Alameda County warns 5,400 residents could lose CalFresh under HR 1; county readies food assistance

Alameda County Social Services staff told the county Social Services Committee on April 27 that federal changes under HR 1 will narrow CalFresh eligibility and could remove benefits for an estimated 5,400 county residents.

"We estimate approximately 5,400 individuals will lose CalFresh benefits as a result of these federal changes," said Jaime and Damesco, an associate program specialist with Alameda County Social Services, during the department's CalFresh update. Staff described steps the county is taking to mitigate the impact, including partnering with the East Bay Refugee Immigration Forum—a coalition of 32 organizations—to plan food distributions and outreach to affected communities.

The presentation reviewed several related programs and data. Sunbucks, the state summer EBT program for children, had 111,926 cards issued in Alameda County as of April 5, 2026, representing $13,400,000 in benefits with a local activation ("pin") rate of about 67.2%. County staff also summarized a state‑funded CalFresh fruit‑and‑vegetable EBT pilot (launched 11/17/2025) and said the county's participating retailer for the pilot is Santa Fe Foods in Newark.

On fraud and theft mitigation, staff reported that CalFresh EBT theft in Alameda County has declined roughly 92% since February 2024, which they attributed to chip-and‑tap cards, PIN reset procedures and the state‑approved EBT Edge app. Staff reiterated federal replacement rules and administrative steps for households to request replacement benefits.

Speaking to supervisors' questions about why CalFresh applications and caseloads have declined, program staff said the drop in new applications began statewide in October 2024. Roland Chow, a program specialist, cited a mix of causes including lingering fears in immigrant communities about immigration enforcement and the end of pandemic-era enrollment policies. "There0is a greater sense of fear and uncertainty within the community, especially our immigrant and noncitizen community," he said, adding that the county emphasizes that "CalFresh is not a public charge."

County staff described targeted outreach underway: direct calls to affected noncitizens, multilingual materials, and plans for food distribution sites in ZIP codes with the highest anticipated impacts (top local ZIPs listed were 94601, 94621, 94603, 94544 and 94605, concentrated in East Oakland, Fruitvale, San Leandro and parts of Oakland's Chinatown). Antoinette Burns, Divisional Operations Services Manager, said the county will amend contracts with refugee-support contractors (including IRC and Lao Family) and hopes to present contract scopes to the board before the fiscal year ends.

Staff also said application processing performance remains high: Alameda County processes about 98–99% of applications within the 30‑day federal timeframe.

The county emphasized short‑term measures for residents who lose CalFresh—CFAP (the California Food Assistance Program) will cover many noncitizens ineligible for federal CalFresh, and county plans to deploy refugee support funds and food distributions are in early stages. Staff said exact resource details and additional ZIP‑level lists will be shared with supervisors to support constituent outreach.

The committee took no formal action on the item; staff said they will continue outreach and return with implementation details as contracts and plans firm up.