CA Paid Family Leave when unemployed/self-employed

Yes--I did this as well. The reason they give a range of 5-18 months is that they consider your wages for the 12-month base period ending several months before your claim begins, and when that period starts will depend on the month you file in. So if your baby is born in January and you started your claim in January, they'd look at October 2022 through September 2024 and choose the highest quarter in that year. If you filed in December, though, they would use a July to June base period instead. Typically you do need to have been paying into elective disability for at least six months before you file a claim--but they will also consider your past contributions under your former employer if they fall in the base period to allow an earlier claim start. So I'd get it set up ASAP so that if possible you can file a December or January claim--I believe you can start disability four weeks before your due date--which will use a base period that includes wages with your former employer. They don't count the period when you are on leave when looking at quarterly earnings, so if you move directly into PFL from disability, I believe they will continue to use the original base period (but don't quote me on that last part!) The biggest piece--get it set up as soon as possible. The premiums are based on your current earnings so it shouldn't be hugely expensive. EDD is absolutely awful if you need to talk to anyone, but the website was fairly straightforward and you can do everything there. In my experience, they respond faster to emails if there's a problem than to phone calls. Good luck!

Contact Legal Aid at Work. They should be able to help you figure it all out (for free).  
https://legalaidatwork.org/

Here's a link to a legal clinic that can help with these kinds of questions and more: https://legalaidatwork.org/clinics/work-and-family-clinic/

I had a similar experience and debated what to do. I ultimately applied for PFL, got the benefits, and I never had any issues (such as them coming back to me and saying I was not eligible).

For background, I was a W2 employee up until March of 2019, at which time I became unemployed (I was a contract employee and my contract had ended). I had my baby in April of 2019, at which time I applied to EDD. 

Overall my take on their eligibility rules is that I was eligible, but it was a grey zone. I applied and got it.

I had my second kid in October of 2021. I did not apply for PFL after this birth, because I hadn't been working since 2019 and I felt that I was clearly not eligible.

Good luck! I know it's confusing.

Reach out to your district assembly person (in my case, mine was the office of Buffy Wicks) and they have a staffer devoted to EDD claims that can get through and answer your questions. I had two instances where I could not get a hold of EDD but the representative was able to on my behalf. I found them very quick and responsive- usually within a day or two. Good luck!

Your state legislator and state senator, for me Buffy Wicks and Nancy Skinner, have staff dedicated to assist with state agencies. And CA EDD responds when they call. Reach out to your legislator and senator for assistance.

Sharing a general tip on reaching EDD by phone in case it’s helpful. It’s true that it’s impossible to get through because of the high call volume. I was at one point desperate to reach them about a leave related question so I actually paid for a service called Claimyr to reach them (note - I am not affiliated with them). I was dubious and was afraid it was sketchy, but it did work — they guarantee that they’ll get you through to a live person. 

If you need additional clarification on parental leave, Akiko Thayer is *amazing*. A single consultation with her more than paid for itself by me finding out I was owed extra weeks of paid time. Plus she advised on how to talk to my boss, and gave step by step directions on how to apply for each stage of the benefits without me having to try to decipher the EDD website.

My husband also did a consultation with her and we found out he was entitled to an extra 4 weeks unpaid which we were thrilled about, since we wanted as much time as possible.

I strongly recommend her expertise to anyone going on parental leave! https://www.maternityleave411.com

I cannot answer your question directly, but the pro tip on actually getting in touch w EDD is to reach out to your assembly person’s EDD rep and you will get pretty fast results. For example - I am in Bonta’s district and was struggling with delayed payments from EDD with zero visibility to my application status. I emailed Bonta’s office and they coordinated a call with EDD within days!  Just google your district person’s name and ‘EDD rep’ and it should come up. 

You should try to apply for DIEC - a separate state disability program for self employed people. You need to pay into it for at least two quarters before you can make a claim, but you might be able to use the contributions you made while employed to still qualify for a claim. Be as thorough as you can with your application in proving your self employment is a real, self employed business (they like to see invoices and contracts with clients, for example). They took a magnifying glass to my independent communications consulting practice, and it took quite a bit of convincing them that I wasn’t an employee of my clients and trying to dip into two state disability programs. Apply ASAP - it took months for them to approve me application, but they backdated the approval to when they first received it.
https://edd.ca.gov/en/payroll_taxes/Disability_Insurance_Elective_Cover…

Feel free to DM me if you want some help sorting this through.