Why California is revamping its benefits application websites
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The GetCalFresh.org site, which helps residents apply for government food assistance, is shutting down. A new system aims to replace and improve it over the next year.
A website used by more than 7 million Californians in the last decade to apply for food assistance is winding down to make way for a new system that aims to further streamline benefits applications.
The GetCalFresh.org site, which launched in 2014 from Code for America and the San Francisco County Human Services Agency, offered a mobile-first, digital application for the state’s Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or CalFresh, helping residents apply for benefits within 10 minutes.
It was initially available in half of California's counties, before expanding statewide in 2019. Throughout its history, GetCalFresh.org has helped residents receive more than $11.5 billion in SNAP benefits and has supported 70% of online applications, said Francesca Costa Méndez, director of food assistance for Code for America, in an email to Route Fifty.
But the site’s 10-year tenure is coming to an end, officials from San Mateo County announced earlier this month. The nonprofit behind the GetCalFresh.org site is working to sunset it in phases by September 2025. County officials said the site would stop accepting Semi-Annual Reporting verification forms, which are required for residents to maintain their benefits on Dec. 2.
In the meantime, work has been underway to transition California’s 58 counties to the California Statewide Automated Welfare System, or CalSAWS, since 2019. CalSAWS offers county officials a platform to conduct benefit program enrollment, eligibility determination, benefit distribution, case management and other business functions.
Late last year, the last of the state’s counties transitioned to CalSAWS, which supports the statewide BenefitsCal website, a one-stop shop for residents to apply for a range of public assistance programs like SNAP, Medicaid and other financial aid services for low-income households, said Gabby Davidson, policy advocate for the California Association of Food Banks, a nonprofit that helps outreach organizations link people with food assistance.
Since 2021, nearly 5 million BenefitsCal customer accounts have been created and 5.9 million households “took the first step to receive food, cash and/or medical assistance,” according to a November CalSaws metrics report.
“We’re really glad the state has unified to one system,” Davidson said. “It is an important evolution in streamlining services for households.”
Previously, residents had to apply for benefits through disparate sites, depending on which county they lived in, she explained. With the CalSAWS and BenefitsCal model systems, “no matter what household [or] what county you’re in, you can use that same website to apply.”
“[T]his integrated portal is the next evolution of the work that began with GetCalFresh,” Méndez said. The BenefitsCal portal “features modern design and person-first language, which make it easier to apply for and manage multiple social safety net benefits, including food assistance.”
Authorities will be monitoring benefits application and user experience data, such as the time it takes to complete an application, to monitor and mitigate disruptions to client access during the transition period away from GetCalFresh.org, Davidson said.
