Some reports waived due to COVID-19

Attention CalWORKs and CalFresh recipients:

In response to COVID-19, your CalWORKs and CalFresh benefits will continue with no changes for March, April, May, and June 2020. This means that if your semiannual report form (SAR-7) or annual renewal was due in March, April, or May 2020, you do not have to turn it in or complete your interview. If you have turned in your March SAR-7 or renewal paperwork already, it will not be processed, and nothing will change. If your SAR-7 or renewal paperwork included information that would make your benefits go up, please call the county to report this information over the phone.

You must report if your gross monthly income goes over your family’s Income Reporting Threshold (IRT). Also, if you report that your income has gone down, your benefit amount may go up. Contact us to find out what your IRT is, to report if your income goes down, or if you have any questions about your case.

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Si recibe los beneficios de CalWORKs o CalFresh:

En respuesta a COVID-19, sus beneficios de CalWORKs y CalFresh continuarán sin cambios para marzo, abril, mayo y junio de 2020. Esto significa que si su formulario de informe semestral (SAR-7) o la renovación anual vencen en marzo, abril o mayo de 2020, no tiene que entregarlo ni completar su entrevista. Si ya ha entregado su SAR-7 de marzo o la documentación de renovación, no se procesará y nada cambiará. Si su documentación SAR-7 o de renovación incluía información que aumentaría sus beneficios, llame al condado para informar esta información por teléfono.

Debe informar si su ingreso mensual bruto supera el umbral de Income Reporting Threshold (informe de ingresos, IRT) de su familia. Además, si informa que sus ingresos se han reducido, la cantidad de su beneficio puede aumentar. Comuníquese con nosotros para averiguar cuál es su IRT, para informar si sus ingresos disminuyen o si tiene alguna pregunta sobre su caso.

COVID-19 Update: Stay Safe, Save Time, Avoid the Line.

Reach us by phone or online.

We understand that our clients and applicants may have concerns about coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). The World Health Organization (WHO) declared COVID-19 a global pandemic on March 11. Federal, state, and county health emergencies were declared over several days thereafter. These public health orders specify “social distancing” guidelines to avoid crowds or close proximity to others. Further guidance can be found at the Santa Barbara County Public Health Coronavirus Disease Information Portal at https://publichealthsbc.org/. On March 19, California issued a stay-at-home order, urging all people to remain at home except to obtain or provide the essential services of life. Further information on the order is available at https://covid19.ca.gov/.

We are sharing this update with you to specify some of the precautionary steps the Santa Barbara County Department of Social Services is taking for the health and well-being of our clients and applicants, and to suggest steps you can take to stay safe.

• We maintain up-to-date Continuity of Operations plans so that we are prepared for a variety of contingencies as they arise, including communicable disease. We are still providing essential and non-essential services; however, we are adapting our processes as needed to comply with Public Health orders and State guidelines.

• Client service remains our priority. We remain open on our usual schedule and there are currently no plans to interrupt regular operating hours. Cleaning staff is sanitizing high-touch surfaces, and hand sanitizer is available throughout our buildings.

• To avoid contracting or spreading the virus, we urge you to wash your hands frequently for at least 20 seconds, use hand sanitizer when available, avoid touching or shaking hands with others, and stay at least six feet from others. Stay home and contact a medical professional if you are experiencing symptoms such as coughing, fever, or shortness of breath. 

• Starting March 19, 2020, a new social distancing protocol applies when you visit our offices. You will speak to a receptionist using a lobby phone, rather than face-to-face. If you need to speak to your worker at length, you'll be directed to the interview room, and your worker will call in to the phone in the interview room. Personal interactions with staff will occur only where unavoidable, such as immediate-need CalFresh cases involving immediate issuance of an EBT card.

Even if you are feeling healthy, you could be a carrier for the virus, so due to the social distancing guidelines we urge you to avoid coming in to our offices unless truly necessary. Our Department has implemented numerous technological solutions so that clients can interact with us remotely:

• You can apply Medi-Cal, CalFresh, or CalWORKs benefits online at http://www.mybenefitscalwin.org (or for an easier way to apply for CalFresh, at http://www.getcalfresh.org).

• You can complete your Medi-Cal, CalFresh, or CalWORKs eligibility interview by telephone. Certain documents can be verbally “signed” for CalFresh and CalWORKs while on the phone, including applications, renewals, and SAR-7 status reports. Employment Services check-ins can be conducted be phone rather than in person.

• You can submit verification documents online from a computer or smartphone at http://www.dssoctopus.com (English) or http://www.dsspulpo.com (Spanish). You can also use this Octopus/Pulpo portal to type a message or question for us, even if you're not sending us documents.

• You can drop off verification documents in the orange mailboxes outside our offices.

•  You can complete your CalFresh SAR-7 online at https://www.getcalfresh.org/sar7.

•  People with existing Medi-Cal and CalFresh cases can call our Benefits Service Center at (844) 289-4682 for help. As a result of the COVID-19 outbreak, you may experience longer than normal wait times. We have a feature that allows you to get a call back rather than waiting on hold.

• You can get answers to common questions or leave us a message using our automated telephone system, 24 hours a day, at (866) 404-4007.

•  If you need contact information for a particular office, visit our website at https://www.countyofsb.org/dss and click Contact Us.

• UPDATE 3/31/19: Some reports (SAR-7 and annual renewals for CalFresh and CalWORKs due in March, April, or May 2020) are temporarily being waived due to COVID-19. Click here for more information.

For current information on COVID-19 in our county, please visit the Santa Barbara County Public Health Coronavirus Disease Information Portal at https://publichealthsbc.org/.

For a list of COVID-19 resources in our county, click here.

Again, we continue to offer and process all applications for assistance, as the public now more than ever needs access to our critical help including CalWORKs cash assistance, CalFresh food assistance, and Medi-Cal medical coverage. Our social distancing measures are an added layer of precaution to help reduce the risk of exposure to COVID-19 and keep the community safe. Thank you for your  patience and understanding.  

We are all in this together. We will continue to make informed decisions, led by best practices and factual updates, to help County residents be safe, healthy and empowered.

EBT Theft Alert

There has been a substantial increase in fraudulent EBT transactions out of state over the past two months. The majority of stolen benefits are being withdrawn from ATMs in Florida, Georgia, and New Jersey.

In order to protect clients, EBT ATM transaction blocking has been implemented in impacted areas of Florida, Georgia, and New Jersey as of today, March 10, 2020. This applies to ATM withdrawals only. Transactions at FNS authorized food retailers are still fully functional.

Cardholders attempting to withdraw cash at an ATM in those states will receive a general message stating their transaction is declined. Specific messaging varies between ATM owners.

Cardholders currently traveling or planning travel to Florida, Georgia, or New Jersey and legitimately needing access to their benefits via ATM withdrawals must call the EBT customer service line at (877) 328-9677 and request an exception for their card in that particular state. They will need to verify their SSN and birthdate to do so. For clients without SSNs, they simply need to identify that nuance and provide birthdate. The block on these cards will be removed within 24 hours of the confirmed request.

Even though EBT ATM withdrawal blocking is not being implemented in California or Santa Barbara County, we want to make you aware that cardholders traveling or planning to travel to Florida, Georgia, or New Jersey and needing to access their benefits via ATM will need to call the EBT customer service line at (877) 328-9677 and request an exception for their card in that particular state.

Also, the (877) 328-9677 customer service number may be used by cardholders to report suspicious activity at any time.

We will continue to monitor the situation.