Contra Costa County allocates $21 million to replace frozen federal food benefits

Contra Costa County supervisors declared a local emergency on Tuesday, allocating up to $21 million to provide food assistance to more than 65,000 households after the federal government suspended nutrition benefits due to the ongoing government shutdown.

The county will distribute debit cards loaded with food assistance funds at four Employment and Human Services Department offices starting the week of November 10. Richmond will serve as a distribution hub for debit cards.

More than 17,000 households in District 1, which includes Richmond, San Pablo, El Cerrito, and Pinole, received approximately $5.5 million in CalFresh benefits in September. The emergency action affects roughly 108,000 county residents, more than half of whom are children and seniors.

"It is shameful that we're having this discussion at all," said Supervisor John Gioia, who represents West County. "But at least the silver lining is we weren't discussing whether or not we were going to do this. We are discussing how to fund it and how to do it."

This past September, 91 Richmond retailers recorded more than $2 million in CalFresh sales, the highest of any city in the county. San Pablo stores saw an additional $1.3 million in sales from the benefits, known federally as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.

Recipients must present identification and verify their CalFresh eligibility to receive cards. The county plans to initially load 50 percent of November benefits, with additional funds added in subsequent weeks if the federal freeze continues.

Congress failed to pass a federal budget for fiscal year 2026, triggering a government shutdown that began on October 1.

Employment and Human Services Director Marla Stuart told supervisors the county has no expectation of federal reimbursement for the emergency expenditure.

The Board of Supervisors debated funding sources before agreeing to draw approximately $12.8 million from the county's appropriation for contingencies and $8.2 million from unallocated COVID-19 FEMA reimbursement funds. The board initially considered using an additional $9.7 million set aside during budget hearings, but supervisors expressed concern about preserving those funds for a community engagement process.

"We have over 500 million in emergency funds because we have been financially prudent in how we manage our budget and our expenditures," Gioia said. "These are the most vulnerable folks in our county."

But Low-income families aren't the only ones feeling the pinch while the SNAP program is on hold. Retailers also benefit economically from the program.

In September, Contra Costa households received approximately $21 million in CalFresh benefits, which were spent at 705 retailers in the county. Data shows CalFresh recipients spent all but $596,000 of their September issuances, leaving only 3 percent on their cards at month's end.

As an immediate stopgap measure, the county purchased 10,000 food boxes from the Food Bank of Contra Costa and Solano and began distributing them on Sunday at EHSD locations. On the first day, 1,150 boxes delivered before 8 a.m. were gone by noon.

Supervisor Diane Burgis warned that the one-month allocation is unsustainable.

"This is just one moment of triage in a whole bunch of issues that we're going to have to deal with," Burgis said.

The Employment and Human Services director must report back to supervisors within 60 days on whether to continue the local emergency. Special distribution arrangements will be made for foster youth, home-care consumers, and WIC recipients.

Distribution sites will be located at:

1305 Macdonald Avenue, Richmond
151 Linus Pauling Drive, Hercules
400 Ellinwood Way, Pleasant Hill
4545 Delta Fair Boulevard, Antioch

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