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The information below is from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA)’s Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) about upcoming changes to SNAP benefits, in addition to available resources to support the communities you serve.
Beginning March 2023, temporary boosts to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP)’s benefits (known as emergency allotments) that were authorized by Congress to help low-income families deal with the food and economic hardships of the COVID-19 pandemic will end nationwide following the recent passage of the FY23 Omnibus Appropriations Bill.
SNAP is the nation’s largest Federal nutrition assistance program. Over the course of the COVID-19 pandemic, SNAP emergency allotments brought all SNAP households to the maximum benefit allowed by household size or provided SNAP households with a supplement of $95/month (whichever was greater).
Prior to the passage of the FY23 Omnibus Appropriations Bill, Federal law required States to have an emergency or disaster declaration in place during an existing Federal public health emergency declaration in order to issue SNAP emergency allotments. Currently, 31 states (including DC and Guam) are providing SNAP emergency allotments. 18 States no longer have emergency or disaster declarations and, therefore, have already stopped issuing emergency allotments.
For more information about what the end of SNAP emergency allotments means for you and/or the communities you serve, please visit the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA)’s Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) website: https://www.fns.usda.gov/snap/changes-2023-benefit-amounts.
If you have questions about your SNAP benefits, please contact your state or local SNAP agency. You can find their contact information here: https://www.fns.usda.gov/snap/state-directory.
Please check out our latest infographic on forthcoming changes to SNAP benefits: https://www.fns.usda.gov/snap/2023-benefit-changes
Additional resources:
If you think your children may be eligible for free or reduced-price school meals, contact your local school district at any time.
The Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) is a public health nutrition program for low-income parents, infants, and children. WIC provides foods to meet your and your family’s specific nutrition needs, plus nutrition education, breastfeeding support, and referrals to important health care and other social services. If you think you or your family may be eligible, visit https://www.fns.usda.gov/wic/wic-how-apply for more information.
If you know families in need of additional support to put food on the table, local programs and partner organizations are available to help. You can call 1-866-3-HUNGRY or 1-877-8-HAMBRE to speak with a representative who will find food resources such as meal sites, food banks, or other social services available near your location.