EMERGENCY SNAP SUPPLEMENT WILL BRING HOUSEHOLDS THE MAXIMUM BENEFIT

Posted on May 8, 2020 in NEWS

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

May 8, 2020 (Updated May 12, 2020)

Emergency SNAP Supplement Will Bring Households the Maximum Benefit 

Honolulu, Hawai’i – The Hawai’i Department of Human Services (DHS) received approval to provide emergency Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) supplements to address temporary food needs for SNAP households.

Hawai’i residents who received  SNAP benefits beginning the month of March 2020 may be able to receive an additional amount of SNAP benefits if they did not receive the maximum amount for their household size.

This emergency supplement will bring all households receiving SNAP up to the maximum benefit amount, based on household size. SNAP households who already received the maximum benefit amount will not receive an emergency supplement. There is no action needed from customers to receive these payments. Emergency supplements will be automatically issued to the SNAP household’s EBT card.

The maximum monthly SNAP allotments by household size are as follows:

HOUSEHOLD SIZE MAXIMUM MONTHLY SNAP BENEFIT
1 $356
2 $654
3 $936
4 $1,189
5 $1,412
6 $1,695
7 $1,873
8 $2,141
Over 8, add for each additional person $268

The emergency supplements are scheduled to be available in a client’s EBT account by the following:

  • SNAP recipients who already received a benefit for March 2020 will receive an additional supplement on their EBT card on May 12, 2020.
  • SNAP recipients who already received a benefit for April 2020 will receive an additional supplement on their EBT card on May 19, 2020.
  • Additional issuance periods for the emergency supplements will be done on May 22, 2020 and June 8, 2020 for SNAP recipients that received a benefit for March 2020 and/or April 2020 but did not receive their additional supplement on either of the earlier May dates. Availability of EBT benefit for this period would be the next business day after the issuance period.
  • SNAP recipients who already received a benefit for May 2020 will receive an additional supplement on their EBT card on June 16, 2020.
  • SNAP recipients that were missed during the previous periods will receive all additional supplements on their EBT card on July 9, 2020.

The emergency supplement will be issued separately from a person’s regular monthly benefit.

Emergency supplements will affect an estimated 60,000 households (about 75% of the total households currently receiving SNAP) and will bring more than $13 million per month in federal food assistance into Hawai’i.

The Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA) authorized funding to allow for SNAP recipients to receive an emergency allotment of SNAP benefits so that a household receives the maximum monthly SNAP benefit amount for their household size. States needed to submit a waiver to the Food and Nutrition Service to request approval to issue these supplements which would begin with the benefit month of March 2020.

 

Media Contact:
Amanda Stevens, Public Information Officer
Department of Human Services
Email: [email protected]
Phone: (808)586-4892