July 29th, 2024
Photo Credits: Nadiah Mohammed
California is a state where the cost of living is high. It has a temperate climate that allows for year-round cultivation of fruits and vegetables, making it ideal for farming. Additionally, much of the state is located near the coastline. These are all great reasons to love living in The Golden State, but the higher costs leave some residents in need of food assistance programs.
CalFresh, known as SNAP outside of California, aims to get eligible low-income families and individuals the benefits they need to have three full meals daily. As important as these are, not every eligible individual understands the application process or how to receive their benefits.
College Students Eligibility
College students are among this eligible population, but the number of students who actually apply and receive benefits is low. According to the California Policy Lab’s report, many students aren’t applying, seemingly because they think they don’t qualify. CalFresh benefits could help many college students facing food insecurity get the nutrition they need to focus on their studies. But why aren’t they applying?
Eligibility requirements are strict for students to ensure that those with high-income parents aren’t receiving benefits they don’t need. This makes applying for benefits difficult for those who do need it.
But, with a high number of students being eligible for those benefits, it is worth the time to apply.
Eligibility Factors
According to this report, 30% of eligible Community College students and 22% of eligible UC students receive benefits. This leaves a significant portion of the eligible student population without benefits.
Housing plays a big role since that helps to determine eligibility. Many Community College students don't qualify because they opt to live at home with their parents, but once they transfer to a UC or major university, they become eligible. However, since they weren't able to get benefits before, they may believe that they would still be ineligible.
This could account for some of that percentage, but not all. So, there is still a large number of students who may not know about these benefits, don't understand how to apply, or don't have the time to deal with the sometimes lengthy application process.
CalFresh Resource Center
FARSB has a CalFresh Resource Center where students, families and others can come receive assistance with applying for these benefits. This can make the whole process less daunting, and it can help navigate the eligibility requirements easier to get applications in and approved faster.
Assistance is available in English or Spanish, and there are also CalFresh Training Sessions available quarterly for those wanting to know more information about the program. This is also a great resource for Community Partners who want to know more about the CalFresh program to educate those in need who are coming to their pantry, soup kitchen, or other distributions and could benefit from the program.
Wrap-Up
At some point, many of us need assistance in some form. For students and low-income individuals, CalFresh assistance can extinguish food insecurity in their households. Whether students know that they could be eligible or not, it is worth knowing that others do. The more we spread the word, the more can apply and receive the benefits they need to thrive.
If you’d like to learn more about our CalFresh Resource Center, please visit: Feedingamericaie.org/calfresh.
If you’d like to learn more about our CalFresh Training Sessions, please email: hhuerta@feedingamericaie.org.
Sources:
Rothstein, J., Lacoe, J., Ayers, S., Palos Castellanos, K., Dizon-Ross, E., Doherty, A., Henderson, J., Hogg, J., Hoover, S., Perez, A., Weng, J. (2024). Filling the Gap: CalFresh Eligibility Among University of California and California Community College Students. California Policy Lab. https://capolicylab.org/filling-the-gap-calfresh-participation-among-university-of-california-and-california-community-college-students/
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