Food Stamps Articles Archives

What's New in SNAP
It has been a busy year in SNAP (the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, also known as the Food Stamp Program)

Food Stamp Eligibility Expanded for Families with Child Care Expenses
Higher income guidelines mean that more working families with dependent care expenses are now eligible for food stamps. If you don’t get food stamps now, you may qualify even if you were denied in the past.

Food Stamp Budget Worksheets
Food Stamp Budget Worksheet Effective October 1, 2010 through September 30, 2011.

Food Stamp Mythbusters: Employment and Training Requirements
Test your knowledge – take the food stamp mythbusters quiz!

Your Legal Rights as an Applicant for Public Benefits
Your legal rights as an applicant for cash assistance, food stamps and Medicaid

Settlement in Nassau Benefits Application Delays Class Action
Empire Justice settles benefits applications delays case in Nassau County.

Expect Food Stamp Reductions April 1st
No Joking Matter
Food stamp law requires annual adjustments to the standard utility allowance (SUA). The SUA, along with rent or mortgage payments and certain other shelter related deductions, are subtracted from a food stamp household’s income to determine the amount of the food stamp grant for which the household is eligible.

Legislative Round-Up: 2009-2010 Session
Another tempestuous session of the New York State Legislature recently concluded. It was a session often characterized by political stalemate and dominated by the State’s budget woes. Therefore it is not surprising that there was considerable frustration within the community of advocates for low-income New Yorkers.

Census Bureau Releases Annual Report on Poverty
On September 16, 2010, the U.S. Census Bureau released the 2009 edition of its annual publication, “Income, Poverty, and Health Insurance Coverage in the United States.”1 In the difficult period now sometimes referred to as the “Great Recession,” the numbers are unfortunately, but not surprisingly, quite grim. This article will summarize some of the key findings in the report, and highlight a few important themes.

How the 2010 and 2011 Changes to the Standard of Need Affect the 185% Rule
These charts show the public assistance grant levels for 2010 and 2011, the 2010 poverty level, and 185% of the standard of need for 2010 and 2011 for a family of three in every county in New York State.

Standard of Need, by County, Effective 7/1/2010
2010 standard of need charts by county for households with and without children.

How the Puerto Rican Birth Certificate Law Affects DSS Administered Programs
Over a quarter million of New York State’s residents are feeling the impact of a change in the law enacted by the Puerto Rican legislature. Law 191 of 2009 invalidates all Puerto Rican birth certificates issued before July 1, 2010.

New York State Self-Sufficiency Standard for 2010 Released
Ten years since the last report, with the support of the Office of Children and Family Services (OCFS), the 2010 New York State Self-Sufficiency Standard, with data for 70 family types in every county in New York State, has been released.

Standard of Need, by County, Effective July 1, 2010
2010 standard of needs charts by county for households with and without children.

Iraqi and Afghan Citizens Entitled to Special Refugee Status
Effective December 19, 2009, the five year bar for food stamps, TANF, SSI and federal Medicaid eligibility no longer applies to Iraqi and Afghan citizens who entered the U.S. with Special Immigrant Visas rather than as refugees or asylees. Prior to this date, their eligibility for these federal means tested benefits had been limited to a period of eight months.

Class Action Lawsuit Filed Against Nassau County Department of Social Services Challenging Delays in Processing Benefits Applications
On March 24, 2010, a class action lawsuit was filed against the Nassau County Department of Social Services to challenge widespread delays in processing applications for Food Stamps, Medicaid, and Public Assistance.

Class Action Lawsuit Filed Against Nassau County DSS Challenging Delays in Processing Benefits Applications
On March 24, 2010, a class action lawsuit was filed against the Nassau County Department of Social Services to challenge widespread delays in processing applications for Food Stamps, Medicaid, and Public Assistance.

Court Holds that Doe v. Doar Class Members Entitled to Offset of Debt Owed the Agency
The case of Doe v, Doar, 26 AD2d 787 (2006), app dismissed 6 NY 3d 89, successfully challenged the illegal reduction of public assistance grants to individuals living in households with children where a family member was in receipt of Supplemental Security Income (SSI). The final judgment resulted in the restoration of tens of thousands illegally reduced public assistance grants, but the terms of the order limited the restoration of Doe underpayments to class members who were recipients of public assistance.

Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) Update
OTDA has taken advantage of a federal option to expand New York’s Transitional Benefits Alternative (TBA) program, which provides transitional food stamps to households with children who are leaving temporary assistance (TA). TBA is an enhanced food stamp benefit provided for 5 months after the date of the TA case closing.

Food Stamp Eligibility Expanded for Families with Child Care Expenses
Higher income guidelines mean that more working families with dependent care expenses are now eligible for food stamps. If you don’t get food stamps now, you may qualify even if you were denied in the past.

Ensuring Access to Public Benefits: Litigation Updates
Medicaid, Family Assistance, Safety Net Assistance, Home Energy Assistance, Food Stamps: the array of public benefit programs in New York are offered with the dual goals of meeting the critical, basic needs of low and moderate income households and acting in accordance with our state Constitutional mandate to provide care for the needy.

"SNAP" - Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program
Annual Changes Effective October 1st - The annual income thresholds increased as of October 1, 2009, however, the maximum allotments have not changed.

NYS Increases Food Stamp Threshold for Child Care Households
Last year, as part of federal food stamp reauthorization, Congress removed the cap on the food stamp dependent care deduction - meaning that households can deduct the full amount of their out-of-pocket dependent care costs. However, even with the cap removed, some households whose child care expenses leave them with incomes below the poverty level still couldn’t qualify for food stamps because their monthly gross income - before child care costs are factored in - exceeded 130% of the federal poverty level (FPL).

NYS Increases Food Stamp Threshold for Child Care Households
Last year, as part of federal food stamp reauthorization, Congress removed the cap on the food stamp dependent care deduction - meaning that households can deduct the full amount of their out-of-pocket dependent care costs.

Class Certified in Food Stamp Litigation
As we reported in the May 2009 Disability Law News, any SSI recipient who received food stamps while residing in a group home between January 2005 and September 2008 may be eligible for retroactive food stamps as a result of the decision in Graves v. Doar.

Advocates Achieve Settlement with Suffolk County Department of Social Services
Will help those hardest hit by recession receive food and medical assistance more quickly
Empire Justice Center and the National Center for Law and Economic Justice (NCLEJ) today announced a settlement with Suffolk County Department of Social Services (SCDSS) that will ensure that needy families and individuals, including those who have recently lost their jobs and those whose wages are insufficient to meet their needs, will have their applications for Food Stamps and Medicaid processed within the time frames required by state and federal law.

Food Stamp News Briefs - December 2008
Standard utility allowance to increase, USDA Lifts 50 Percent Cap on Face-to-Face Interview Waivers, USDA Memo Regarding Income Verification by Undocumented Immigrants, OTDA Issues ADM on Farm Bill Reauthorization Changes.

Food Stamp News Brief - October 2008
Food Stamp (aka "SNAP" updates)
The NYS Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance (OTDA) recently reminded local social service districts about federal food stamp requirements governing the scheduling of interviews, as well as the notice procedures for households who miss their interview.

No More Food Stamp Program - Now it's SNAP!
The Food Stamp Program has a new name – the Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program (SNAP).

Food Stamps News Brief - August 2008
OTDA clarifies fleeing means "fleeing"; HEAP Plan revision: $1 of HEAP equals more food stamps; Adoption subsidies and Foster Care payments count as income.

2008 Legislative Session Update
In the midst of all the chaos that surrounded state leadership and serious concerns about the financial outlook for the state, the 2008 legislative session drew to at least a temporary close with a mix of positive and negative outcomes that will affect struggling New Yorkers and their families

Disabled Benefit from Food Stamp amd Medicare Changes
Thanks to recent administrative changes made by the NYS Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance (OTDA) and the Department of Health (DOH), more disabled and elderly individuals should be able to access the Food Stamp Program and the Medicare Savings Program here in New York. Here’s a quick summary of the major changes:

NYS Implements Two Major Initiatives in January 2008 Improve Access to Food Stamps
January 2008 ushered in two big changes to the Food Stamp Program in New York State – changes which improve access to food stamp benefits and simplify program administration. The first change, which expands categorical eligibility, eliminates the resource test for almost all food stamp households. The second, the Working Families Initiative, is designed to make it easier for low-income working families to access the Food Stamp Program. Both components were announced last year by Governor Spitzer as part of his initiative to improve food stamp access for working families.

Empire Justice Organizational Priorities
Each year, Empire Justice develops a proactive legislative agenda that reflects our organizational goal of making the law work for all New Yorkers. This year, our agenda focuses on three broad areas – access to legal and other critical human services, strengthening public benefits and public health programs and assisting New Yorkers facing financial crises.

Doe v. Doar Settled
In previous editions of the Disability Law News, we have reported the progress of Doe v. Doar, the class action lawsuit challenging the New York State regulation that did away with SSI invisibility in public assistance households.

USDA Food Stamp Award $$$ Available to Local Districts
OTDA recently received a $9.8 million performance bonus award from USDA for payment accuracy improvements in the Food Stamp Program.

Food Stamp Increase for SSI Recipients
It’s that time again -- the start of a new federal fiscal year, which means that the annual increases to the food stamp income guidelines and benefit amounts will go into effect on October 1, 2007.

Stop Thief!
The Bizarre Evaporating Food Stamp Phenomenon
During the spring of 2006, legal services advocates in New York City encountered a baffling phenomenon which came to be known among public benefits listserv users as the “bizarre evaporating food stamp” issue. Although the mystery has not been completely solved we can tell you how and why the phenomenon has been occurring.

Federal Minimum Wage Affects Food Stamp Program
The Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance (OTDA) recently issued a GIS message to the local districts informing them of the increase in the federal minimum wage and the effect of that increase on the Food Stamp Program.

Governor’s Goal: Food on the Table of Low Income Working Families
Government statistics show that in New York State, up to 40 percent of eligible households are not receiving this vital assistance. The proportion of working households that are eligible but do not participate is even higher - well over half.

Food Stamp Household Rule Clarified
USDA's Food & Nutrition Service recently clarified that disabled individuals who live with others but cannot purchase and prepare their food separately due to their disability CAN establish separate household status for food stamp purposes without applying the 165% of poverty income rule.

State Ends Aid for Battered and Elderly Legal Immigrants
New York State quietly pulled the plug on a small but critical food assistance program which, because of bureaucratic neglect and mismanagement, never delivered on its promise to provide state funded food stamps to elderly immigrants and to immigrants victimized by domestic violence.

The Court Grants Summary Judgment to the Plaintiffs in Teytelman v. Wing
On February 5, 2005, Judge Diamond of the Supreme Court, New York County, ruled in favor of the plaintiffs in Teytelman v. Wing (Index No. 402767/02.) The Teytelman plaintiffs challenged various immigration related restrictions in the State’s Food Assistance Program (FAP), including the requirement that, to be eligible, the applicant must have been residing in the U.S. on August 22, 1996. The plaintiffs are elderly immigrants and immigrant victims of domestic violence who entered the country after that date.

Estimated # People Affected by Expansion of the FAP Program
Based on Removal of BOTH the August 22, 1996 Residency Restriction AND Making the Program Statewide
In the Spring of 2004 the Greater Upstate Law Project developed an estimate of the number individuals who would potentially be eligible for the Food Assistance Program if it did not exclude post-1996 immigrants was operated statewide. Data from several sources, including the census, USCIS statistics and USDA food stamp program participation reports were used to arrive at our estimates.

Food Stamp Updates
Medicare Discount Drug Cards Carry Food Stamp Benefit, The Roll-Out of the New York State Nutrition Improvement Project (NYSNIP) and Finger Imaging Exemptions - Opportunity for Expansion

Implementation of the Food Stamp Eligibility and Certification Provisions of the 2002 Farm Bill
The sections of the proposed regulations that implement non-immigration related provisions of the Farm Security and Rural Investment Act (FSRIA), including simplified household reporting requirements; simplified definition of income and resource, simplified determination of deductions, and expansion of the transitional benefit alternative. In general, FSRIA greatly expanded the ability of states to simplify food stamp program administration, including permitting state food stamp agencies to adopt income counting rules from other programs in order to bring more conformity to the state’s administration of its various public benefit programs.

USDA Issues Proposed Food Stamp Regulations Implementing Immigrant Provisions of the 2002 Farm Bill
On April 16, 2004, the Food and Nutrition Service of the United States Department of Agriculture (FNS) issued proposed regulations implementing the food stamp program provisions of the Farm Security and Rural Investment Act of 2002 (FSRIA). See 69 Fed. Reg. 20724, et seq. The 2002 re-authorization of the food stamp program and amendments to its rules was only a small, and relatively inexpensive, part of FSRIA, which dealt primarily with the setting of agricultural subsidy amounts and other major agribusiness related policies.

Implementation of the Food Stamp Eligibility and Certification Provisions of the 2002 Farm Bill
A companion article in this issue of the LSJ discusses the publication of proposed federal regulations by the Food and Nutrition Services of the United States Department of Agriculture (FNS) that implement the provisions of the 2002 food stamp reauthorization legislation expanding the eligibility of immigrants for food stamp benefits. See this issue, page 8. The food stamp reauthorization provisions were a part of the Farm Security and Rural Investment Act of 2002 (FSRIA).

USDA Issues Proposed Food Stamp Regulations
Implementing Immigrant Provisions of the 2002 Farm Bill
On April 16, 2004, the Food and Nutrition Service of the United States Department of Agriculture (FNS) issued proposed regulations implementing the food stamp program provisions of the Farm Security and Rural Investment Act of 2002 (FSRIA). See 69 Fed. Reg. 20724, et seq. The 2002 re-authorization of the food stamp program and amendments to its rules was only a small, and relatively inexpensive, part of FSRIA, which dealt primarily with the setting of agricultural subsidy amounts and other major agribusiness related policies.

FAP’s Residency Restrictions Currently Leave Most Eligible Individuals Without Benefits
By enacting the Food Assistance Program (FAP) in the Fall of 1997, the Legislature provided state funded food stamps to particularly vulnerable groups of immigrants. The State’s food stamp program ensured, at least in the districts willing to participate, that elderly and disabled immigrants and children would not be left without food as a result of the immigrant related restrictions enacted by Congress in the 1996 federal welfare reform legislation (PRWORA). It was 1997, so establishing a requirement that, to be eligible, the immigrant had to have lived in the U.S. on August 22, 1996, left few otherwise eligible people without access to program benefits.

Some SSI Recipients to Receive Food Stamps Automatically
The New York State Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance (OTDA) has started a demonstration project called the New York State Nutrition Improvement Project (NYSNIP). NYSNIP’s goal is to automatically enroll all of New York State’s SSI live-alone recipients into the Food Stamp Program.

Governor's Budget Cuts Family Assistance Grants to Households Containing SSI Recipients
In an effort to close New York State’s $5.1 billion dollar budget gap by $9 million dollars, Governor Pataki has proposed to take money from poor families containing disabled household members. To implement this change, the Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance has issued proposed regulations amending 18 NYCRR 352.2 , 352.3, 352.30 and 352.31 which would gut the long standing rule that recipients of Supplemental Security Income (SSI) are “invisible” when determining the eligibility of other household members for public assistance benefits.

OTDA Issues Corrected GIS on FAP eligibility
The GIS informs the districts that an earlier GIS, issued in September of last year, which informed the districts about certain modifications made to the Food Assistance Program (FAP) by the Legislature last Fall, was not correct when it stated that, in order to be eligible for FAP, the immigrant applicant must show that she was legally residing in the US on August 22, 1996.

Elderly Immigrants and Immigrant Victims of Domestic Violence Score Win in Challenge to State’s Food Stamp Program
In a stunning decision issued on December 8, 2003, Judge Marilyn Diamond of the Supreme Court, New York County, ruled that the State’s restrictions on the access of lawful, qualified immigrants to the State’s Food Assistance Program (FAP) violate state and federal Equal Protection guarantees.

Elderly Immigrants and Immigrant Victims of Domestic Violence Score Win in Challenge to State’s Food Stamp Program
In a stunning decision issued on December 8, 2003, Judge Marilyn Diamond of the Supreme Court, New York County, ruled that the State’s restrictions on the access of lawful, qualified immigrants to the State’s Food Assistance Program (FAP) violate state and federal Equal Protection guarantees.

Food Stamp Overpayment Case Settled
On September 4, 2003, Judge Joan M. Azrack, Magistrate, Federal District Court of New York, Eastern District, approved the settlement reached by the parties in Thompson v. Wing, a case concerning the State’s implementation of the Treasury Offset Program (TOP) to collect food stamp overpayment debts. The settlement was approved at the close of a fairness hearing attended by well over 100 members of the Thompson class.

OTDA Issues Guidance to Local Districts on Immigrant Food Stamp Restorations
Last year, Congress passed the Food Stamp Reauthorization Act. Among the many changes to food stamp program rules and policies the law made - most if not all for the better - was the restoration of access to the food stamp program to an estimated 400,000 legal immigrants.

USDA Issues Policy Guidance on Immigrant Food Stamp Restoration
Implementation of the changes in immigrant eligibility for food stamp benefits brought about by the Food Stamp Program Reauthorization Act of last year has begun. On January 2, 2003, the Food and Nutrition Service of the United States Department of Agriculture (FNS/USDA) issued an extensive policy directive to the states to guide them in bringing back into the food stamp program what is estimated to be about 400,000 previously ineligible immigrants. New York, historically home to about 18 percent of the noncitizen participants in the food stamp program nationally, should see its food stamp participation rate jump by tens of thousands of needy individuals.

Immigrant Food Stamp Alert:
Immigrants in Receipt of Disability-Based Medicaid May be Eligible for Food Stamp Benefits
The Food Stamp Reauthorization Act of 2002 (the Act) restored immigrant eligibility for food stamp benefits to all, otherwise eligible, disabled immigrants who meet both the definition of “qualified alien” under the 1996 Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act (PRWORA) and the Food Stamp Act’s definition of disability. This restoration of eligibility was effective October 1, 2002. Inasmuch as the food stamp eligibility of disabled immigrants who were already in the United States on August 22, 1996, and lawfully residing here, was restored in 1998, the change in law will affect primarily those immigrants who have arrived in the country since August of 1996.

Department of Labor Issues Revisions to Food Stamp Work Requirements
The New York State Department of Labor (SDOL) has recently issued revisions to various policy sections of its Welfare-to-Work Employment Manual, both in order to clarify policy in certain areas and to incorporate amendments to federal food stamp work regulations issued by the Food and Nutrition Service of the United States Department of Agriculture in the Federal Register of June 19, 2002. (See 67 FR 41589, et seq.)

OTDA Issues Directions to Counties to Implement Food Stamp Program Changes
The Food Stamp Program Reauthorization Act of 2002 (P.L. 107-171) contained many welcome changes in food stamp program (FSP) operations. Chief among these was the restoration of food stamp eligibility to substantial numbers of lawful immigrants.

State Tests Simplified Food Stamp Application Form in Onondaga County
Onondaga County families can now choose how they want to apply for food stamps. They can fill out the New York State 16-page joint application form — used as an application form for temporary assistance, medical assistance, food stamps, services, and/or child care assistance — or they can complete a simpler 4-page food stamp-only application.

Food Stamp Program Is Reauthorized
Program’s Supporters Score Major Victory
Last fall, two proposals for reauthorization of the Food Stamp Program (FSP) emerged — one from the House and one from the Senate, each a title of the much larger Farm Bill. The House passed its version first, in October, with provisions penned primarily by that body’s more conservative majority. Nevertheless, though the bill contained no restoration of food stamp program eligibility for immigrants, it did contain authorization for a transitional food stamp program and made several other welcome changes in the program’s operation, at a cost of slightly more than $3 billion in additional budgetary authorization.

Fair Hearing Decision Results in HUGE Retroactive Food Stamps Award
It pays for food stamp applicants to keep all the documents that they submit to the Department of Social Services and all the documents that they receive from them. That was the lesson learned by a recent client of Nassau Suffolk Law Services.

Expansion of Eligibility for State Food Assistance Program Violence
The Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance (OTDA) issued 02 ADM-4, directing those local social services districts that have implemented the State’s Food Assistance Program (FAP) to begin providing state food stamp benefits to certain immigrant victims of domestic violence.

Transitional Benefits
A Work in Progress
The Transitional Benefit Alternative (TBA), is a state option provided by the Food and Nutritional Service of the United States Department of Agriculture (FNS), and it is designed in large part to ensure that families who remain eligible for food stamps after leaving welfare will continue to receive them.

Advocates Take Note
New York Launches Transitional Beneifts Alternative
Beginning with November 30, 2001, case closings, many of the households whose welfare benefits under the Family Assistance (FA) program are terminated, provided that they do not then receive Safety Net, should be getting transitional food stamp benefits under New York’s recent implementation of a federal food stamp program option called the Transitional Benefit Alternative (TBA).

HHS and USDA Issue Policy Guidance(1) on Immigration Status and Social Security Number Inquiries During Benefit Application Process
On September 21, 2000, the United States Departments of Health and Human Services (HHS) and Agriculture (USDA) issued an important Policy Guidance ("the Guidance") to state officials. The Guidance clarifies the proper scope of the inquiry into the immigration status and Social Security numbers of household members when an application for benefits under various federal means-tested benefit programs is made. The specific programs that are the focus of the Guidance include Medicaid, the State Children Health Insurance Program (SCHIP), Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF) and the Food Stamp Program.