CalWORKs Homeless Assistance 2026: Shelter Pay, Deposits, How to Apply

Apply at your county CalWORKs office by signing form CW 42 (Statement of Facts – Homeless Assistance), and the county must approve or deny temporary shelter pay the same working day. Temporary Homeless Assistance (HA) pays $85 a day for a family of four or fewer, plus $15 for each extra person up to $145 a day, for up to 16 days in a 12-month period. Once your CalWORKs case is approved, Permanent HA pays a security deposit and last month's rent on a new place, or up to two months of back rent when you hold any notice that could lead to eviction.

The first shelter payment covers up to three days. After that the county pays up to seven days at a time, each time you bring motel receipts and a log of the landlords you contacted. Call or walk into your county office today and ask to apply for CalWORKs Homeless Assistance.

Who qualifies

• Your family gets CalWORKs or looks eligible for it. Temporary shelter pay goes to applicants whose application shows they would qualify once verified (apparently eligible). Permanent HA requires an approved CalWORKs case. If you are not a U.S. citizen and are asking for aid for yourself, bring proof of your eligible immigration status with the CW 42. Parents without eligible status can still apply for their children born in the U.S. or with legal residency, and that case can get Homeless Assistance.
• You are homeless or facing eviction. That covers having no fixed, regular place to sleep, staying in a shelter, sleeping in a car or another place not meant for sleeping, or holding an eviction-related notice for any reason the notice gives.
• Pregnant with no other children: a signed statement that you are pregnant is enough to start; bring medical proof within 30 working days.
• Relatives raising the children on a child-only case qualify, even when the caretaker gets no cash aid personally.

Homeless Assistance has no $100 savings test. The county applies the regular CalWORKs resource limit: $12,552 in 2026, or $18,829 when a family member is 60 or older or disabled (more in our CalWORKs 2026 guide).

Temporary HA: what the shelter money pays

The money pays for a hotel or motel, a shelter that charges, or a room rented from a person under a written short-term lease, sublease or shared housing agreement. If your family needs a second room, ask the county to raise the daily amount for the extra bedspace; the law allows it. When a room simply costs more than the cap, ask for a CalWORKs Housing Support Program referral. Check question 9 of the CW 42 to have the county pay the motel or shelter directly.

Record your landlord contacts on form CW 74, at least one for each day of shelter. The worker can excuse the search for good cause, including when local rentals cost more than your family can pay.

The 16 days need not run back to back. Unused days stay available for a new stretch of homelessness until 12 months pass from your first payment, with no new CW 42.

Without receipts showing the money went to shelter, or when your last home was lost over unpaid rent, the county pays the motel, shelter or landlord directly for the rest of the 12 months. If you lost a receipt, sign a sworn statement of what you paid; CDSS strongly encourages counties to accept it. Unpaid rent is excused from this when it came from a rent increase above 80% of your income, lawful rent withholding, or domestic violence.

Permanent HA: move-in costs and back rent

• Moving in: the security deposit and last month's rent the landlord requires, up to two months of your rent in total. Required charges such as a pet deposit, credit check or application fee fit inside that amount.
• Utility deposits: the actual turn-on deposits for gas, electricity and water, paid on top of the security deposit.
• Staying put: up to two months of back rent when you hold an eviction-related notice, whatever reason it cites.

First month's rent and overdue utility bills fall outside Permanent HA; for a past-due bill, use our utility shutoff guide.

The 80% rule. Your family's share of the monthly rent must be 80% or less of your total monthly household income, counting gross earnings, other income and the CalWORKs grant, with CalFresh left out. In shared housing, only your family's portion is measured, and for back rent each covered month must pass the test.

The county approves or denies Permanent HA within one working day after you hand in the CW 42 and a rental agreement. With nothing on paper from the landlord, sign the county's sworn statement listing the landlord's name and phone number, the deposit and the rent; the one-day clock starts when you turn it in. Within 30 days after a move-in payment, bring proof that it went to your landlord.

Under SB 1415, regular rent help from a housing program, a church or someone outside your household will also count as income for this test, which makes it easier to pass. CDSS sent counties the instructions on October 9, 2026; the start date follows in a later notice.

The 12-month rule and its exceptions

Each family gets up to 16 days of temporary shelter pay and one Permanent HA payment every 12 months, each clock starting the day the county issues that first payment. One of these causes adds another 16 days and another Permanent HA payment inside the same 12 months, each cause usable once every 12 months:

• Domestic abuse by a spouse, partner or roommate, including a parent or child you lived with. Your sworn statement on the CW 42 is the proof. With only your sworn statement as proof, you can use this exception twice in total: two 16-day periods and two Permanent HA payments.
• A medically verified physical or mental illness. Medical or clinic staff with access to your records verify the diagnosis. Alcoholism, drug addiction and psychological stress are excluded.
• An uninhabitable home after a fire, natural catastrophe, condemnation or another sudden event beyond your control. A written statement or report from the police, fire department, Red Cross or health department proves it.
• A state or federally declared disaster. This exception resets with each disaster, and the county can pay all 16 days at once.

What to do today

1. Contact your county CalWORKs office. In Los Angeles County, call the DPSS Customer Service Center at (866) 613-3777 to complete the CW 42 by phone. In San Diego County, call Access at 1-866-262-9881, weekdays 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. In Fresno County, call the Housing Assistance Information Line at (559) 600-5315. For any other county, use the CDSS county list.
2. Apply for CalWORKs the same day if you are not on it yet, at BenefitsCal or at the office. The county uses that application to find you apparently eligible.
3. Fill out and sign the CW 42. Check temporary shelter, permanent housing or both, and use question 9 to choose who gets paid. Your signed CW 42 is your proof of homelessness. The county can ask for more only when it has reason to suspect you still have permanent housing, and even then it must decide on the same timeline. Counties can take the form over the phone with a recorded verbal signature, and they cannot require an in-person interview before deciding.
4. Hand it in before closing time. A CW 42 turned in after the office closes counts as received the next working day. Approval comes on notice M44-211A, denial on notice M44-211D.
5. Start your housing search log with at least one landlord contact a day, and keep every motel receipt.

Where it splits

• If you are fleeing domestic abuse and applying for CalWORKs, answer yes on question 13 of the CW 42. Expanded Temporary HA pays 16 days in one lump sum the day you apply and another 16 days whenever you need them, 32 days once in a lifetime, on top of the regular days and the abuse exception. The abuser's income and assets stay out of the count.
• If you used Homeless Assistance in the last 12 months, find the exception that fits and bring its proof. When none fits, ask for a CalWORKs Housing Support Program referral; 56 counties run one, with rent help, deposits, moving costs and motel vouchers.
• If your CalWORKs application is still pending when you find a place, hand in the rental agreement anyway. The county has to finish your CalWORKs decision so the Permanent HA answer still comes within one working day, once you have turned in the verifications it asked for.
• If you live in Los Angeles County and are in Welfare-to-Work, ask for THAP+14 after the 16 days: up to 14 more shelter days for families enrolled in GAIN or working full time. DPSS Moving Assistance adds up to $2,500 for deposits, utility turn-on fees and moving costs once state HA is used up.

Your leverage when the county stalls or says no

• The deadlines are in the law. Temporary shelter pay is granted or denied the same working day as a complete CW 42, and Permanent HA within one working day of your rental proof. If the county places you in a shelter that night, the payment is due by closing time the next working day. When the day passes with no decision, ask for a supervisor and name the missed deadline.
• State hearing. You have 90 days from the county's action to request a hearing, and you can request one when the county never acted on your CW 42. Call the State Hearings Division at (800) 743-8525 or file online. If notice M44-211D denies you under the 12-month limit and one of the four exceptions fits, attach a letter naming the exception and its proof.
• Court papers. If you are handed a Summons and Complaint for eviction, you have 10 court days to file an Answer, counting no weekends or court holidays. Call legal aid that day; our eviction help guide lists where to start.

What to say when you call or walk in

My name is [name], case number [number, or: I am applying for CalWORKs today]. My family of [number] [has nowhere to stay tonight / got a notice on (date) that could lead to eviction]. I am applying for CalWORKs Homeless Assistance today for [temporary shelter / permanent housing / back rent], paid directly to [motel or landlord]. Please give me the CW 42 now and a decision before the office closes.

Today

1. Sign the CW 42 at your county office before closing time.
2. Apply for CalWORKs and CalFresh on BenefitsCal if you are not on CalWORKs yet.
3. Keep tonight's motel receipt and log one landlord contact.

What comes back: a decision the same working day and a first payment for up to three days of shelter, then up to seven days at a time as you bring receipts and your log.