LOS ANGELES — County offices in charge of administering monthly food benefits to low-income Californians are understaffed and overwhelmed, leading to delays in services as the state stalls a promised boost in funding for the CalFresh assistance program.
Families are experiencing longer wait times for assistance due to prolonged staff vacancies and casework backlogs because of underfunding of administrative costs for the state program, said Kari Beuerman, social services director for Marin County, where income disparities are stark.
The Marin County program maintains a 16% to 20% staff vacancy rate. Meanwhile, applications for CalFresh services there increased by 70% between 2017 and 2021.
