Irene Benefits Available for the Needy

More than 208,000 low-income Connecticut households enrolled in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program will be eligible for help to replace food spoiled by power outages or flooding from Tropical Storm Irene.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food and Nutrition Service has approved over $13 million in replacement benefits for Connecticut households enrolled in SNAP, a federal program formerly known as food stamps, Roderick L. Bremby, commissioner of the state’s Department of Social Services, announced today.

The department and the office of Gov. Dannel P. Malloy are working with the federal government to extend the storm-related safety net to residents, Bremby said.

The federal approval authorizes replacement benefits equal to 25 percent of SNAP beneficiaries’ monthly allocation for August – which means a one-time boost ranging from $4 to over $300 per household, depending on income and household size. The average replacement benefit is estimated at $62, Bremby said.

The social services department electronically transmitted the replacement benefits to clients’ accounts this week. Under SNAP, clients use ATM-style cards to buy only federally approved food items at supermarkets and grocery stores. 

To be eligible for the replacement benefit, clients had to be enrolled in SNAP at the time Tropical Storm Irene hit Connecticut more than a week ago.

“The federal approval for an across-the-board 25 percent replacement benefit for SNAP-eligible households in Connecticut is due in large part to the extensive and lengthy power outages that affected so many areas of the state,” Bremby said.  “With enrollment continuing to grow in the current economy, we believe this extra benefit will be especially helpful to thousands of families who lost food and are struggling to make ends meet at the lowest income level.”   

Bremby also announced federal approval of an extra step to assist SNAP beneficiaries who lost food as a result of Tropical Storm Irene. The cost of food originally purchased with SNAP benefits and spoiled through power outage, flooding or other Irene-related damage can be reimbursed within certain parameters.

To be eligible for this extra, “individual” SNAP replacement benefit, the value of the spoiled food items must be more than 25 percent of the household’s August SNAP allocation. In that case, an individual or family can report the net value of spoiled food that was purchased with SNAP benefits and request additional replacement benefits. The total amount of replacement benefits (including the 25 percent automatically issued this week) cannot be more than what the household received in August.

The request must be made in two steps.  First, recipients must report that they have incurred food loss by calling the state’s toll free info line at 211, or logging in and registering on the infoline website. The deadline for reporting losses is by midnight, of Sept. 19.

Second, recipients must fill out and return a SNAP replacement form within 10 days of the date they report the loss.  The replacement form will be mailed to people who report food losses by the September 19 deadline, in accordance with federal timeframes.

Social service official will compute the amount of individual replacement benefits, and make deposits to eligible households’ electronic benefit transfer accounts.

A third layer of aid is also available to help Connecticut residents cope with the aftermath of Tropical Storm Irene. Bremby said he has activated the state’s plan for the Disaster Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, a move that could extend SNAP benefits to many households not currently enrolled in the food program.

 “Pending federal approval, this would be the first time Connecticut has launched the Disaster Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program,” Bremby said. “Massachusetts put its plan into action after the June 1 tornado, and we are laying the groundwork to help many Connecticut residents who lost food and incurred other non-reimbursable expenses resulting from Tropical Storm Irene.

Eligibility would depend on income and asset levels to be announced, pending federal approval.

Finally, in another move to help cushion the tropical storm’s impact, Bremby earlier directed that monthly food and cash assistance benefits be available to all clients on Thursday, Sept. 1 – up to two days sooner for many families and individuals.

Monthly benefit allotments were replenished electronically for all clients on the first of the month – rather than over the first three days of the month by alphabetical breakdown, as is normally done.

The DSS took the action to make sure that families and individuals could get food and cash benefits as soon as possible, on the assumption that many are especially hard-pressed for these basic needs due to power outage and other hurricane-related problems, Bremby said.

The services involved are SNAP; Temporary Family Assistance; State Supplement for the Aged/Blind/Disabled; and State-Administered General Assistance.