Benefits are on the way for D-SNAP applicants; Supplements for current SNAP recipients are pending
The program, authorized by the United States Department of Agriculture’s Food and Nutrition Services (FNS), operated by DHS and administered by the counties has ended or will expire in many areas over the next few days. Each county independently decides whether to request a four-day extension based upon the needs of their community.
In addition, FNS has made determinations regarding:
• Which New Jersey counties qualify for automatic supplemental payments to current NJ SNAP recipients; and,
• Which counties must collect personal affidavits to process the disbursement.
In the first instance, no action is necessary for current NJ SNAP recipients. But, the second requires them to visit their local social services agency, fill out paperwork and submit it for processing. Both groups can expect to receive the supplemental benefit on their EBT account in the next two or three weeks.
A list of counties that have requested extensions or that have been approved by FNS for the automatic supplemental benefit is attached to this release.
“The Department is encouraging counties, municipalities and local organizations to relay this information to their communities,” said DHS Commissioner Jennifer Velez. “It’s essential that individuals who need this assistance get it so they can continue hurricane recovery activities and get back to their lives.”
To date, New Jersey’s counties have amassed over 16,000 D-SNAP applications and processed about 10,000 from individuals and families who do not receive the monthly food assistance benefit. No estimates can be made regarding how many of the 381,638 current NJ SNAP recipient households will apply for, or receive automatically, the supplement.
Residents should continue to check their county website for updates or www.njsnap.org. They also should be sure to register for FEMA assistance at www.disasterassistance.gov and to check www.nj211.org for valuable disaster-related information including, how to: acquire clean-up kits; schedule home inspections, and; exercise renters rights.
Counties that have filed four-day extensions for D-SNAP applications include: Somerset, Morris, Mercer, Passaic and Sussex. D-SNAP is for individuals and families not already receiving monthly NJ SNAP benefits.
Individuals from the following counties already receiving NJ SNAP benefits do not need to take any action to receive a SNAP disaster benefit: Atlantic, Monmouth, Passaic, Somerset, Cape May and Sussex counties. The supplemental benefit will be automatically deposited onto their Families First Electronic Benefits Transfer (EBT) card.
Current NJ SNAP households from the remaining counties must visit their county welfare agency to submit an affidavit of loss to receive the one-time subsidy.
DHS submitted state power outage data, evacuation maps, flood and surge maps to FNS to support its request for automatic supplemental SNAP benefits in New Jersey’s most impacted counties.
