What Are The Qualifications For Food Stamps In Arkansas

Arkansas Food Stamps Program

In the state of Arkansas, the food stamps program is run by the Arkansas Department of Human Services

If you meet the program eligibility guidelines, you will get a special debit card as shown below.

The EBT card is loaded monthly with the money you qualify for. You can then use the card to purchase food at grocery stores and other approved locations.

The amount of money a household gets may depend on three things:

• household income from all sources such as money you get from a job, Social Security, SSI, or interest
• how many people live in your household
• where you live

There are strict eligibility requirements that you must follow in order to be approved for Food Assistance. We have detailed those guidelines below:

Income Limits & Guideline For Food Stamps

USDA calculates the following food stamp income limit chart based on the national poverty guidelines. It is calculated by subtracting gross income from allowable deductions. A households gross income is what they earn before any deductions have been made. Unless explicitly excluded, federal law includes all income in determining a persons eligibility for food stamps.

Also Read : Start a Truck Food Business in United State

What You Cannot Buy With The Arkansas Ebt Card

• Beer, wine, liquor, cigarettes or tobacco
• Any nonfood items, such as pet foods, soaps, paper products, diapers, and household supplies
• Vitamins and medicines
• Food that will be eaten in the store
• Hot foods
• Live animals

NOTE: In some areas, restaurants can be authorized to accept SNAP benefits from qualified homeless, elderly, or disabled people in exchange for low-cost meals.

It is very important that you only buy the foods allowed under the Food Stamp program.

Engaging in any illegal use of the EBT card may cause you to lose your benefits.

And once they are revoked, you will never be allowed on the program or be eligible to apply for Food Stamps again.

If you meet the Florida Food Stamps Eligibility requirements and want to apply for Food Stamps, .

Also Check: Food Stamp Application Online Tn

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.

Eligibility Test : Gross Monthly Income Of An Individual Or Family

To qualify for Food Stamp benefits, you must first meet the gross income requirement.

Also Check: Phoenix Food Stamps

Arkansas Snap Eligibility Information

There are three eligibility tests for SNAP: the Gross Income, the Net Income, and the Asset tests. Depending on your state and whether your household has an elderly or disabled member, your household may be exempt from the Gross Income, Net Income, and/or Asset tests. While the Gross Income and Asset tests are straightforward, Net Income is more difficult to calculate. We recommend using our SNAP Eligibility Calculator to see you’re income eligible for SNAP benefits.

This website is not affiliated with any government organization or SNAP/WIC program.

Which Food Items Can You Buy Using Food Stamps In Arkansas

The first step in using your benefits is to learn where your card will be accepted. When you are approved for food stamp benefits, you will receive an Electronic Benefits Transfer card that looks and works similar to a debit card. Stores that accept EBT cards will usually place a logo in the window, making it easy to identify places you can shop.

SNAP assistance is accepted at most major and local grocery stores, supermarkets and department stores that have a grocery section. You can also use your benefits at certain farmers markets that participate in the program.

Did you know? At participating farmers markets in Arkansas, your food stamps have double value during summer months. This allows you to buy twice as much produce for the same cost.

SNAP benefits can help you buy a wide variety of staple foods. Staple foods are things that make up the majority of a persons diet, and often count as a whole meal on their own. Examples of staple foods include:

• Protein, such as meat, fish, poultry, tofu or eggs.
• Dairy products like butter, milk, cheese or infant formula.
• Non-dairy alternatives, like almond milk or soy products.
• Grains, including bread, cereal or pasta.
• Fruits and vegetables that are canned, frozen or fresh.

• Flour, sugar or spices.
• Ketchup, mayonnaise or barbeque sauce.
• Cooking oil or olive oil.

You May Like: Apply For Food Stamps Online In Az

What Is Snap Or Food Stamp

Food stamps are part of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program . The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program allows low-income families to purchase nutritious foods. You will receive your monthly allowance through your Electronic Benefit Transfer card if you are approved for benefits.

If you have an EBT card, you can use it to buy food at grocery stores, convenience stores, and at farmers markets and cooperative food programs.

Medicaid Or Arkids First Will Not Pay For A Service I Got From My Health Care Provider

You should get a letter letting you know that payment for the services has been denied. If you disagree and want to appeal, you must send a letter to DHS asking for an administrative hearing within 30 calendar days of the date on the letter you got from Medicaid or ARKids First. If DHS does not get your request letter on time, your request will be denied. You can use this form to make a request.

• You may email your request to or
• You may send your request by mail to:

Department of Human ServicesP.O. Box 1437, Slot N401Little Rock, AR 72203-1437

Also Check: Medicaid Office In Conroe

Dhs Decided That I Am Not Eligible For Tea Benefits

To appeal, you must send a letter to DHS requesting an administrative hearing. You should have gotten a letter that told you about this decision. You must send your request for a hearing within 30 calendar days of the date on the letter or your request will be denied. You can use this form to make a request.

• You may email your request to or
• You may send your request by mail to:

Department of Human ServicesP.O. Box 1437, Slot N401Little Rock, AR 72203-1437

Who Is Eligible For Arkansas Food Stamps

The food stamps program is SNAP focused on helping low-income individuals and families, predominantly serving households with children, elderly or disabled members.

Nearly half of all food stamps participants are children.

Eligibility for SNAP is limited to people with gross incomes up to 130% of the federal poverty line.

This means that a family of four can make no more than $2,790 a month to receive benefits.

Able-bodied adults without dependents can only receive three months of benefits during any three-year period if theyre not working a minimum of 20 hours per week or participating in a training program.

There are several requirements you have to meet to be approved for Arkansas food stamps and EBT, however, the most important is the income limit.

As stated above, to be eligible for food stamps, your gross income cannot exceed 130% of the federal poverty line.

In addition, after deductions are taken out, your net income cannot exceed 100% of the poverty level.

Dont Miss: Ga Food Stamp Compass

Don’t Miss: Yourtexasbenefi

Check Food Stamp Balance

If you wish to check what is your remaining EBT Card Balance in Arkansas for any given month, There many ways to do that.

• 1. You can check at the bottom of the receipt you get from the store, it will tell your food stamp balance.
• 2. Sign up for food stamps account if you dont have one already. You can look at your EBT balance online. Food stamp login will require your username and password.
• 3. Call your food stamp 1800 customer service number to check your EBT balance.

Who Cannot Apply For Food Stamps

You are not eligible for Arkansas Food Stamps if you fall under one or more of these:

• If you have been convicted of drug trafficking
• Are running away from a felony warrant
• Have intentionally violated a court-ordered program
• Are a student in an institution of higher education . Have committed food stamps fraud or have broken Food Assistance Program rules on purpose
• You are are a non-citizen without a qualified status

Don’t Miss: Tomball Food Stamp Office

Preparing For The Arkansas Food Stamps Interview

Once SNAP candidates successfully file their petitions for enrollment, they are notified that they need to participate in an Arkansas food stamps interview. The DHS uses these conversations to ask follow-up questions relating to any of the information claimants provided in their preliminary applications. Petitioners may wonder, What do you need for the food stamps interview? Generally, petitioners must provide official documentation that supports the statements they made throughout their written applications, which can vary from person to person.

Most applicants who wonder, What do you bring to a food stamp interview? should take the time to prepare credentials that validate the following claims:

• Total household incomes.

Director Of Snap Outreach

Lance Whitney has been actively involved with the Arkansas Hunger Relief Alliance since 2015. Lance was introduced to the Alliance by attending fundraisers for the organization and learning about the need to fight food insecurity in the state. Lance co-chaired Serving Up Solutions for two years and then began working for the Alliance in 2017. Before coming to the Alliance, he graduated from the University of Arkansas in Industrial Management and worked for 22 years in Manufacturing and Design. As a native Arkansan who had begun to better understand food insecurity, he easily accepted the opportunity to work in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program Outreach division of the Alliance. Every community in the state of Arkansas can greatly benefit from the SNAP program: SNAP helps boost local economies, improve community health, and provide hungry individuals and families with the help they need. Lances mission is to increase SNAP availability to every Arkansas county. This will be achieved through building, training and supporting a network that reaches the food insecure and through educating community supporters statewide

Recommended Reading: Food Stamp Application Nevada

A Child Maltreatment Investigation Had A True Finding That Would Place Me On The Child Maltreatment Registry

You must ask for an administrative hearing to contest the finding within 30 calendar days of getting a notice about the true findings in the child maltreatment investigation.

• You may email your request to or
• You may send your request by mail to:

Department of Human ServicesP.O. Box 1437, Slot N401Little Rock, AR 72203-1437

The Appeals & Hearing Section will send you a letter about the hearing, including the time, date and place of the hearing. The name of the hearing officer will also be included. Hearings are held by telephone if neither you nor DHS requests the hearing to be in person. If the hearing is held in person, it will be held in a DHS office closest to where you live, unless the Administrative Law Judge decides the hearing should be held by videoconference.

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:

Also Check: Kansas Food Stamps Eligibility

Arkansas Food Stamp Program

Arkansas food stamps is a public benefits program that provides financial resources to many families across the state. Known on a national level as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program , SNAP in Arkansas helps connect claimants to monies they may use to purchase healthy foods to feed themselves and their dependents.

Although SNAP is funded through the federal government, individual states are responsible for monitoring and maintaining their own manifestations of the food assistance initiative. The Arkansas Department of Human Services oversees the program from El Dorado to Rogers and everywhere in between. As a result, it is the DHS responsibility to ensure AR SNAP food benefits are awarded to the most qualified applicants. The sections below explain how claimants may navigate this food stamps enrollment process. Specifically, the sections that follow describe enrollment procedures, discussing where candidates may submit their claims and how they must appeal any SNAP denials the DHS issues to them.