This memo discusses SNAP applications and other documents being sent by clients to the USDA Office of Civil Rights instead of the appropriate state SNAP office. The memo outlines best practices states can use to make submission instructions clearer for clients.
FNS is issuing this policy memo in response to inquiries about how state agencies are required to inform households about required and missing verification and how this interacts with other Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) requirements, including whether a state may close a case on the 30th day following application.
This memorandum clarifies SNAP policy regarding recertification interview scheduling.
The attached questions and answers are intended to address state agency concerns about the effects of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act on SNAP.
Questions and Answers for the 2008 Farm Bill
The purpose of this memorandum is to implement a provision affecting mandatory direct certification for children in Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program households.
As more state agencies are able to offer households the option of applying for SNAP benefits online, the occurrence of households filing multiple electronic applications has become a more visible issue. FNS has been asked: must a state agency process each application submitted by a household in the application month, or may the state agency automatically deny the additional applications that follow the initial application submission?
This memorandum transmits the first set of Questions and Answers that the Program Development Division has received about excluding the special weekly $25 Unemployment Compensation payments.
The following chart clarifies what verification requirements are mandatory at initial certification and describes the program flexibility within those requirements that may help reduce workload. The chart also lists the state options that may apply to each item of eligibility that could have workload impact.
The SNAP certification provisions of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 go into effect on April 1, 2009.