San Benito County declares emergency over CalFresh/SNAP disruption, allocates $100,000 to food bank

San Benito County supervisors unanimously ratified a local emergency on Nov. 4 after a federal disruption of CalFresh, the program federally known as SNAP, left thousands of county residents waiting for benefits.

County Administrative Officer Julio Warren said the proclamation covers about 7,742 recipients (3,794 households) and was filed to position the county to request state assistance and possible reimbursement. The board voted 4–0 to ratify the proclamation and to authorize a one‑time $100,000 advance to the Community Food Bank routed through Health and Human Services Agency (HSA) as a short‑term stopgap.

The county’s Community Food Bank told the board it is seeing sharp demand: staff said more than 7,000 county residents are affected, including more than 3,000 children, and that the pace of donated food cannot be increased quickly enough to replace typical CalFresh purchasing. The food bank provided an estimate — about $396,000 — to replace the county’s usual monthly CalFresh purchasing for families affected by the disruption, including administrative costs. Food bank representatives and volunteers urged immediate county action; several local businesses also offered to help with meals or distribution.

HSA Director Tracy said the county is coordinating daily with state partners and the County Welfare Directors Association. She said the state has proposed a temporary benefit methodology but that implementation requires changes to the state eligibility/issuance system (CalSAWS) and could take one to three weeks to deliver benefits to recipients; that timing means families may face days or weeks without access to their normal benefits.

Tracy said HSA could advance about $50,000 from its fund balance to buy food targeted to CalFresh recipients and recommended working with the food bank to create a dedicated distribution lane for EBT recipients. The board discussed options and asked staff to seek state reimbursement if the state accepts the county’s emergency proclamation.

The board directed staff to return with more detail at a special meeting later in the week. Until then supervisors approved the $100,000 allocation to help the food bank purchase food and expand services, and asked staff to pursue additional state or philanthropic sources.

"These are real people's lives," Supervisor Sotelo said during discussion. "We need to make sure our residents are not hungry."

The county emphasized the allocation is a short‑term measure; staff told the board the county will pursue reimbursement and seek broader funding options. The vote was 4–0.