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Mariposa County readies food support as CalFresh benefits freeze leaves recipients uncertain
Summary
Health and Human Services told the board the county serves roughly 3,000 CalFresh recipients (about 60% children and seniors) and is coordinating food distribution, transportation and partner support while awaiting federal/state funding adjustments; counties cannot directly replace frozen federal benefits without risking future funding.
County Health and Human Services and the County Administrative Officer updated the Board of Supervisors on Nov. 4 about local preparations after a federal action affecting SNAP/CalFresh benefits.
Sydney Forga, Division Director for Health and Human Services, said Mariposa County has an average of more than 3,000 CalFresh recipients and that nearly 60% are children and seniors. She said HHSA had convened a county food-security committee, circulated updated resource lists to the public, coordinated transportation for residents who could not reach distribution sites and worked with local partners to expand food distribution and referrals.
"These are our neighbors who count on our support to put food on their tables," Forga said, urging residents to use county resource lists and contact HHSA staff for assistance. She added that counties do not have authority to replace federal CalFresh benefits directly and that doing so could jeopardize future funding, so staff are pursuing state emergency allocations, community grants and other resources to fill gaps where possible.
Joe Lynch, County Administrative Officer, briefed the board on federal developments: a federal court ruling led to the use of approximately $4.9 billion in contingency funds to partially restore SNAP benefits, but system adjustments mean recipients may not see funds for days or weeks and the amount may be partial. Lynch noted voting operations were proceeding normally in the county and encouraged partners to coordinate.
Public commenters described local food responses and needs. Adam McLean of Farm at Warman Mill said his farm stand turned food pantry had served more than 100 people in two days and urged the county to provide logistical assistance—refrigerated transport, storage and broader distribution support—if the interruption continues. Joe Lynch said county staff would act as a communications hub, direct nonprofits to flexible county funds when available and consider disaster declaration steps if the situation worsened.
HHSA advised residents to contact the agency (Sydney Forga, Britney Sturm or Cassie Cunningham) for resource information and said staff will continue to monitor state and federal developments.
