Santa Barbara County’s Department of Social Services received an email today that full CalFresh (SNAP) benefits have been loaded into people’s accounts and can be issued immediately. Anyone who had delayed November benefits should be able to access that money today, and everyone whose benefit-release day is forthcoming should receive their full November benefits on time, Social Services says. More than 55,000 people receive these federally funded food benefits in Santa Barbara County. Together, children and seniors make up the majority of recipients.
That news is welcome after the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) withheld funds for SNAP, the nation’s largest food assistance program, last week due to the government shutdown.
In that time, two federal judges ordered the Trump administration to release funding for the program, most recently on November 6. Judge John J. McConnell Jr., a U.S. District Judge in Rhode Island said the Trump administration had to release the full benefits by today…