In recent years, who can get CalFresh in California has changed a lot, mainly because of rules from the federal government. CalFresh is the California version of the national program called SNAP benefits, which helps people buy food.
The biggest changes in the CalFresh program are for people between 18 and 64 years old. This includes a group called Able-Bodied Adults Without Dependents, or ABAWDs. These are adults who don ‘ t have clear disabilities or minor dependents to care for.
The CalFresh program eligibility has changed forever
The changes come from the Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2023, or FRA, and more recently the One Big Beautiful Bill Act of 2025, or OBBB. These were signed into law on July 4, 2025. To start, the changes to CalFesh help come with new rules for who can get help The FRA slowly raised the age limit for ABAWDs from 18-49 to 18-54 starting October 1, 2024.
It also added temporary exceptions for homeless people, veterans, and youth under age 25 who had aged out of foster care. But these changes were only temporary and will end in October 2030.
The 2025 OBBB makes the rules even stricter. It extends the age limit for ABAWDs to 18-64 years old. This means a bigger group will have work restrictions. Under these rules, ABAWDs can only get benefits for three full months in 36 months, unless they do at least 80 hours of approved work or activities each month. Or they can qualify for an exemption.
Exceptions to the new CalFresh requirements for ABAWD’s
The law gets rid of the temporary exceptions brought by the FRA for homeless people, veterans, and former foster youth. So now, these groups will have to meet the work rules or face limits on their benefits. Also, the exemption for child care is limited to children under 14 instead of up to 18. This affects parents or guardians of older teens. In return, the OBBB introduces new exemptions for some Native American groups.
These include members of federally recognized tribes, urban Native Americans, and Native Californians. They have to be verified with proper documents to qualify. Other changes to the OBBB affect CalFresh eligibility overall. This is especially true for non-citizens and mixed race households.
The law updates rules for who can get CalFresh as a non-citizen
This could leave out more people with temporary legal status or make it harder for legal immigrants, like people who put up money to get here. It also mentions a review of the Thrifty Food Plan. This could lead to reductions in monthly benefits. It also limits benefits for households with more than 18 members. It adds more paperwork to verify hours worked.
This could make it harder to get benefits renewed. These changes took effect immediately when the law was signed in July 2025. But some actions, like those linked to work, could be phased out until January 2027 in some cases. In California, there is a USDA approved waiver. It delays the time limits for ABAWDs from February 1, 2025, to January 31, 2026.
This means, during this time, no one in the state has to meet work rules to keep benefits. As long as they meet other rules, like income limits. These changes are especially hard on people aged 18-64. They expand the group subject to work restrictions and take away protections for vulnerable groups like veterans and the homeless.
In California, where there are more than 5.5 million CalFresh recipients, it is estimated that these changes could cut or end benefits for as many as 97 percent of households.
