Resource Toolkits for Schools, Connecting Families to CalFresh

When kids are enrolled in CalFresh, they get the food they need to succeed both at home and school. But many newly eligible families may not know they qualify or how to sign up. As trusted messengers, schools are important messenger of information for families.

• CalFresh helps kids at home: Now is a great time to enroll or renew for CalFresh benefits! California families with children can spend less time worrying about getting food on the table and more time with their family.

• CalFresh helps kids at school: Students enrolled in CalFresh are directly certified for free school meals and are automatically enrolled in SUN Bucks, the new summer grocery benefit program.

• CalFresh helps kids in the classroom: When students consistently get the food they need, it leads to lower rates of chronic absenteeism, stronger test scores and fewer disruptions caused by hungry behavior or trips to the nurse.

• CalFresh helps school nutrition budgets: Students enrolled in CalFresh are automatically certified for free school meals. That means fewer school meal applications to process and fewer unpaid meal charges.

• CalFresh helps schools qualify for more programs: When CalFresh reaches more eligible students, it improves a school’s ability to operate free summer and afterschool meal programs and to adopt the Community Eligibility Provision (CEP), which enables eligible schools to serve meals to all students at no cost to families.

This is why we have partnered with mRelief to ensure eligible families in Orange, Riverside, and San Bernardino Counties are connected to vital food assistance resources like CalFresh. If families are eligible for CalFresh after using the screening tool, they will be connected to a local agency like 2-1-1 OC and Feeding America Riverside | San Bernardino to help with the application process.