Have you heard of the Golden State Grant? This is the most recent COVID-19 relief bill passed in California. It provides a one-time $600 state supplementary payment (SSP) grant to SSI seniors and people with disabilities. This payment is to help meet the high costs that over 1.1 million SSI recipients are struggling to pay during the pandemic. It also provides a one-time $600 grant for seniors and people with disabilities who receive Cash Assistance Program for Immigrants (CAPI). CAPI is a state-funded program for certain immigrants who are not eligible for SSI due to 1996 federal welfare legislation that restricted eligibility for non-citizens.
Paper checks are mailed by zip code with the the first bunch mailed the week of May 24 and the last bunch mailed the week of June 21. See California for SSI’s handout for a schedule of mail dates by zipcode.
For SSI/SSP recipients:
- The payment will not count as income and will not reduce your regular SSI check.
- The payment will start counting toward the $2,000/$3,000 resource limit the month after you receive the check. If the payment puts you over the $2,000/$3,000 resource limit you may want to consider spending enough money to get below those limits. (Note: this is different than the stimulus checks that don’t count toward the resource limit for 12 months.)
For CAPI recipients, the rules are a bit different. The payment won’t count as income, it won’t reduce your regular CAPI check, and it also won’t count as a resource for the 12 months following. After the 12-month exclusion period, it will start counting toward the $2,000/$3,000 resource limit.
For more information and/or for questions, call the state’s Golden State Grant information line at 1-866-312-3100.
