Food safety net for millions of SoCal residents is at risk next month if shutdown continues, officials warn

People with low incomes who rely on California’s largest food program will likely be affected starting next month if the federal shutdown continues, officials are warning. It’s one of several safety net programs facing a funding cliff if the shutdown — which has shown no sign of ending — drags on.

Well over 1 million people in L.A. County get food benefits from CalFresh — the state’s implementation of the federally funded SNAP program. It provides monthly food benefits to low-income people through debit cards that can be used at grocery stores and farmer’s markets that accept them.

Those benefits are secured for October. But if Congress doesn’t reach a deal, funding for those benefits will be disrupted starting next month, according to the county. Federal authorities told states last week that there’s not enough money to pay full SNAP benefits for November if the shutdown continues, and to not load money onto recipients' cards for November until further notice.

“Should the shutdown continue, our beneficiaries will definitely be impacted starting November…that impacts over 1.6 million individuals that we have on CalFresh,” said  Michael Sylvester, who oversees administrative operations for the L.A. County department that administers the food program.

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If Congress doesn’t strike a deal by the end of this week to extend funding, Sylvester said officials are preparing public messages to alert CalFresh recipients of the anticipated effects and “start to refer them to other resources, such as food banks.”

He was speaking during a public update last week to county supervisors about the effects of the shutdown.

“ That is cause for panic to me and devastating,” said Supervisor Holly Mitchell, referring to CalFresh and other federally-funded programs expected to be affected.

The other major SoCal counties — San Bernardino, Riverside and Orange — each have more than 300,000 people on CalFresh, according to state data.

State officials who oversee the program echoed L.A. County’s concerns about what would happen if the shutdown continues past October.

“If a budget agreement is not reached soon…CalFresh benefits in the future could be at risk for the more than 5.5 million people served by the program,” according to a statement from the California Department of Social Services.

And it’s not the only effect on low-income SoCal residents that’s expected from the shutdown halting federal dollars.

Other expected impacts

If it continues, federal funding is expected to dry up in mid-November for about 30,000 households who get rental subsidies through an L.A. County agency, said county housing executive Emilio Salas. If the shutdown continues for a prolonged time, he said the county will be unable to make rent payments for those households.

L.A. County officials also said all of the county health department’s information-sharing calls with the CDC about measles and emerging diseases are canceled during the shutdown.

County officials said Social Security and veterans benefits will still be paid, but staff may not be available to answer questions from recipients.

Impacts in OC

Officials at Orange County’s public health agency say the shutdown has a range of impacts, including slowing down how long it takes for people to get enrolled in social security and Medicare.

“The federal workforce that administers these programs is being downsized during the shutdown, so new enrollments in Social Security and Medicare, for instance, may take longer than usual,” said O.C. Health Care Agency Director Veronica Kelley in response to LAist’s questions. “Health and human services programs may be particularly vulnerable in a prolonged shutdown. While Medicaid and SNAP are funded for several weeks, we could see increased demand for local safety-net services if families experience benefit delays or uncertainty about future support.”

Kelley added that the health agency is also grappling with cuts to federal funding since earlier this year, separate from the shutdown, including $13 million for infectious disease prevention and vaccination assistance and a $4.4 million cut to nutrition education.

“These reductions, paired with the state’s budgetary issues, local budgetary issues, and now the Federal shutdown, are concerning,” Kelley wrote.

[Click here to read Orange County’s full responses to LAist’s questions.]

Riverside County impacts

A spokesperson for Riverside County told LAist officials there are currently reviewing potential impacts to federally funded programs, including CalFresh and the Women, Infants & Children program (WIC).

Riverside County spokesperson Brooke Federico said federal funding was secure for the near future, but could run out for some programs if the shutdown continues beyond early November..

“Our focus is on identifying the potential impacts an extended shutdown could have on all of our residents, including the most vulnerable in our community who are dependent on health and human services funded by the federal government, and to work with our federal and state partners to ensure that the negative impacts are minimized,” Federico said in written responses to questions from LAist. “Hundreds of thousands of residents in Riverside County are relying on all levels of government to find a solution and find it fast.”

[Click here to read Riverside County’s full responses to LAist’s questions.]

A spokesperson for San Bernardino County reiterated that CalFresh benefits are secured for this month, but that continued federal funding will be needed to keep providing uninterrupted benefits past the start of next month.

WIC — short for Women, Infants & Children — is a federal program for low income families with children under age 5 that provides baby formula, debit card money to buy food and nutrition education.

More than half of all babies born in California each year are eligible for WIC, according to the state. In L.A. County, about 217,000 babies and young children were on WIC last year, according to the county.

LAist reached out to the state agency that oversees WIC to ask how and when people could be affected by the shutdown if it continues. No responses have been provided so far from the California Department of Social Services.