Department Of Economic Security Food Stamps

Being Approved For Food Stamp Benefits

When you are found eligible for SNAP benefits, you will receive an Electronic Benefit Transfer card. Your benefits are automatically loaded onto the card each month. The card will work like a debit card with funds deducted from the account with each purchase. The card can only be used at stores that are approved to accept them.

First Food Stamp Program

The idea for the first food stamp program has been credited to various people, most notably Secretary of AgricultureHenry A. Wallace and the program’s first administrator, Milo Perkins. Of the program, Perkins said, “We got a picture of a gorge, with farm surpluses on one cliff and under-nourished city folks with outstretched hands on the other. We set out to find a practical way to build a bridge across that chasm.” The program, run by the U.S. Department of Agriculture by permitting people on relief to buy orange stamps equal to their normal food expenditures for every $1 of orange stamps purchased, 50 cents’ worth of blue stamps were received. Orange food stamps could be used at any food retailers or wholesalers, but excluded achoholic beverages, concession stand meals that could be eaten on premises, and tobacco products. The blue stamps could only be used to buy what the USDA defined as surplus produce- which included items such as beans, eggs, fruit, and the like.

Preparing For The Arizona Food Stamps Interview

All applicants must take part in an Arizona food stamps interview with a DES representative. This step occurs once claimants submit their completed petitions to the department. These eligibility conversations take place either in person or over the phone. Claimants who wonder, What do you need for the food stamps interview? must note that they should come prepared with the following:

• Verification of household incomes.

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Eligible Food Items Under Snap

As per USDA rules, households can use SNAP benefits to purchase:

• Foods for the household to eat, such as:
• fruits and vegetables

Soft drinks, candy, cookies, snack crackers, and ice cream are classified as food items and are therefore eligible items. Seafood, steak, and bakery cakes are also food items and are therefore eligible items.

Energy drinks which have a nutrition facts label are eligible foods, but energy drinks which have a supplement facts label are classified by the FDA as supplements, and are therefore not eligible.

Live animals and birds may not be purchased but live fish and shellfish are eligible foods. Pumpkins are eligible, but inedible gourds and solely ornamental pumpkins are not.

Gift baskets containing both food and non-food items “are not eligible for purchase with SNAP benefits if the value of the non-food items exceeds 50 percent of the purchase price. Items such as birthday and other special occasion cakes are eligible as long as the value of non-edible decorations does not exceed 50 percent of the price.”

Am I Required To Work

In order to qualify for Nutrition Assistance, you must work or be in a DES approved training program for at least 80 hours per month. However, you may not have to meet this requirement if you are:

• A half time student enrolled in a training program
• Unable to work because of a disability
• Pregnant
• In a drug or alcohol treatment program
• Living where there is high unemployment
• Responsible for the care of someone with a disability or a child under 18

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What Are Deductions And How Do They Affect Snap Eligibility

There are seven allowable deductions that you can consider when determining your net pay. To figure out your net income, you have to figure out which allowable deductions apply to your situations and deduct them from your gross income. The difference is your net income.

Each state outlines employment requirements as part of SNAP eligibility. These requirements include:

• Registering for work – some states will require you to provide proof that you are actively applying for work on a weekly basis.
• Not voluntarily quitting your job If you are unemployed, you need to prove that it was not your choice.
• Not purposely reducing your hours If your hours are cut making you income eligible, you will need to prove that the cut in hours was beyond your control.
• Taking a job if offered
• Participating in state-offered employment and training programs.

SNAP benefits will be discontinued if any of these employment requirements are not followed. There are people exempt from the employment requirements. This includes children, seniors, pregnant women, and individuals that are exempt from working for health reasons.

Employment requirements apply to applicants determined to be Able-Bodied Adults without Dependents . Under the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996, ABAWDs are limited to 3 months of SNAP benefits over a 36-month period unless they are doing at least one of the following:

Walk In / Fax Application

You may download the www.azdes.gov/AHCCCSCombinedApplication and send it by fax or submit it in person to your local Family Assistance Administration office.

You may request a paper application at your local FAA office, or you can call and ask that an application be mailed. For AHCCCS Health Insurance , you may also apply at a hospital or at some health clinics.

If you are pregnant, you may apply during a visit to your doctor’s office but only if your doctor is a Baby Arizona Provider.

When you fill the application form you must provide the following information:

• Copy of Lease
• Wage statements

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Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program

The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program provides monthly benefits that help eligible low-income households buy the food they need for good health. For most households, SNAP funds account for only a portion of their food budgets they must also use their own funds to buy enough food to last throughout the month. Eligible households can receive food assistance through regular SNAP or through the Louisiana Combined Application Project .

For more information on SNAP and other services available through the Department of Children and Family Services , call 1-888-LAHELP-U .

SNAP participants may also meet the income eligibility guidelines for nutrition services through the Women, Infants & Children Program offered by the Louisiana Department of Health.

qualifications

Qualifying for Regular SNAP

To get benefits through regular SNAP, households must meet certain tests, including resource and income tests.

Households are not exempt from the resource limit if:

• Any member is disqualified for Intentional Program Violation, or
• The household is disqualified for failing to comply with work registration requirements.

The following individuals are not exempt from the resource limit:

• An ineligible alien,
• An ineligible student,
• An individual who is disqualified for failure to comply with work registration requirements,
• An individual who is disqualified for failure to provide or apply for a social security number, and
• An individual who is on strike.

• View the Allotment Amounts Table

New Standard Medical Deduction

Households with elderly participants or participants with a disability may receive one of the following deductions from their income:

• A Standard Medical Deduction of $160 minus a $35 disregard which equals $125 or,
• An actual monthly out-of-pocket medical expense deduction, minus a $35 disregard when expenses exceed the $160 SMD amount.

Participants are required to verify expenses over $35 to receive the SMD. All expenses must be verified when a participant chooses to claim actual out-of-pocket medical expenses above $160.

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Food Stamps Cash Assistance

questions & answers

Question: Can I apply for food stamps if I am a non-relative guardian only applying for the children?

Question: My father is a retired county worker for Arizona. He is now 88 years old in a nursing home. His income for ss and retirement is about 1800 a month. this does not cover his nursing home or his home expences. We have used our saving up and now I will be hitting charge cards this month to help him out. Is ther any help available for us.

Question: I am a military mother of 3 whos husband went to jail for two years. I cannot find employment, he cant pay child support, and I cant get any cash assistance to provide for my children. Family is helping but what can I do? I live in my parents home they were going to rent out, but have bills and children. The state so no on cash assistance, so I only get food assistance. Isnt there something I can do during interim of trying to find a job?

Question: i have two questions.. I am 22 and live with my parents and am applying for food stamps and cash assistance do I include them on my application? What are the amounts of benefits I can expect to receive if approved?

Question: hi ive applyed for food stamps online but i dont know how to get cash assistance i get ssi every month but i have to pay my bills with it i was wondering if i can still get cash assistance

About The Whiteriver Department Of Economic Security Food Stamp Office

The Whiteriver Department of Economic Security Food Stamp Office, located in Whiteriver, AZ, administers the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program for Whiteriver residents. Often called “food stamps,” SNAP benefits provide nutrition assistance for income-eligible households. The U.S. Department of Agriculture oversees the SNAP program, and SNAP Offices distribute benefits to Whiteriver residents. The program reduces food insecurity and poverty by providing supplemental nutrition assistance for low-income households.

You may contact Food Stamp Offices for questions about:

• Whiteriver food stamp eligibility
• Applying for food stamps and SNAP food benefit
• Calculating SNAP benefits

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Things You Need To Know Before Applying For Snap

Before you apply, please visit the “Before You Apply for SNAP” document. This gives a brief overview of the information needed, why certain questions are asked, information about citizenship and immigration status and your rights and responsibilities. If you have questions about applying for SNAP, contact your local human service zone office.

Information Needed For Eligibility

Whether you are applying for the first time, or renewing your benefits, you may need one or more of the following pieces of information to determine whether you are eligible:

• Proof of citizenship and identity for everyone who is applying for benefits.
• Alien Registration Cards, if there are non-U.S. citizens applying for benefits in your household.
• Social Security numbers for everyone, or proof that a Social Security number has been applied for.
• Proof of relationship, birth certificates may be used
• Name, address & daytime phone number of landlord or neighbor.
• A statement verifying your address and the names of everyone living with you. The statement must be made by a non-relative who doesnt live with you. It must be signed, dated and include that persons address and telephone number.
• Proof of ALL money your household received from any source last month and this month.
• Proof that your employment ended and last date paid.
• Bank or credit union complete statement for the most recent month.
• Proof of savings bonds, securities, retirement plans and life insurance.
• Proof of rent/mortgage and utility bills for the most recent month.
• Proof of child care expenses for the most recent month.
• Proof of all medical expenses for those applying for benefits who are age 60 or older or receive disability benefits.

When possible, please include this information with your application.

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Renaming The Food Stamp Program

The 2008 farm bill renamed the Food Stamp Program to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program and replaced all references to “stamp” or “coupon” in federal law with “card” or “EBT.” This was done to mark a more explicit focus on providing nutrition. It was also done to reduce usage of the stigmatized phrase “food stamps”.

About The Coolidge Department Of Economic Security Food Stamp Office

The Coolidge Department of Economic Security Food Stamp Office, located in Coolidge, AZ, administers the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program for Coolidge residents. Often called “food stamps,” SNAP benefits provide nutrition assistance for income-eligible households. The U.S. Department of Agriculture oversees the SNAP program, and SNAP Offices distribute benefits to Coolidge residents. The program reduces food insecurity and poverty by providing supplemental nutrition assistance for low-income households.

You may contact Food Stamp Offices for questions about:

• Coolidge food stamp eligibility
• Applying for food stamps and SNAP food benefit
• Calculating SNAP benefits

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Welfare Reform And Subsequent Amendments

The mid-1990s was a period of welfare reform. Prior to 1996, the rules for the cash welfare program, Aid to Families with Dependent Children , were waived for many states. With the enactment of the 1996 welfare reform act, called the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 , AFDC, an entitlement program, was replaced that with a new block grant to states called Temporary Assistance to Needy Families TANF.

Although the Food Stamp Program was reauthorized in the 1996 Farm Bill, the 1996 welfare reform made several changes to the program, including:

• denying eligibility for food stamps to most legal immigrants who had been in the country less than five years
• placing a time limit on food stamp receipt of three out of 36 months for Able-bodied Adults Without Dependents who are not working at least 20 hours a week or participating in a work program
• reducing the maximum allotments to 100 percent of the change in the Thrifty Food Plan from 103 percent of the change in the TFP
• freezing the standard deduction, the vehicle limit, and the minimum benefit
• setting the shelter cap at graduated specified levels up to $300 by fiscal year 2001, and allowing states to mandate the use of the standard utility allowance
• revising provisions for disqualification, including comparable disqualification with other means-tested programs and
• requiring states to implement EBT before October 1, 2002.

Learn The Requirements For Senior Food Stamps Renewals

A food stamps renewal application must be submitted by a seniors household each time SNAP benefits are due to expire. Failing to renew food stamps on time may lead to the household losing its food assistance. Beneficiaries will receive a letter indicating how long they will receive SNAP after they are approved for participation. It is important to understand that food stamps recertification periods vary based on a variety of factors. Some seniors may be eligible for a longer certification period than others, depending on household circumstances. The frequency of food stamps renewals for seniors usually depends on whether the household is comprised entirely of seniors, or if the household also contains people who are younger than 60 years of age. In general, households in which all the members are elderly or disabled can receive food assistance for a longer period of time before recertification is required. Read our guide to senior assistance for more information on when SNAP renewals occur for senior households.

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