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Government Benefits

Legal Aid Foundation of Los Angeles’ government benefits advocacy keeps poor individuals and families housed, clothed, fed, and taken care of when they are sick. If you need help applying for government benefits or have been wrongly denied benefits, we may be able to help you.

We offer help with the following benefits programs:

  • CalWORKs (California Work Opportunity and Responsibility to Kids)
  • Foster Care
  • Medi-Cal
  • Supplemental Security Income (SSI)
  • Social Security Disability Income (SSDI)
  • CAPI (State Cash Assistance Program for Immigrants)
  • CalFresh (Food Stamps)
  • In-Home Supportive Services (IHSS)
  • General Relief

We also help veterans get the help they need with VA benefits. Get more information on our veterans programs.

Resources:

Medi-Cal Appeal Guide

If your Managed Care health insurance plan denies you medical services or equipment that you need to stay healthy and functional, you have the due process right to challenge that decision and have it reviewed, first by the plan itself, and then by a neutral reviewer outside the plan. This guide will walk you through the steps involved and give you information to steer you in the right direction and help you focus on what is important and have the best chance of success in your appeal.

Disclaimer: The health care system is complicated! No single guide can cover all the nuances and specific circumstances that can arise. This guide is a starting place to help you orient how to approach the process and hopefully make it less daunting, but it cannot provide every answer to every question. 

🔗Click here to download the guide.

Representing Yourself at a State Hearing

This manual is a basic guide to California Department of Social Services (CDSS) state hearings for benefits like CalWORKs, CalFresh, CAPI, IHSS, Medi-Cal, and a few others. We wrote this guide to help you understand your rights and the hearing process when there is a problem with your benefits or you want to appeal (challenge) something your County welfare department did or didn’t do.

Hearings and dealing with government and County representatives can be scary, especially when you don’t know the law or your rights. This manual guides you through the process to help you to feel more confident and prepared.

🔗Click here to download the guide.

Know Your Rights

Subtitles are available in: Chinese, Khmer, Korean, Spanish, Vietnamese, English. On the bottom bar, look for the “Closed Captioning” icon “CC” and click on it. Click on the wheel icon for Settings, and click on “Subtitles/CC” to select your language.

Notice

All LAFLA offices will be closed on Friday, July 3 in observance of Independence Day.

Todas las oficinas de LAFLA estarán cerradas el viernes, 3 de julio en observancia del Día de la Independencia.

저희 사무실은금요일, 7월 3일에 휴무입니다.

该办公室将于星期五, 7月3日关闭。

該辦公室將於星期五, 7月3日關閉。

この事務所は金曜日7月 3日休業とさせていただきます。

Các văn phòng của chúng tôi đóng cửa vào Thư sáu, Ngày 3, Tháng 7.

สำนักงานเราปิดทำการ วันศุกรสบด3 กรกฎาคม

ការិយាល័យរបស់យើងបិទនៅថ្ងៃសុក, 07/03/2026.