The enactment of the 2023 Consolidated Appropriations Act ends Emergency Food Benefits in the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.
Starting March 1st, the emergency benefits providing SNAP households an extra allotment of at least minimum of $95 per month, disappear.
Delaware Division of Social Service director Tom Hall says this change will affect about 125,000 Delawareans, and the local economy.
“We were issuing between $10 to 12 million a month in emergency allotments across those 62,000 households,” said Hall.
After February 28th SNAP households will only receive the regular monthly benefit on their EBT cards.
With the cost of living rising across the country and the state, budgeting remains a concern for the over 125,000 Delawareans who rely on that extra source of income.
Hall says they are working to help minimize the impact of the end of these benefits.
“We are encouraging families, if they’re had any change in their income or their expenses, to let us know about that. Because that could increase their benefits,” said Hall. “So we’re hoping people will tell us about those changes. We’re able to process that fairly quickly, and that could have an impact on their benefits, potentially.”
Hall adds that some families joined SNAP during the pandemic, so they only know benefits at the level that included the emergency allotments.
But some relief did come to households receiving SNAP benefits at the end of last year, though it may not be as noticeable after the upcoming drop in supplemental income.
“There were two changes at the end of last year. One was the COLA notice, which is the Cost of Living Adjustment. So the base benefits did increase since October of last year. Also the Thrifty Food Plan, which is the model that is used to calculate benefits, increased,” explained Hall. “So the base level for most families has increased since October of last year. But since the allotments have been in place, that isn’t going to be as clear.”
Along with their other recommendations, DHSS encourages SNAP households to take advantage of federal, state, and community resources, and to start thinking about how to adapt to the change in their monthly budget.
More information, and a list of resources for households, can be found at de.gov/snapending.
