CalWORKs helps the parent, or other person taking care of children, with:
- Money
- Finding a job
- CalFresh (formerly Food Stamps)
- Medi-Cal, and
- Sometimes additional benefits.
The money for CalWORKs comes from a federal program called Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), so you might hear it called that sometimes. In other states, it has different names. Some people just call it “welfare.”
Note: Oficially, a family getting CalWORKs cash benefits is called an "Assistance Unit" or AU. To keep things simple, DB101 calls an AU a "family."
Each of California’s 58 counties runs its own CalWORKs program. To learn more about what benefits or services you might get, contact your county social services agency.