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All Santa Clara programs

General Assistance

Help with groceries, income, utilities, phone, prescriptions, or property costs.

Food & money · Santa Clara County · Reviewed 2026-09-04

Check my possible matches

A directory listing, not an eligibility decision.

UniHealth can identify a possible match, but the responsible program makes the final decision.

What to know

Why it may fit
Your circumstances can be checked against the program’s published guidelines.
What to do next
Cash aid from Santa Clara County for adults with no children at home and little or no money. One person living alone can get up to $343 a month. It can help while you wait for SSI. SSI is a monthly federal payment for people with low income who are 65 or older or disabled.
Who runs it
County of Santa Clara

What the program may consider

  • You have been in Santa Clara County at least 15 days and intend to stay
  • You do not qualify for another federal or state cash-aid program
  • Countable income below the most aid paid for your living situation
  • Countable resources within County rules
  • Employment or public-works requirements and exemptions

How to get it

Cash aid from Santa Clara County for adults with no children at home and little or no money. One person living alone can get up to $343 a month. It can help while you wait for SSI. SSI is a monthly federal payment for people with low income who are 65 or older or disabled.

Before you start

How to apply

California's one application for Medi-Cal, CalFresh and cash aid

Online it is BenefitsCal. On paper it is the SAWS 2 PLUS. One application can ask for several programs at once.

The same application can also ask for CalFresh Food, CalWORKs, Extra Help with Medicare drug costs, Aged, Blind and Disabled Federal Poverty Level Medi-Cal, Disabled Adult Child protection and 11 more.

  • OnlineBenefitsCal websiteApply online for Medi-Cal, CalFresh and cash aid, any time of day.
  • PhoneEBT card customer service: 1-877-328-9677Set or change your PIN, or report a lost card.
  • PhoneSanta Clara County benefits line: (408) 758-3800Apply or ask questions by phone, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
  • In personSanta Clara County General Assistance Services office: 1919 Senter Rd, San Jose, CA 95112Apply or drop off papers for General Assistance or CAPI here. There is a drop box. Other county benefits offices also take CAPI applications and send them here.
  • In personSanta Clara County benefits offices: 1867 Senter Rd, San Jose; 1330 W. Middlefield Rd, Mountain View; 379 Tomkins Ct, Gilroy
  • FaxSanta Clara County benefits fax: (408) 295-9248
  • MailSanta Clara County benefits mail: P.O. Box 11018, San Jose, CA 95103

You can also use: Santa Clara County General Assistance application by phone, on paper, or in person

Call to get the forms mailed, or pick them up at an office. By phone, a worker takes your answers and records your spoken signature. You finish the longer form at your interview.

Getting help

You start this yourself

No one else can sign or answer for you, even a helper you name. You sign the application and do the interview yourself. If you cannot write, you can sign with an X in front of two witnesses. Family, friends or a helper can fill out forms with you and help you get papers. They may be able to join your interview. If a court named a conservator over your money, the conservator signs every form and does the interview. Married couples who live together apply together, and both sign. At a county hearing, someone you choose can speak for you.

No one can sign for you.

What happens after you apply

  1. The county records your application the same business day it arrives. It counts once you have signed it. After 5 p.m., on weekends or on holidays, it counts from the next business day.

    The countyThe same business day it arrives.

  2. A county worker calls to do your interview right away or to set a time. You choose phone or in person. If you cannot make it, call your worker right away to set a new time. If you miss it, General Assistance is denied the next business day. After a phone interview, the county mails you your answers. You have 10 days to fix mistakes.

    No phone? Apply in person before 2 p.m., and you are offered an interview that same day.

    The countyOnly you can do thisWithin the 45 days the county has to decide. If the county can reach you only by mail, you get at least 7 days' notice.

  3. At the interview you sign the county forms you have not signed yet. One explains your rights and duties. Form SSP 14 lets the county be paid back from SSI back pay you may get later. You cannot be approved without it.

    The countyOnly you can do this

  4. Will you be homeless within 5 days? Ask for an emergency payment. It must look like you qualify, and a supervisor must approve it. It is up to one quarter of the monthly amount. It may come as bus tokens or a shelter or utility payment. Then send the rest of your papers within 5 working days, or you are denied. It comes out of later aid. You can get one only once in 12 months.

    Only if you are in urgent need and will be homeless within 5 days

    The countyA helper can help with this

  5. If papers are missing, the county mails you a list. It may ask for your ID, Social Security number, income, and what you own. If you have no Social Security number, you must apply for one. If you do not send the papers, you are denied.

    The countyA helper can help with this You have 10 days from the day the list is mailed.

  6. You must have been in the county at least 15 days and plan to stay. Aid cannot start before your 16th day here. Denied only for that? The county looks again on day 16, with no new application. No home here with rent paid for 30 days? Change the address on your ID at the DMV. If you cannot work, seeing a doctor here or applying for SSI also works.

    YouA helper can help with this

  7. The worker decides if you are able to work. If you are, you must sign up with EDD, the state job office. People 65 and older do not have to join the work program unless they want to. Do you need to stay home to care for a very sick family member? A doctor's form can excuse you from work. Ask about In-Home Supportive Services (IHSS). It may pay you to care for them.

    The countyOnly you can do this

  8. If a health problem keeps you from working, you sign form GA 1123. Your doctor fills out form SCD 1400, and you sign page 2. Until it comes back, you count as unable to work. If you have no doctor, a county clinician can help you find one.

    Only if a health problem keeps you from working

    Your doctor or clinicianA helper can help with this The doctor's form is due within 60 days, or your aid stops.

  9. You must apply for any other money you may get. This includes Social Security, SSI, cash aid for immigrants (CAPI), unemployment, state disability, or veterans benefits. Bring proof you applied, like a letter from Social Security. At 64 years and 10 months or older, you must apply for SSI. So must anyone whose health problem will last a year or more. The county's SSI team can help.

    YouA helper can help with this By the date on the county's letter.

  10. You must get your sponsor's help. The county checks whether your sponsor can support you. Your sponsor may need to sign a promise to pay back your aid. That puts a claim, called a lien, on their property. Aid cannot be approved before day 45 unless this is done. If it is still not done by day 45, you are denied.

    Only if someone sponsored you to come to the U.S. Not for refugees, asylees, parolees or Cuban or Haitian entrants.

    YouA helper can help with this

  11. After everything else is cleared, you go to a work program meeting. It is in person unless you have a steady phone and e-mail and sign up for texts. The county approves your aid only after this meeting. If you miss it without a good reason, you are denied.

    Only if you can work and are under 65. At 65 or older, only if you choose to join.

    The countyOnly you can do thisIt can be the same day. If not, it is the next open day.

  12. If you pay rent, your landlord fills out form GA 31. The county then pays the rent part straight to your landlord. If your landlord will not take county payments, ask about getting it yourself. If you own your home, the housing part is paid to you. If you pay utilities, show a bill in your name or your landlord's. If you pay no housing costs, you get only the personal part.

    Before the housing part can be paid

    YouA helper can help with this

  13. If you have no home, the county offers you a shelter bed as the housing part. If no bed is open, you may get cash for housing instead. You may also get it if you have a strong reason to say no.

    Only if you have no home

    The countyA helper can help with this

  14. You get a letter that says yes or no and how much you will get. Aid counts from the day you are approved or the 10th day after you applied, whichever comes first.

    The countyWithin 45 days of a complete application.

  15. Your EBT card comes by mail, or you can pick it up at a county office. An EBT card works like a debit card. Your PIN, a secret number that protects the card, comes in a separate letter. You can also set it by calling EBT customer service. If you already have a Santa Clara County EBT card, you keep using it.

    The countyOnly you can do this

  16. Your personal part, up to $150 for one person, goes on your EBT card each month. The rent part goes to your landlord, usually around the 4th or 5th of the month. Sometimes the first payment comes the same day you are approved.

    The county

What only you can do

  • Sign the application yourself. No one else can sign for you, unless a court named a conservator over your money.
  • If you are married and live together, you apply together. Your spouse signs too.
  • Do the interview yourself, by phone or in person. If you miss it, you are denied.
  • At the interview, sign your rights form and form SSP 14.
  • Send the papers the county asks for within 10 days.
  • Apply for any other money you may qualify for, like SSI or Social Security, and bring proof.
  • If you apply for SSI, go to any medical exams Social Security sets up. If SSI says no, appeal within 60 days, or your aid stops. The county's SSI team can appeal for you.
  • If you cannot work, get your doctor to fill out form SCD 1400 within 60 days. Sign page 2 yourself.
  • Can you work, and are you under 65? Go to the work program meeting and stay signed up with EDD. Most weeks, contact at least 6 employers and contact EDD twice. Do your community work hours. Take any job you are able to do.
  • Breaking a work rule without a good reason stops aid for 1 month. The second time it is 2 months, then 4 months.
  • Get your EBT card and set your PIN.
  • Report changes within 10 days, like a move, new income, or a new person at home.
  • Send a short report form, called a SAR 7, every 6 months. Do a review interview once a year.
  • Pay back any aid you got but should not have.
How long it takes
The county must decide within 45 days. It can be faster if you finish each step quickly. If you were sponsored into the U.S., it can take the full 45 days. Rent payments to your landlord may start later.
You are enrolled when
You are enrolled when you have an approval letter and money is on your EBT card. If you pay rent, the county has also set up payments to your landlord. If you can work, approval comes only after your work program meeting.
To keep it
Every 6 months, send a short report called a SAR 7. Send it between the 1st and 5th of the month it is due. If it is not in by the 11th, your aid is put on hold. Report changes within 10 days. Once a year you have a review interview. If you cannot work, keep your doctor's form current. If SSI says no, appeal within 60 days. There is no time limit. To fight a decision, ask for a county hearing within 30 days. Ask within 7 days to keep your aid meanwhile.

Can’t be combined with