Latest News, Local News, International News, US Politics, Economy
Food Stamp

Emergency SNAP Allotment Extended Until February 2023!

By John Powers 0
Emergency SNAP Allotment Extended Until February 2023!

SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program) recipients in Pennsylvania will keep getting an extra emergency payment every month until February 2023.

(This article was changed on October 17, 2022, to show a new date for the extension. Read about the SNAP increase that will happen on October 1, 2022.)

Since April 2020, SNAP recipients have been getting extra emergency funds every month because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

On October 14, 2022, the Biden administration added another 90 days to the federal emergency declaration because of the pandemic. This means that the SNAP emergency allotment payments will continue until February 2023, because the rules of the program give an automatic extra month.

Benefits

With the extra payment, households that only qualify for a partial benefit will get the maximum benefit for their size of household. Households that already get the maximum amount of benefits will get $95 more each month. If a family is less than $95 away from the maximum, they will get an emergency allotment of $95 per family.

Min/Max Benefits:

  • 1/$281

  • 2/$516

  • 3/$740

  • 4/$939

  • 5/$1,116

  • 6/$1,339

  • 7/$1,480

  • 8/$1,691

  • Each additional member/$211

In April 2020, in response to the pandemic, Congress gave people who were eligible for food stamps extra money every month. But both the federal government and each state must declare an emergency, and the federal government must approve each state’s plan for giving out aid every month.

The pandemic emergency declaration was extended by the Biden administration on October 14. This means that SNAP Emergency Allotments will go on until February 2023. They could be kept in place for longer if President Biden declares another 90-day emergency on January 11, when the current one is set to end.

READ MORE: Food Stamp Fraud Allegedly Involved the Grocery Shop Manager Stealing Over $5 Million

The Biden administration said that when they decide to end the declaration, they will give 60 days’ notice.
The dates for September and October 2022 in Pennsylvania can be found below. Once the USDA signs off on the PA Dept. of Human Services SNAP EA distribution plan for the month, we change these dates.

All Snap Households Will Get Extra Benefits (Ea Payments) During the Pandemic Emergency

With the extra payment, households that only qualify for a partial benefit will get the maximum benefit for their size (see chart at right). Households that already get the maximum amount of benefits will get $95 each month.

If you live in Allegheny County and have questions about your SNAP benefits, want to check your eligibility, or need help applying, call (412) 431-8960 Monday through Friday from 9:00 am to 5:00 pm and leave your name, contact information, and the best time to reach you.

How Much in Extra Snap Benefits Will I Get?

  • If you live with three people, the most you can get each month is $658. So, if your family only qualifies for $200 per month, you will get a second emergency allotment of $458 to bring you up to the maximum.
  • If you get the most SNAP benefits for your family size in your first payment, you’ll get a second emergency payment of $95. (regardless of household size).
  • If a family’s first payment is less than $95 away from the maximum, they will get an emergency payment of $95 per family.

When Will I Get the Extra Snap Benefits?

Depending on when you get paid, the extra SNAP will be added to your EBT card in the third and fourth weeks of every month. The payment date is based on the last number in your case record number for people who live in Allegheny County and larger counties in Pennsylvania.

  • Find the last number (0-9) of your record number on notice from DHS or by logging into your online MyCOMPASS Account.
  • Find your number in the chart below on the top row.
  • If your record number ends in 5, for example, you’ll get your extra SNAP benefits for October on the 22nd.

For counties other than your own, the best way to find out when your SNAP benefits will show up on your EBT card is to call the number on the back of your card. After it tells you how much your benefit is, you have to choose “Other” (option 5) and then Payment Dates (option 3).

You will get both your regular and extra benefits in the same month as long as the state can give them to you and you are still eligible for SNAP.

READ MORE: Food Stamps 2022: Items You Can Buy With Food Stamps for Thanksgiving in 2022!

But if DHS just approved your SNAP benefits, the extra benefits might not show up on your card in the month that you were approved. Because the state plans these payments for the beginning of the month, people who are approved later in the month usually don’t get the extra money that same month. If this happens, you should get a make-up payment two months later when DHS finds households that were missed.

For example, let’s say you applied for SNAP benefits on August 20 but weren’t approved until September 14. On the notice you get from PA DHS, it will say that you will get one payment that covers August and September, followed by a regular payment in October and every month after that. The amounts from the Emergency Allotment payments are not in this notice.
Since you got some benefits for August, you could get an Emergency Allotment for that month. Those payments wouldn’t show up on your SNAP card until October 7, when PA DHS sends out payments for August that were missed.
Since you weren’t approved for benefits until the middle of September, after the regular SNAP payments for that month had already been given out, PA DHS may not have been able to include your September Emergency Allotment with the others going out in the second half of that month. You would get that Emergency Allotment instead on November 4, when the state gives out payments for September that were missed.

Starting in October, you should get your regular SNAP payment every month on the same day. Your second payment, the Emergency Allotment, should arrive about two weeks later each month on the day that matches your payment issuance number (see chart above).

Will I Need to Turn in Paperwork or Apply to Get the Extra Snap Benefits?

No. You do not have to fill out any extra forms. Every month that you are eligible for SNAP, the PA Department of Human Services will automatically add the extra benefits to your EBT card. You can use them just like regular food stamps.

How Long Are My Snap Benefits Good for?

These benefits will never run out. If you use your EBT card at least once every five months, you can keep the benefits on the card even if you lose your SNAP eligibility. If the PA Dept. of Human Services takes away benefits you haven’t used because your card has been inactive for a long time, you can get them back if you can explain why you didn’t use them.

The “Families First Coronavirus Response Act” (H.R. 6201), which was signed into law on March 18, 2020, led to the SNAP Emergency Allotment. The Greater Philadelphia Coalition Against Hunger, which is a group we work with, put together a lot of the information in this post.

John Powers 345 posts 0 comments
You might also like More from author
Leave A Reply

Your email address will not be published.