Do I Have To Provide Information On Everyone Living At The Address
Generally, you will need to provide information about anyone else who may be living at your address, whether they are within your family or not. In most cases, you will need information such as their social security and some basic info about how much money they contribute to your living arrangements.
Selecting Head Of Household
You may select any adult member as the head of your household. If you select either an adult parent of a child any age or an adult who acts as a guardian for a child under age 18, all the adults in the household must agree with your choice for head of household or the agency will choose the head of your household.
If you select any other adult or you do not select a head of household, and someone in your household does not cooperate with an employment and training program or reduces the hours worked or quits a job without good cause, the agency will choose the head of household to be the person who earned the most money from working during the previous two months.
If the person selected as head of household does not cooperate as required with an employment program or reduces the hours worked or quits a job without good cause, your household may not be able to get SNAP for up to six months.
You may select the head of your household every time you apply for SNAP. If there is a parent-child combination, you may change your selection whenever someone joins or leaves your household. Tell your worker if you want to change your selection.
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I’m Supposed To Register With Workforce Wv For Job Services Because I Get Food Stamps I Can’t Get Through What Can I Do
As part of the SNAP program, recipients between the ages of 16-59 are required to register for work. In West Virginia, to meet this requirement, eligible SNAP recipients must register with Workforce West Virginia once a year. Once SNAP recipients register, they are required to contact Workforce West Virginia every three months to update the agency on their employment status.
Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, many SNAP recipients have been unable to contact Workforce West Virginia either by telephone or the agencys website. So to continue SNAP benefits to those in need, the West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources has voluntarily waived the registration requirement IF the recipient contacts their local DHHR office and requests a good cause exemption because they cannot get through to register with Workforce WV. DHHR has stated that it plans to continue the registration waiver until the federal public health emergency expires. Read this article to learn more if you need help requesting good cause.
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Food Security And Insecurity
While SNAP participants and other low-income nonparticipants spend similar amounts on food spending, SNAP participants tend to still experience greater food insecurity than nonparticipants. This is believed to be a reflection of the welfare of individuals who take the time to apply for SNAP benefits rather than the shortcomings of SNAP. Households facing the greatest hardships are the most likely to bear the burden of applying for program benefits. Therefore, SNAP participants tend to be, on average, less food secure than other low-income nonparticipants.
Self-selection by more food-needy households into SNAP makes it difficult to observe positive effects on food security from survey data, but data such as average income can be compared. Statistical models that control for this suggest that SNAP receipt reduces the likelihood of being food insecure and very food insecure by roughly 30 percent and 20 percent, respectively.
Soup Kitchens In West Virginia
Soup kitchens serve cooked meals on-site to needy people at no cost. Like food pantries, they normally receive their food from local food banks.
Soup kitchens take care mostly of homeless people and people who do not have the means to cook for themselves.
They require storage, cleaning, and cooking equipment as they have to do food preparation, serving, and cleaning after the meals.
Food pantries are typically located in facilities where received food can be stored and handled in a safe and sanitary manner.
Each food pantry serves a designated local area and most of them require prior registration and approval before food can be served to a particular individual or a family.
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How Much In Food Stamps Will I Receive
The amount of food stamps benefits you will receive if approved is based on your household size and countable income after all deductions are applied.
Keep in mind that households with an elderly or disabled person are given special consideration.
The table below shows the maximum amount you could receive depending on the number of people in your household.
My Kids Aren’t In School Yet Will We Get P
In May 2021, DHHR announced that it will expand P-EBT to kids under the age of six who receive Food Stamps and are not yet enrolled in school. Just like for school children, the amount of the benefit will be different depending on the county you live in. They are starting by making 2 months payments going back to October and November 2020. DHHR expects to start mailing these cards in June. A letter will be mailed separately from the card with a DHHR case number and will explain the amount the child is eligible to receive during each benefit period. Please keep the P-EBT letter as the case number is needed to activate the P-EBT card.
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Option 3 Check By Phone
The last option for checking your Mountain State Card balance is by phone. Call the EBT Customer Service number on the back of your card. The Customer Service Hotline is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
After you call, enter your sixteen digit EBT card number and you will hear your current food assistance or cash account balance.
Applying For Snap Benefits
To apply for SNAP benefits, an applicant must first fill out a program application and return it to the state or local SNAP office. Each state has a different application, which is usually available online. There is more information about various state applications processes, including locations of SNAP offices in various states, displayed on an interactive Outreach Map found on the FNS website. Individuals who believe they may be eligible for P.O.SNAP benefits may use the Food and Nutrition Services’ SNAP Screening Tool, which can help gauge eligibility.
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Snap Schedule: West Virginia Mountain State Card Benefits For June 2022
West Virginias SNAP is administered by the West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources but governed by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The DHHR distributes monthly benefits to Mountain State Cards, the states version of the EBT card.
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In West Virginia, SNAP eligibility is based on household size, income, assets and some household expenses. Most people must pass a gross income test and net income test. Certain deductions are applied to income, such as a 20% earned income disregard, child care costs, excess shelter/utility costs and court-ordered child support.
Your SNAP benefit amount is based on household size and countable income. Households with an elderly or disabled person are given special consideration.
If your SNAP application is approved, the DHHR will send you a West Virginia Mountain State Card thats linked to your SNAP account. Your Mountain State Card works just like a credit or debit card and can be used to purchase SNAP-eligible food items at most grocery stores and some retail stores as well as participating farmers markets.
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Benefits are deposited onto Mountain State Cards over the first nine days of every month, based on the first letter of your last name. Cash benefits are sent out on the first calendar day of every month.
Heres when to expect SNAP benefit deposits to your Mountain State Card for June.
What Documents Do I Need For The Application
For your application, you will need information about your income, social security number, any benefits you may be receiving, the social security numbers and birthdays of the people living in your household, and proof of your identification and residence. If there is anyone in your household who is receiving benefits such as disability, you will also have to provide this information during the application process or at the interview.
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Food Stamps Interview Process In West Virginia
You must make an appointment for a food stamp interview in West Virginia after you have submitted your application. Your interview will most likely take place over the phone, unless you decide that you want to complete it in person.
The state DHHR is required to make a decision on your case within 30 days of receiving your submission. As a result, your interview will take place sometime during those 30 days.
During the food stamp phone interview, you may be required to verify your personal details by submitting certain documents to your interviewer. If you are a non-citizen, for instance, you may need to present proof of your legal presence in the U.S. and proof that you have waited a minimum of five years to apply. Since most interviews are completed over the phone, you may need to bring these documents to your local DHHR office.
The interviewer will then go over your application with you. At this time, you may ask questions about the program or discuss your rights and responsibilities during the process.
Note: In certain cases, an interview is not required.
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”.
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Designating A Representative To Act On Your Behalf
A spouse, adult member of your household, trusted friend, relative or neighbor can be designated representative. This person may:
- Apply for SNAP for your household
- Receive a Virginia EBT Card that can access your SNAP account
- Use your SNAP benefits for you at the grocery store
- Receive copies of your SNAP notices and correspondence
If you want to designate an authorized representative you may do so your application or by writing a note for that person to take to the local social services department. The note will need to include:
- The name, address and phone number of the person you designating
- The duties you want that person to perform on your behalf
- Your signature and the date
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Cutbacks Of The Early 1980s
The large and expensive FSP proved to be a favorite subject of close scrutiny from both the Executive Branch and Congress in the early 1980s. Major legislation in 1981 and 1982 enacted cutbacks including:
- addition of a gross income eligibility test in addition to the net income test for most households
- temporary freeze on adjustments of the shelter deduction cap and the standard deduction and constraints on future adjustments
- annual adjustments in food stamp allotments rather than semi-annual
- consideration of non-elderly parents who live with their children and non-elderly siblings who live together as one household
- required periodic reporting and retrospective budgeting
- prohibition against using Federal funds for outreach
- replacing the FSP in Puerto Rico with a block grant for nutrition assistance
- counting retirement accounts as resources
- state option to require job search of applicants as well as participants and
- increased disqualification periods for voluntary quitters.
Electronic Benefits Transfer began in Reading, Pennsylvania, in 1984.
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What Can I Buy With The Pebt Card
The benefits on your PEBT card are SNAP/Food benefits that are provided through the federal government Cares Act. The benefits are issued to help defray food expenses for children who would have received free or reduced lunches.
Foods for the household to eat, such as:
- breads and cereals
Households CANNOT use SNAP benefits to buy:
- Beer, wine, liquor, cigarettes, or tobacco
- Any nonfood items, such as: pet foods, soaps, paper products, household supplies
- Vitamins and medicines
- Food that will be eaten in the store
- Hot foods
Pumpkins are edible and eligible for purchase with SNAP benefits. However, inedible gourds and pumpkins that are used solely for ornamental purposes are not eligible items.
Gift baskets that contain 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. To read the most recent notice about gift baskets, .
Items such as birthday and other special occasion cakes are eligible for purchase with SNAP benefits as long as the value of non-edible decorations does not exceed 50 percent of the purchase price of the cake.
U.S. Department of Agriculture / Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program . Food and Nutrition Service, 17 Nov. 2017, www.fns.usda.gov/snap/eligible-food-items
Food Stamp Benefit Chart 2022
SNAP expects families receiving benefits to spend 30 percent of their net income on food. Families with no net income receive the maximum benefit.
For households with net income, the monthly SNAP benefit equals the maximum benefit for that household size minus the householdâs expected contribution of 30 percent of its net income.
The maximum SNAP benefit chart 2022 for households of different sizes and estimated average benefits
| Household Size |
|---|
- Dependent care costs of $78 a month
- Shelter costs of $993 per month
1 â Gross Income
The current federal minimum wage is $7.25 per hour. Full-time work at this level makes about $1,257 a month.
2 â Net Income for Shelter Deduction
- Subtract the standard deduction for a 3-person family
- Earnings deduction
- The child care deduction
- Result is $1,257 – $177 – $251 – $78 = $751
3 â Shelter Deduction
Begin with the shelter costs of $993
- Subtract half of $751 is $376 = $617
- Because there is a shelter deduction cap of $597, the shelter deduction for this household is $597.
4 â Net Income
Subtract the shelter deduction from Income A = $154.
5 â Familyâs Expected Contribution Toward Food
30% of the householdâs net income is about $46.
6 â SNAP Benefit
The maximum benefit in 2022 for a family of three is $658
- The maximum benefit minus the household contribution
- Because there is a shelter deduction cap of $597, the shelter deduction for this household is $597.
The familyâs monthly benefit is $612
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