SNAP provides monetary assistance to help low-income families and individuals buy healthy food.
Many people collecting unemployment also receive food stamp benefits. Being unemployed and receiving unemployment payments adds some minor complications to your application; you should speak with the case worker who interviews you about any concerns you have.
Program Changes
The Food, Conservation and Energy Act of 2008 changed the name of the federal food assistance program from the Food Stamps Program to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) to emphasize the program's focus of improving low-income Americans' diets through financial assistance. The act also dedicated $10 billion to the program to address record high enrollment following the 2008 financial crisis.
Income
SNAP eligibility rests primarily on monthly income (unemployment benefits count as monthly income) and assets. An individual or household is eligible for food assistance if its monthly income is below 130 percent of the federal poverty rate and its assets (savings and bank accounts, as well as stocks and bonds) total less than $2,000 per individual in the household.
Eligibility
During the 2011 fiscal year (October 1, 2010 to September 30, 2011), 130 percent of the poverty rate meant $1,174 in monthly take-home pay for one person, $1,579 for two people, $1,984 for three and $2,389 for a family of four. Unemployment payments should be reported in your monthly income. Case workers take the amount you report as monthly income and may apply deductions before determining your monthly SNAP allotment.
Work
Historically, able bodied adults without dependents were restricted to food assistance for a maximum of three months every three years. Congress temporarily removed the restriction after the 2008 financial crisis, but the moratorium ended in September 2010. Many states offer extensions after the three-month period, while others require beneficiaries to join a training program or accept any kind of work to remain eligible for food assistance. Discuss your work situation with your case worker.
Applying
All states run a food assistance program that is funded by the federal government. States run assistance programs through a social services department that distributes and processes applications and staffs case workers to review applications, interview applicants and answer questions. To apply for benefits, you must get an application from your state's office, fill out the application with your personal information, monthly income and expenses, submit the application and schedule a face-to-face interview with a case worker.
Tags: monthly income, food assistance, case worker, 2008 financial, 2008 financial crisis, assistance program