The Food and Nutrition Service of the United States Department of Agriculture cooperated with the Social Security Administration to make it easier for people to apply for SNAP benefits, Supplemental Security Income (SSI) payments, and Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) payments.
The collaboration’s overarching goal is to facilitate access to SNAP (the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program) and SSI (the Supplemental Security Income).
Food Stamps Application Through SSA
The revised agreement makes it possible to keep informing SSI applicants and recipients about SNAP benefits, as is currently being done.
Stacy Dean, the deputy undersecretary for Food, Nutrition, and Customer Services at the United States Department of Agriculture, said in a statement that applicants can save time by submitting their SSI and SNAP applications together.
In addition, telephonic signatures can be used when applying for SNAP benefits. Additionally, Social Security can share with the Agriculture Department information on the number of SSI applicants who have not been approved for SNAP and the points at which their applications were abandoned.
In addition to the paper application, the SSA and the Department of Agriculture will offer an online SNAP application. An SSA official said that initially, up to five state agencies will participate in the trial program.
The Social Security Administration (SSA) will examine its protected filing tool (an online system for initial screening and appointment requests) to determine where SNAP data should be included.
SSA will be reimbursed by the Agriculture Department for the cost of processing SNAP applications and conducting screenings.
Dean stated that efforts are ongoing to improve access to nutrition support for all people, but particularly for those who are part of vulnerable populations such as the disabled or the blind.
Help is also prioritized for those who are 65 and up. Dr. Kilolo Kijakazi, the acting commissioner of the Social Security Administration, has announced that the agency is working with the Agriculture Department to try out new methods of applying for, sharing information about, and assisting families in receiving SNAP benefits.
Agency disagreements on how to interpret data privacy protections might stymie the exchange of valuable information.
Read more: Food Stamps increase: Will food assistance rise as inflation worsen?
SSI Payments
Benefits for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) are disbursed to low-income households by being loaded onto Electronic Benefit Transfer cards and then transferred into SNAP accounts on a monthly basis, but this varies from state to state.
EBT cards can be used at a number of stores, including Target and Walmart, to buy SNAP-eligible foods that don’t require special preparation.
In contrast, Supplemental Security Income (SSI) benefits are given to those with low incomes and few assets.
For 2023, SSI payments for individuals who qualify will be capped at $194 per month, while payments for couples who qualify will be capped at $1,371 per month.
Meanwhile, maximum SNAP benefit amounts for a family of four have climbed, with 48 states and the District of Columbia set to distribute as much as $939 in 2023.
Prices in Alaska can be anywhere from $1,172 to $1,819. Benefits for a family of four under the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) top out at $1,794 in Hawaii, $1,385 in Guam, and $1,208 in the U.S. Virgin Islands.