FNS Documents & Resources

In Fiscal Years 2017 and 2018, the Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) served nearly 6 million households through the Disaster Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (D-SNAP). As disaster responses have grown in size and scale in recent years, it is essential that FNS proactively review the D-SNAP Guidance to ensure program integrity remains high while also safeguarding the opportunity to participate for income eligible households.

To complete that review, the FNS Southwest Regional Office convened a State Workgroup comprised of seven state agencies with recent disaster experience to discuss concerns and best practices regarding D-SNAP implementation, program integrity, and program access. State representatives from across the country met with FNS leadership to review current statues, regulatory provisions, and policy guidance concerning D-SNAP, and to provide recommendations to FNS on how to improve the program at state and federal levels.

The Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) is issuing this memorandum to alert all Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) state agencies.of the available state options and requirements related to child support cooperation, as a condition of eligibility for SNAP.

This memorandum is pursuant to the President's Executive Order, Reducing Poverty in America by Promoting Opportunity and Economic Mobility, which instructed the Department to review regulations and guidance documents to ensure they are consistent with promoting economic opportunity and ensuring the most efficient use of taxpayer funds.

On October 6, 2017, we issued a memo regarding Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) applicants and households who are sending certification materials to the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) instead of the appropriate SNAP State agency for processing. At the time, SNAP State agencies were reminded to review the clarity of their applications and certification material submission instructions to identify areas where they can be made more user-friendly. However, USDA continues to receive large volumes of misdirected SNAP applications.

On Dec. 20, 2018, SNAP  was reauthorized as part of the Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018 (P.L. 115-334). Attached is an informational memorandum describing Section 4005 of the Act and implementation dates. Regulations reflecting revisions to SNAP made by the Act will be published as soon as possible. Please forward the attached memorandum to your State commissioners.

On Dec. 20, 2018, SNAP was reauthorized as part of the Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018[P.L. 115-334]. Attached is an information memorandum describing SNAP provisions and effective dates. Regulations reflecting revisions to SNAP made by the Act will be published as soon as possible. Please forward the attached memorandum to your State commissioners

The attached questions and answers provide policy clarifications to address State agency concerns regarding the  FNS  Feb. 8, 2019, Information Memorandum which discussed Section 4004 of the Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018.

On Dec. 20, 2018, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) was reauthorized as part of the Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018 (the Act) (P.L. 115-334). This information memorandum describes the provisions of Section 4004 of the Act, which is self-executing. An information memorandum outlining the remaining SNAP provisions will follow shortly. Regulations reflecting revisions to SNAP made by the Act will be published as soon as possible.

To be SNAP-authorized, a store generally must meet one of two eligibility standards: Criterion A (staple food stock) or Criterion B (staple food sales). Staple foods are the basic food items that make up a significant portion of an individual’s diet and are usually prepared at home and consumed as a major component of a meal.