The government shutdown will start to have a direct impact on Madera County families who receive CalFresh benefits.
CalFresh is a federally funded program, also known as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP. The November CalFresh benefits distributed monthly to 16,621 households or 33,832 people in Madera County will be delayed.
It’s unclear how soon the benefits will be restored to EBT cards once the government reopens. CalFresh benefits are issued through EBT cards during the first 10 days of each month based on the last digit of the client’s card.