Background:
The Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA) became law
on March 18, 2020 and allowed states to request emergency allotments (EA) “for households
participating in the supplemental nutrition assistance program…to address temporary
food needs.”
The Ohio Department of Job and Family Services (ODJFS) has been
issuing EAs to assistance groups (AG) beginning March 2020 and ongoing until such
a time as either the federal public health emergency declaration is rescinded
or Ohio’s state of emergency ends.
Update:
The Consolidated Appropriations Act,
2023 (H.R. 2617) was signed into law on December 29, 2022, and outlines that
the authority under FFCRA for EAs to be issued through the month following the
end of the public health emergency is to be rescinded. Therefore, the authority
to issue EAs expires after the issuance of the February 2023 EAs.
This
means that February 2023 will be the last issuance of EAs for SNAP households.
SNAP EA benefits cannot be issued for March 2023 or any month thereafter;
however, county agencies may retroactively issue EAs for the months of March
2020 to February 2023 that were not issued previously. For example, when an
application dated 2/27/23 is approved on 3/5/23, the county agency should issue
the EA for February but not March.
Implementation:
ODJFS has developed a notice to AGs explaining this change in
addition to a communication campaign. EAs have been issued to SNAP AGs as a
separate issuance closer to the end of each month. The notice and all other
communications from ODJFS explain that AGs will continue to receive their
regular SNAP benefit on their normal issuance date between the 1st and the 20th
of each month and that only the SNAP benefit they have been receiving at the
end of each month will stop after February 2023. March 2023 will be the first
month EAs are not issued.
There are no fair hearing rights or fair hearing benefits on the
ending of the SNAP emergency allotments because this is a federal law change.
If you have any questions regarding any of these changes, please
contact Program Policy and Systems at OFA-PPS@jfs.ohio.gov.