The Contra Costa County Board of Supervisors has proclaimed a local emergency due to the federal government shutdown disrupting CalFresh funding which threatens the food security of 107,020 individuals in Contra Costa County. More than half of the County’s CalFresh recipients (58,861) are children and older adults. CalFresh, known federally as the Supplemental Nutrition Food Assistance Program (SNAP), provides critical food assistance to households and County residents.
The Board unanimously approved to allocate up to $21,000,000 from the General Fund to purchase debit cards for distribution to CalFresh November eligible households, and authorize the Employment & Human Services Department (EHSD) to 1) execute a contract amendment to purchase and distribute the debit cards so CalFresh-eligible households can purchase food, and 2) activate and deploy its staff as disaster workers to support the distribution at the department’s busiest locations. Under the plan, CalFresh participants can pick up debit cards loaded with two weeks of approved benefit amounts starting the week of Nov. 10 at these locations: 1305 Macdonald Ave., Richmond; 151 Linus Pauling Dr., Hercules; 400 Ellinwood Way, Pleasant Hill; 4545 Delta Fair Blvd., Antioch.
For anyone who needs to find food resources during the disruption, residents can search by city or zip code to locate food distribution sites on the Food Bank of Contra Costa & Solano’s Find Food in My City page. They can also call (855) 309-FOOD (3663).
Additional Resources include CAfoodbanks.org – California Food Banks’ website; crisis-center.org, Contra Costa Crisis Center (also call 988 or (800) 273-8255; or text “HOPE” to 20121); and the 211 Contra Costa Database – Contra Costa Crisis Center which has a comprehensive database of local health and social services for Contra Costa residents. Community members can also visit ehsd.org for CalFresh updates related to the federal government shutdown.
The debit cards may be loaded with additional amounts depending on when the federal government reaches a funding solution.
For especially vulnerable populations, such as older adults who are homebound and former foster youth participating in the EHSD Independent Living Skills Program (ILSP), EHSD may identify a different distribution process.
EHSD plans to report to the Board of Supervisors within 60 days about the need to continue the local emergency.
Everyone needs to call their Democrat representatives and tell them to stop keeping the government shutdown and held hostage. Chuck Schumer always said it was wrong to shut the government down. But that’s exactly what he’s doing now saying that it’s getting them points. It’s not helping the American people it’s not giving you points either for your party Chucky.
If it means getting rid of ACA subsidies then keep it closed. There’s almost 50 million people on ACA plans that will get somewhere between a 60 – 100% increase in premiums if they scrap it. This will crush people. Instead of offering a solution the republicans want to get rid of it now and figure it out later which is obviously a lie. Either come up with a solution now to replace the subsidies or just keep them.
Jim,
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Each state, county, and city are more than free to fund their residents health insurance with these subsidies or create their own health insurance subsidy programs. Just as we’ve seen state, county, city, and school districts funding food related programs due to the federal government shutdown, the same can be done with health insurance subsidies. There are solutions that don’t have to depend on the federal government at all. So, why aren’t you telling Governor Newsom, the Contra Costa County Board of Supervisors, and your local City Council to pay for their residents health insurance subsidies or to create their own health insurance subsidy programs? Everything doesn’t have to come from the federal government, nor should it!!!
Why subsidize health insurance surance companies at all?
Universal Healthcare is the proper response to all of this, and the most affordable.
Ken,
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Again, every state, county, and city are free to create and fund their own universal healthcare programs too, they don’t have to depend on the federal government at all.
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National universal healthcare can’t and won’t pass Congress.
I agree keep it closed, save the tax payers alot of money. The freeloaders can start working.
Get a job, two if need be, your Grandparents didn’t sit around on their duff’s with their hands out.
At least mine didn’t, they worked two jobs, to provide for their family.
If you wanted a roof over your head, and food to fill your belly, you worked, and worked hard, people are spoiled, fat and lazy these days, end of story!!!
The “rest of the story”…. 😉 feral teams of looters should have boosted groceries instead of “resale” goods. Those $200. weaves and do’s and $60 talon nails… not very edible.
The day welfare became cash…instead of a block of cheddar, a bag of flour and a box of powdered milk … the downward spiral quickened.
This “Trophies for everyone” and their generational welfare mamma knows nothing about anything legal —- or hard work.
I think it’s time people need to figure things out for themselves instead of expecting government handouts.
Well pastime, only by 40 yrs or so though!!!
I agree completely. Even though there’s not enough money to pay everyone out, we should start by eliminating social security payments immediately. We should also eliminate prop 13 and reassess all residential property taxes to current market rates. Tax breaks are also government handouts.
Hey dudus SS payments are not from the government, each person receiving them has paid into it. Understand or did drinking the Kool Aid wipe your reasoning out.
Not true for baby boomers. On average they get more in SS than they paid in. Boomers rely on younger generations to pick up their tabs. Look it up. We should also eliminate Medicaid – another government handout for the elderly.
Clayton1,
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Most social security recipients receive more in social security payments than they’ve paid into the system. At one time social security recipients received everything they had paid into the system after 48 months, but that didn’t include the interest earned on the money paid into the system, as federal law requires surplus social security funds to be invested in U.S. government bonds, which then redeposits the principal and interest into social security accounts and the cycle repeats.
can you imagine what the california dems would do to property owners if Prop 13 were not in place?
Prop 13 is one of the primary reasons housing prices have gotten out of control here. Another disaster policy that benefits the old at the expense of the young.
Jeff (the other one),
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That’s why Proposition 13 protections are slowly being changed and repealed. The goal of our representatives in Sacramento is the complete repeal of all Proposition 13 protections.
Yea, lets screw those people with no family, no resources, people with severe head injuries, blind and handicap freaks living off the Government… they really need to get their lives together. Pathetic.
Yes you’re exactly correct in that statement cept for the last word. Your spell checker autocorrected to that word instead of the word “perfect”, but we all knew what you meant.
Geez, what a heartless bunch here! Poverty knows no political boundaries. Bad luck can happen to anyone. Stats show that only about 20% are welfare bums while the rest are trying to get by. The “South Park” had a great episode a year or so ago about how screwed up the US economy is. It was about the South Park dads who had advanced college degrees and were flabbergasted at the inflated cost of hiring repair people to fix something like a refer problem.
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I’ve pointed out for sometime if you raise the minimum was for low skilled jobs it doesn’t actually help those on that wage because everything else goes up in price as a reaction. Right now it looks like collapse of the US is on schedule and don’t blame Trump because he was told to stick with the schedule or else.