Contra Costa allocates up to $21 million to replace paused CalFresh benefits with debit cards, food boxes

The Contra Costa County Board of Supervisors on Nov. 4 unanimously declared a local emergency and approved up to $21,000,000 to provide emergency food assistance after federal SNAP (CalFresh) benefits were disrupted by a federal government shutdown. The plan directs county staff to distribute prepaid debit cards and food boxes to eligible households and to report back within 60 days.

County Employment and Human Services Director Marla Stewart told the board that in September the county had 108,510 CalFresh recipients in 65,142 households and that monthly issuances totaled $21,089,996. Stewart said the county’s food providers were already strained and that the county’s recommendation includes immediate food-box deliveries and a phased debit-card distribution to ensure beneficiaries can buy groceries locally.

Stewart outlined a two-part plan: an initial emergency distribution of food boxes already underway from county sites, and a prepaid-debit-card program beginning Nov. 10 to deliver a portion of November benefits to validated recipients. The county will operate four service sites with extended hours (7 a.m. to 7 p.m.) and will load cards in stages — an initial 50% of the benefit, a possible additional 25% after two weeks, and a final top-up if federal benefits do not resume. She said the sheriff’s office will provide on-site security and county fraud teams will perform random audits.

County finance staff described the $21 million funding package the board approved: $8,181,373 drawn from an unassigned general-fund…