CalWORKs 2026: Cash Aid Amounts, Eligibility and How to Apply

From October 1, 2026, CalWORKs pays a California family of three with no other income up to $1,196 a month in Region 1 counties such as Los Angeles, San Diego and the Bay Area, and $1,135 a month in the rest of the state. With one earner and no other income, that family passes the income test at application with gross wages under $2,410 a month in Region 1 or $2,309 in Region 2, and the county has 45 days to decide. Apply today on BenefitsCal, and if you are out of food, money or housing this week, ask for an Immediate Need payment of up to $200.

Who qualifies for CalWORKs

The county checks four things:

• A child lives with you. You care for a related child under 18, or an 18-year-old in full-time high school or vocational school who will finish before turning 19. If you are pregnant, you qualify at any stage and get an extra $100 a month from the date you ask; your sworn or spoken statement starts the case, and a medical verification is due within 30 working days.
• The child is missing a parent's support. A parent is absent from the home, has died, is incapacitated or is incarcerated. In a two-parent home, the main wage earner worked fewer than 100 hours in the past four weeks.
• Income and savings are under the limits. Both tests are below.
• You live in California and plan to stay. Each person on the grant must be a U.S. citizen or a noncitizen with an eligible immigration status. When a parent is ineligible, the county pays aid for the children only.

How much CalWORKs pays from October 1, 2026

The Maximum Aid Payment (MAP) is the monthly grant for a family with no other income. It rose 1.8 percent on October 1, 2026, for every case. Count only the people on the grant: an ineligible adult stays out of the count.

The exempt columns are for cases where every adult on aid has a disability or is otherwise exempt from work requirements, and for children raised by a grandparent, aunt or other relative who is not their parent and stays off aid.

Region 1 counties: Alameda, Contra Costa, Los Angeles, Marin, Monterey, Napa, Orange, San Diego, San Francisco, San Luis Obispo, San Mateo, Santa Barbara, Santa Clara, Santa Cruz, Solano, Sonoma and Ventura. The other 41 counties, San Benito included, are Region 2.

The income test and the grant you receive

The county runs two income checks. At application, it subtracts $450 from each working person's gross monthly earnings and adds all other income; the total must be below the Minimum Basic Standard of Adequate Care (MBSAC) for your family size. For the grant, the first $600 of earnings is ignored, half of the rest counts, and the county subtracts that counted income from your MAP.

MBSAC amounts for applications filed from July 1, 2026 through June 30, 2027:

Example: a single parent with two children in Los Angeles County earns $1,200 a month before taxes and has no other income. At application, $1,200 minus $450 is $750, far under the $1,960 MBSAC. For the grant, $1,200 minus $600 leaves $600, and half of that, $300, counts. The family receives $1,196 minus $300, or $896 a month.

Savings, car and time limits

Your family can keep up to $12,552 in countable resources during 2026, or $18,829 if someone on the case is 60 or older or has a disability. Cash, checking, savings and stocks count. Your home, furniture and clothing are excluded, and so is money in a CalABLE account.

Each car is excluded up to $33,626 in equity, meaning its value minus what you still owe on it; only equity above $33,626 counts toward the limit. A car you live in, use mainly to earn income, need to transport a disabled family member, or received as a gift or family transfer is excluded in full.

Adults get 60 lifetime months of cash aid, and TANF months from other states count. Months when you are disabled for at least 30 days, are a domestic violence victim or are 60 or older stay off the clock. Children keep their aid after a parent reaches the limit.

What to do today

1. Gather proof. Social Security numbers (or proof you applied for one), proof of citizenship or immigration status for each person applying, recent pay stubs or other proof of income, bank statements and shot records for children under 6. If the other parent lives elsewhere, note their name, address and employer for the county's child support forms; cooperating with child support is a condition of aid.
2. Apply on BenefitsCal. The same application covers CalFresh and Medi-Cal, and Medi-Cal comes with the grant. Submit it today: once you are approved, aid starts from your application date, or from the date you met every condition if that is later. To apply in person or by phone, find your county on the CDSS county offices list.
3. Name the emergency. Write it in the application and say it on your first call: "I am requesting Immediate Need." Add "and Homeless Assistance" if you have an eviction notice or no place to stay. The county decides an Immediate Need request by the next working day.
4. Finish the interview. Before you hang up, ask which proof is still missing and the due date, then send each item and keep a photo of it.
5. Mark day 45. The county has 45 days from the application date to send a Notice of Action approving or denying aid.

Where it splits

• If two parents live with the child, more work hours are fine once you are on aid, as long as income stays under the limits. AB 1755, signed September 20, 2026, drops the 100-hour test for applicants on July 1, 2027, or later if the state's eligibility computer system needs more time.
• If you are a grandparent or other relative raising the child, you choose: stay off aid and the child's grant uses the higher exempt column, or join the case at the regular column for a bigger family, with Welfare-to-Work rules for you. In Region 1 that is up to $824 for one child alone or $947 for you and the child. Your own income decides which pays more, so ask the worker to run both. See our kinship caregiver guide.
• If you face eviction or have nowhere to sleep, ask for Homeless Assistance with the application. Temporary help pays hotel or motel costs for up to 16 days once every 12 months, with exceptions: $85 a day for a family of four or fewer, plus $15 for each extra person, up to $145. Permanent help pays a security deposit and last month's rent, or up to two months of back rent to stop an eviction, when the rent is at most 80 percent of household income, CalFresh not counted; the county can set that limit aside when you will share the rent with others. See the CalWORKs Homeless Assistance guide.
• If CalWORKs is denied or someone is left off the cash case, check the CalFresh and Medi-Cal decisions on the same application: each program decides on its own, and eligible family members get benefits even when others are ineligible. See the Medi-Cal income limits.

What you can get and your leverage

• Immediate Need: up to $200, an advance on your grant, for a family that appears eligible, has under $100 in cash and bank accounts and faces an emergency such as no food, a utility shutoff or a pending eviction. For an eviction, your cash, bank balances and income together must be less than the rent owed, or you can ask for the regular grant expedited within three working days. Once it pays, the county has 15 working days from your request to approve the case, and if the case is denied later, you owe nothing back as long as you appeared eligible when it was paid.
• Welfare-to-Work support: adults on aid join Welfare-to-Work unless exempt or excused, at 20 hours a week for a single parent with a child under 6, 30 for other single parents and 35 combined for two parents. Since July 1, 2026, once you tell your worker you need help getting to an activity, the county pays the approved travel cost before it starts, children's travel included, and an activity you miss while that payment is processing carries no penalty. Stage One child care covers those hours without a separate application.
• A State Hearing: you have 90 days from the notice to ask. Request it at the CDSS online hearing portal, by phone at (800) 743-8525, or on the back of the Notice of Action. The county must mail notice 10 days before it cuts or stops aid; ask for a hearing before the cut takes effect and your aid usually stays at the old amount until the hearing. A hearing also covers an application the county is sitting on.
• Legal aid: call an office listed on LawHelpCA when the county claims an overpayment, alleges fraud or sanctions you, or when you want a representative at your hearing.

What to say when you call the county

"My name is [name], application number [number]. I applied for CalWORKs on [date] in [county]. I am requesting Immediate Need [and Homeless Assistance] because [we have no food / we have an eviction notice dated ___ / we are sleeping in our car]. Please tell me my interview date and which documents are missing, and send me a written decision on the Immediate Need request."

Today

1. Apply for CalWORKs on BenefitsCal.
2. If you have an emergency, call your county and request Immediate Need with the script above.

Next comes the interview and a list of proof to turn in. Expedited CalFresh arrives within three calendar days if you qualify, the Notice of Action with your grant within 45 days, and the cash lands on a Golden State Advantage EBT card, or in your bank account if you ask for direct deposit.