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January 2024

Jan 29
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Changes to Snap Ebt benefits 2024

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Changes to Snap Ebt benefits 2024

Eligibility and Age

The FRA gradually increases the age of what the USDA calls “able-bodied adults without dependents” (ABAWD) time limit and adds new groups of individuals who are excepted from the ABAWD time limit.

Prior to September, ABAWDs’ 18 to 50 had work requirements, which included working at least 80 hours a month, participating in a work program at least 80 hours a month or participating in a combination of work and work program hours for a total of at least 80 hours a month.

As of Oct. 1, these work requirements expanded to age 52, and requirements will expand to age 54 starting in October 2024, according to the USDA.

Exemptions

There are some exemptions to the ABAWD work requirements, according to the USDA.

For instance, you are excused if you are unable to work due to a physical or mental limitation, if you are pregnant, if you are a veteran, are homeless, or age 24 or younger and in foster care on your 18th birthday.

Income Eligibility

You are eligible for SNAP benefits if you do not exceed the following gross monthly income limit — 130% of the federal poverty level — qualifications:

Household Size: 1

  • 48 States, District of Columbia, Guam, Virgin Islands: $1,580
  • Alaska: $1,973
  • Hawaii: $1,817

Household Size: 2

  • 48 States, District of Columbia, Guam, Virgin Islands: $2,137
  • Alaska: $2,670
  • Hawaii: $2,457

Household Size: 3

  • 48 States, District of Columbia, Guam, Virgin Islands:  $2,694
  • Alaska: $3,366
  • Hawaii: $3,098

Household Size: 4

  • 48 States, District of Columbia, Guam, Virgin Islands: $3,250
  • Alaska: $4,063
  • Hawaii: $3,738

Household Size: 5

  • 48 States, District of Columbia, Guam, Virgin Islands: $3,807
  • Alaska: $4,760
  • Hawaii: $4,378

Household Size: 6

  • 48 States, District of Columbia, Guam, Virgin Islands: $4,364
  • Alaska: $5,456
  • Hawaii: $5,018

Household Size: 7

  • 48 States, District of Columbia, Guam, Virgin Islands: $4,921
  • Alaska: $6,153
  • Hawaii: $5,659

Household Size: 8

  • 48 States, District of Columbia, Guam, Virgin Islands: $5,478
  • Alaska: $6,849
  • Hawaii: $6,299

Each Additional Member

  • 48 States, District of Columbia, Guam, Virgin Islands: $557
  • Alaska: $697
  • Hawaii: $641

Maximum Allotments

According to the cost of living adjustments (COLA) for 2024, maximum allotments have increased for the 48 contiguous states and the District of Columbia, Alaska, Guam and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

For instance, the maximum allotment for a family of four in the 48 states and D.C. will be $973, while it will range from $1,248 to $1,937 in Alaska. The maximum allotment for a family of four will be $1,434 in Guam and $1,251 in the U.S. Virgin Islands.

Meanwhile, maximum allotments for a family of four in Hawaii will decrease to $1,759.

The minimum benefit for the 48 states and D.C. is unchanged from 2023 at $23.

Here are the maximum allotments for SNAP in the 48 contiguous states and D.C. — Oct. 2023 to Sep. 2024 — according to the USDA:

  • Household size 1: $291
  • Household size 2: $535
  • Household size 3: $766
  • Household size 4: $973
  • Household size 5: $1,155
  • Household size 6: $1,386
  • Household size 7: $1,532
  • Household size 8: $1,751
  • Each additional person: $219

Changes to Snap Ebt benefits 2024

Jan 09
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Snap Violation USDA Attorney California

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Snap Violation USDA Attorney California

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced that low-income California residents in seven counties (Kern, Mariposa, Monterey, San Benito, Santa Cruz, Tulare, and Tuolumne) recovering from the impact of severe storms, flooding, landslides, and mudslides that began on February 21, 2023, could be eligible for a helping hand from the USDA’s Disaster Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (D-SNAP).

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said that approximately 4,000 households that may not normally be eligible under regular Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) rules may qualify for D-SNAP – if they meet certain criteria, including the disaster income limits and have qualifying disaster-related expenses.

“As California residents recover from the severe storms and its aftermath, this approval of D-SNAP is vital in ensuring they get the food they need,” Vilsack said.

To be eligible for D-SNAP, a household must either live or work in an identified disaster area, have been affected by the disaster, and meet certain D-SNAP eligibility criteria. Eligible households will receive one month of benefits – equal to the maximum monthly amount for a SNAP household of their size – that they can use to purchase groceries at SNAP-authorized stores or from select retailers online to meet their temporary food needs as they settle back home following the disaster. California will operate its D-SNAP application process for seven non-consecutive days beginning April 17, 2023, through April 25, 2023. California will share additional information about D-SNAP application dates and locations through local media.

The timing of D-SNAP varies with the unique circumstances of each disaster, Vilsack said, but always begins after commercial channels of food distribution have been restored and families are able to purchase and prepare food at home. Before operating a D-SNAP, a state must ensure that the proper public information, staffing, and resources are in place.

The D-SNAP announcement today is the latest in a battery of USDA actions taken to help California residents cope with severe storms and its aftermath, which also include:

  • Approving a waiver to allow SNAP participants in 23 counties (Alpine, Calaveras, Fresno, Inyo, Kern, Kings, Los Angeles, Madera, Mariposa, Merced, Mono, Monterey, San Benito, San Bernardino, San Luis Obispo, San Mateo, Santa Barbara, Santa Clara, Santa Cruz, Stanislaus, Tulare, Tuolumne and Ventura) to buy hot foods and hot food products prepared for immediate consumption with their benefits at authorized SNAP retailers statewide through May 2, 2023.
  • Approving a mass replacements waiver in 28 counties (Amador, Butte, Calaveras, El Dorado, Fresno, Humboldt, Lake, Madera, Mariposa, Mendocino, Monterey, Napa, Nevada, Placer, Plumas, San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara, Santa Clara, Santa Cruz, Shasta, Sierra, Siskiyou, Sutter, Tehama, Trinity, Tulare, Tuolumne and Yuba) allowing households to receive replacement of benefits due to power outages and flooding as a result of severe winter storms that began March 7, 2023.
  • Approving a waiver for the 10-day reporting requirement for the replacement of food purchased with SNAP benefits that were lost due to the severe storms in 43 counties (Alpine, Amador, Butte, Calaveras, Del Norte, El Dorado, Fresno, Glenn, Humboldt, Imperial, Inyo, Kern, Kings, Lake, Los Angeles, Madera, Mariposa, Mendocino, Merced, Mono, Monterey, Nevada, Napa, Orange, Placer, Plumas, Sacramento, San Benito, San Bernardino, San Francisco, San Joaquin, San Luis Obispo, San Mateo, Santa Barbara, Santa Clara, Santa Cruz, Sierra, Sonoma, Stanislaus, Trinity, Tulare, Tuolumne and Yuba).

Snap Violation USDA Attorney California

Jan 09
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Snap Violation Attorney Houston Texas

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Snap Violation Attorney Houston Texas

AUSTIN (KXAN) — The US Department of Agriculture, which administers the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), is investigating lengthy delays for Texans needing assistance, according to Democratic Congressman Lloyd Doggett of Austin.

USDA officials came to Austin recently to meet with officials from the Texas Health and Human Services Commission, which oversees SNAP, Doggett said. He will be briefed on the findings, and potential “corrective actions” next week, he told KXAN on Nov. 22.

“We’ll be gathering for Thanksgiving with families, often for a Thanksgiving feast,” said Doggett. “And, just keep in mind as you do that, that there’s 60,000 Texans who have not gotten their applications properly processed to get food on the table.”

Thousands of families in Texas are struggling to put any food on their tables. For more than a year, KXAN has investigated backlogs for Texans receiving federal food benefits through SNAP, which helps low-income households buy groceries.

However, a series of whistleblower letters, say Texans who are lacking the most are waiting longer than ever for food assistance. The anonymous letters, sent to Abbott and others, claim to come from concerned Texas HHSC employees. They allege SNAP recipients are waiting more than six months and could be waiting longer than 200 days next month.

“In September, we brought to your attention that the delay had increased to over 100 days and expected to exceed 200 days by the end of December,” a letter dated Nov. 21 said. “These things have happened just as we warned. The delay is currently over six months (more than 180 days) from when an individual applies to when their application is assigned to one of our staff to process. As we approach the holiday season, thousands of Texans are still waiting to receive the much-needed food assistance they applied for over six months ago. Governor Abbott and [HHSC Executive] Commissioner [Cecile] Young, how can you reasonably expect anyone in the situation we have placed our citizens in to have a happy Thanksgiving or a merry Christmas while they are contemplating how they will feed their families?”

Snap Violation Attorney Houston Texas

Jan 09
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Atlanta Georgia Ebt Snap Violation Attorney

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Atlanta Georgia Ebt Snap Violation Attorney

11 Alive news had the following story on Snap benefits:

Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp’s office confirms the Peach State will not participate in a new federal program aimed at reducing child hunger during the summer months.

The state’s decision to opt out means rejecting tens of millions in federal funding intended to support low-income families.

The decision by state leaders comes as the USDA launches the new Summer Electronic Benefit Transfer for Children (Summer EBT) program for the summer of 2024. According to the USDA, benefits would supplement existing Summer Nutrition Programs, SNAP and WIC and will come in the form of funds pre-loaded onto cards which families can use to buy groceries. Eligible children, the majority of which are those who qualify for free or reduced lunch, will receive $120 in food benefits over the summer ($40 per month).

While more than 30 states indicated to the USDA they will participate in the federal program this year, Georgia will not.

The decision comes as nearly 64% of Georgia public school students currently qualify for free and reduced lunch, indicating more than 1 million children in the state could have qualified for the benefits the USDA offered. The nonprofit Food Research & Action Center estimates that would have resulted in more than $138 million in benefits for Georgia families this summer, a time advocates say can be detrimental for students dependent on school meals.

“Ensuring Georgia children have access to a healthy and nutritious meal throughout the year remains vitally important to this administration, particularly when students are out of school for the summer,” Garrison Douglas, a spokesperson for the governor, said via email. “Unlike the many successful programs Georgia already has in place, the most notable being GaDOE’s Seamless Summer Option, which alone provided millions of breakfast and lunch meals to students statewide last year, this federal Covid-era EBT program not only lacks basic nutritional requirements and sustainability but fails to address the mission of improving the health and wellness of our children. Therefore, along with our neighboring states, Georgia opted not to participate in the proposed EBT program and instead remains focused on well-established and effective programs that are tailored to address our state’s specific needs by providing necessary nutrition and engagement to families and kids.”

“Each year Georgia’s schools serve about a million students through the National School Lunch Program (NSLP) and when schools let out for summer, those children still need to eat,” Kelcie Silvio, Senior Policy Analyst with Voices for Georgia’s Children, said in an email to 11Alive. “Historically, many of those children have been unable to participate in summer meal programs. Summer EBT would be one efficient way to help families put food on the table for their children. Unfortunately, while it may be too late for this year, we are hopeful the state considers Summer EBT for 2025.”

The USDA Food and Nutrition Service has been testing the Summer EBT program in various forms since 2011, before Congress made the program permanent in December 2022 as part of the Consolidated Appropriations Act.

Atlanta Georgia Ebt Snap Violation Attorney