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Posted on 07/14/2022
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The Department of Cannabis Regulation (DCR) is accepting Social Equity Individual Applicant (“SEIA”) Eligibility Verification requests until July 25, 2022 at 4:00 P.M. Pacific Time. SEIA Eligibility Verification is a process where an individual may request to be verified to participate in the Social Equity Program. The Social Equity Program focuses on the inclusion and support of individuals in the City’s legal cannabis marketplace who may have been negatively or disproportionately impacted by prior cannabis criminalization. Cannabis business licenses for retail, including delivery, and cultivation are exclusively available to verified Social Equity Individual Applicants until January 1, 2025. 

Request to be Verified NOW

An individual requesting to be verified as a Social Equity Individual Applicant (SEIA) must submit required information and supporting documentation via the online SEIA Eligibility Verification Request Form.* 

  • Requesters must provide their unique ACA Reference ID number from the DCR Licensing Portal (Accela) in order to proceed through the online SEIA Eligibility Verification Request Form. ACA Reference ID numbers are assigned when an account is registered on the DCR Licensing Portal and can be found under the "Account Management" tab.  A video tutorial on “How to Look Up your Accela Citizen Access Reference ID Number” is also available. If you do not have an individual DCR Licensing Portal (Accela) account, you will need to register for an account. If you do not have a DCR Licensing Portal account, you may not receive your eligibility verification results and you will not be able to participate in the Social Equity Program until you register for an account.
  • On July 25, 2022 at 4:00 P.M. Pacific Time (PT), access to the eligibility verification request form will be disabled and the eligibility verification request submission window will close.  Incomplete and/or deficient submissions may not be corrected, supplemented or otherwise modified after July 25, 2022 at 4:00 P.M. Pacific Time (PT). Please note that you must hit “Submit and/or Continue Later” at the end of the questions for DCR to receive and review your submission.
  • If you were verified in 2019, you must be verified again if you wish to participate in the Phase 3 Retail Round 2 lottery for an opportunity to be selected to submit a Social Equity retail storefront license application or to submit an application for any other license type after 2022..

 *The City of Los Angeles will provide reasonable accommodation(s) to ensure equal access to its programs, services, and facilities for people with disabilities. To make a request, please contact us at dcr.sep@lacity.org or (213) 978-0738, at least ten business days before the submission deadline.

Access Resources

Please visit the DCR Social Equity Program Individual Applicant Eligibility Verification webpage to learn more and review resources to assist you in this process. On the webpage, you will find a webinar that provides a general overview of the eligibility verification request process, and a webinar about the online SEIA Eligibility Verification Request Form which explains how to submit required documents. Other resources include this video explaining the Social Equity Individual Application verification criteria, a preparatory checklist and frequently asked questions (FAQ)

Access Past Webinars 

You may access past SEIA Verification webinars here