North Lake Tahoe at Carnelian Bay

CA DSS - Department of Social Services

In California, eligibility for food benefits and/or cash aid assistance is determined at the local county office. This the local County office.

CAlfresh is the State of California Food Stamp Program, also know as SNAP. This is a county operated Federal program. Benefits are for food or food products for a healthy nutritional diet.

Electronic Benefit Cards, EBT, are used to purchase CAlfresh items.

Income requirement for CAlfresh:

CalFresh households, except those containing an aged (60 or older) or disabled member or where all members receive cash assistance, are subject to gross and net income determination tests.
Gross Income - all non-excludable income from any source including all earned income and all unearned income. The maximum gross allowed is 200% of the Federal Poverty Level (FPL)[except for households who are sanctioned, households with certain convicted drug felons (until April 1, 2015) or households who have been convicted of an Intentional Program Violation]. If the household passes the gross income test, then the net income test is computed. Net income is computed by deducting the following, if applicable, from gross income. The resultant amount cannot exceed 100% of the Federal Poverty Level.


Office Hours: Mondays through Fridays 8:30am to 5pm.

EBT is the US government\s electronic based system in the US for payment of monies to those approved for food and cash benefit payments.

Check EBT Card Balance
States have their methods to log in and check your ETB balance online. We provide that information on our state pages.

Apply for EBT Card
Most states allow online applications for EBT Cards through the application for Food Stamps (SNAP Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program) or cash benefits through Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF). We provided this local office contact for those who want to apply for their EBT in person at this office. After applying for your benefits you will most likely need to come in for an interview at this or another local social service office.