FNS Documents & Resources

States annually update Standard Utility Allowances (SUAs) to reflect changes in utility costs. When determining a household’s eligibility, states consider a household’s total shelter costs, including the cost of utilities. Since actual utility costs are often hard to determine, states can use SUAs, which are standard amounts that represent low-income household utility costs in the state or local area. SUAs may be used in lieu of the household's actual costs when determining eligibility and benefit amount.

The proposed rule would revise SNAP regulations to standardize the methodology for calculating standard utility allowances. 

This webinar is Part 3 of our webinar series “Demystifying USDA Food Complaints.” It focuses on results and resolution in the USDA Foods complaint process for USDA Foods in schools. The USDA Foods Complaint Team, as represented by Tony Wilkins, presents different scenarios as USDA Foods are transported from the vendor to their final destination, school kitchens. The intended audience is individuals involved with the National School Lunch Program: SFAs and all distributing agencies and recipient agencies, including SDAs as well as schools and warehouses.

In this webinar for state distributing agencies and recipient agencies, Tony Wilkins of the Food Distribution Division reviews best practices for using WBSCM in resolving complaints, provides analysis of USDA Foods complaint trends, shares 2016 complaint successes, and discusses what’s in the complaint pipeline.