

Even if the federal government announces the imminent release of SNAP dollars, “It’s going to be a 7–10 day delay,” he said. “We want people to be able to put food on the table.”

What should I do if my card doesn’t arrive?

A SFHSA spokesperson told KQED by email that if you’re a San Francisco resident receiving CalFresh and you don’t receive your letter by Monday, Nov. 10, reach out to the agency’s CalFresh call center at 855-355-5757.

You can contact SFHSA directly by phone or email, or visit an SFHSA office in person.

For general questions about the grocery cards, San Francisco CalFresh users can call 3-1-1, according to SFHSA.

I’m a Contra Costa County resident using CalFresh. When can I access my debit card?

More than 65,000 households in Contra Costa County rely on CalFresh.

Starting Monday, Nov. 10, Contra Costa residents on SNAP can pick up a debit card in person from one of the county’s Employment and Human Services Department buildings, located at:

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

Cards can be picked up every day starting Monday, between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m. The last day to pick up a debit card is Saturday, Nov. 15.

Angela Bullock-Hayes, director of the Workforce Services Bureau for the Contra Costa County Employment and Human Services Department, said that county residents will first receive a text message inviting them to an appointment at one of these locations — “to address shorter wait times, we hope.”

But if an appointment time isn’t convenient, “people are welcome to come whenever they need to, because we want to make sure that people have access to food,” she said.

What if I can’t pick up my Contra Costa debit card in person that week?

If circumstances mean you can’t come to one of those four offices to collect your card, you should contact the Contra Costa County Employment and Human Services Department to arrange an alternative.

“We will provide support,” Bullock-Hayes said.

What kind of information will I have to provide to access my debit card?

You should bring your EBT card and a form of ID to pick up your Contra Costa debit card, Bullock-Hayes said.

Unlike San Francisco, which is only providing prepaid cards to residents who were already using CalFresh by October, Contra Costa County will also provide cards to residents who are eligible for CalFresh but who aren’t already signed up — after helping them apply for SNAP.

Once I have my virtual or physical card, how do I spend the funds?

After a Contra Costa County resident has picked up their physical grocery card, they should be able to “go to the grocery stores or [other] resources to purchase foods right away,” Bullock-Hayes said.

You’ll be able to use your debit card like you would have used your EBT card, and “it can be used at any retailer that sells food, and those retailers that usually carry and accept EBT cards,” she said.

As for which foods and items you can purchase using the debit card, Bullock-Hayes said you’ll be informed about those stipulations when you first access your debit card, which “will outline how the card should be used.”

How much money will I get through my debit card?

The dollar amount on your debit card will likely not match the amount you’d have normally received in November through your CalFresh benefits in Contra Costa, and will be based on household size.

Previously, the county had planned to initially load the debit cards with 50% of the available funds and reload the cards every week. But now, Contra Costa CalFresh recipients will have the full benefit amount available on their debit card when they pick it up, which is intended to last two weeks, Bullock-Hayes said.

But don’t throw your debit card away once you’ve used up the funds, she said. “After the two weeks, we will need to evaluate the status of the federal shutdown and what information we receive,” Bullock-Hayes said. “If additional benefits are available, then we will be able to add those to the cards.”

Can I still use my card if the government shutdown ends or partial SNAP benefits are paid this month?

Yes. “We are planning to move forward with issuing the cards and giving the money to residents to use,” said Bullock-Hayes, and the county has no plans to stop card usage if there are further developments at the federal level.

“We want people to go out and use the … benefits for the food that they need,” she said.

KQED’s Alex Emslie and Katie DeBenedetti contributed to this report.