To apply for food assistance benefits online, you can apply via MyDHR or MyAlabama. qb}'M tYp1$(PR/V40qD.bWs_G _ 98"8MCHO4#(9y\xAc@NNrEU\@Lnh4|4_OVDs1;rnM[I3]ry.d&DA(* >@@@,.jxKJq1!~q2Q. The Food Assistance Program's purpose is to end hunger and improve nutrition by providing monthly benefits to eligible low income households to help them buy the food they need for good health. The PEAF represents a singular opportunity to help some of our nations neediest families struggling with the effects of the pandemic. View guidance as of January 2022. The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of Advance Local. 7.5 percent of funds are set aside for Tribal TANF programs and all 5 U.S. territories, to be distributed in a manner deemed appropriate by the HHS Secretary. Some food stamp recipients in Alabama received extra funds this week amid the growing coronavirus crisis. EBT cards containing the benefits will be mailed to families with children in pre-K and K-12 who lost access to meals from the National School Lunch Program during the 2020-21 school year because their schools closed or switched to virtual and hybrid learning models in response to the pandemic. How much does welfare pay in Alabama largely depends upon your familys income and size. Families with children under 6 years old who participate in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) also qualify for P-EBT, but their benefits will be issued at a later date. Alabama's Family Assistance(FA) Program provides temporary financial assistance for needy families with children whose income must meet the eligibility thresholds. DHR distributed over $144 million in benefits to more than 460,000 children in Alabama during the first round of P-EBT this past year. It does count for TANF. It enables low-income families to buy nutritious food through Electronic Benefits Transfer (EBT) cards. This means that we will reallot: (1) funds not initially awarded to a grantee because it chose to receive less than its full allotment; and (2) funds from the initial award that are unexpended (including unliquidated obligations) at the end of the statutory expenditure period, i.e., September 30, 2022. Option 5: Visit one of our district offices and apply in person. Some food stamp recipients in Alabama received extra funds this week amid the growing coronavirus crisis. The Food Assistance Division administers the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) in Alabama. Option 2: Download and mail an application. It could use the PEAF funds for diversion, as long as it adds to its program and does not replace existing funding with the PEAF dollars. Additionally, they. Transitional Transportation (TT) can help working families pay for transportation related expenses for a period of time. Alabama DHR Commissioner Nancy Buckner said, Alabama has successfully tackled childhood hunger throughout this pandemic thanks to the P-EBT program and an effective multi-agency partnership. State Cash Benefit Decisions Have Disparate Impacts, Especially for Black Children. For tribes, the same cap will apply to administrative costs in the PEAF that a tribe negotiated for administrative costs in its approved tribal TANF plan (or approved 477 plan for federally recognized tribes and tribal consortia that integrate TANF under P.L. h[{sW28i,7ZI{C Select from the following list to see all of the COVID-19 waivers issued for your state from SNAP. %PDF-1.6 % (334) 242-1 950 TANF provides families with financial assistance and support services. All grantees are eligible for reallotted funds, unless they have unexpended funds at the end of the expenditure period. Welcome To ACF | The Administration for Children and Families The Continuing Appropriations Act, 2021 (PL 116-159), extended a number of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) flexibilities approved under the Families First Coronavirus Response Act. The recipients of PEAF-funded NRSTs must be needy families with children but they do not necessarily have to be eligible for TANF cash assistance. The .gov means its official. A grantee has the flexibility to determine what needy means for each NRST and may wish to set a higher standard than it does for TANF cash assistance, such as aligning with SNAP or Medicaid income eligibility criteria. 436 0 obj <> endobj We will distribute reallotted funds based on the original allotment formula. A one-time payment to provide extra cash to weather the pandemic to current Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) recipient families with children affected by the pandemic. 2387 0 obj <>stream Option 1: Apply online through My Maine Connection. A benefit to cover burial expenses for needy families who have had a family member die from COVID-19. For example, if a grantee received its funds on May 15, 2021, it could use the PEAF funds to reimburse itself for allowable expenditures it made starting on April 1, 2021. hb```f````a`bd@ A+sd11HO```yY)x!4,(qc-Ps13G8"$P c3h4 #D@adg `Py 2. If after September 30, 2022, a grantee has unspent funds from its initial award i.e., any unobligated funds or any unliquidated obligations the grantee will not be eligible to receive reallotted funds. SNAP has continued to approve flexibilities under this authority. We have created a form that allows each grantee to make this election. . Cookie Settings/Do Not Sell My Personal Information. An Office of the Administration for Children & Families, TANF-ACF-PI-2021-02 (The Pandemic Emergency Assistance Fund), The PEAF provides funding to states (which includes the District of Columbia), tribes administering a TANF program, and five U.S. territories, Grantees may use funds to provide certain non-recurrent, short term (NRST) benefits, described in more detail below. The cards may take several weeks to arrive due to the volume of eligible children and shipping time frames. Indeed, as we noted above, all PEAF-funded benefits must be designed to address needs arising from the pandemic. [1] The eligible territories are: the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa, and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands. Low TANF cash benefits, which disproportionately affect the benefits available to Black children, are rooted in a long history of racist ideas and policies. Those benefits covered meals missed during the 2019-20 school year due to school closures. Updated 6/30/2021 Phone: (207) 626-7058 Fax: (207) 621-8148 www.maineequaljustice.org $300/week does not "count" as income for SNAP and Mainecare. This means that a grantee could offer the same or different NRSTs from the ones it offers under TANF, as long as they meet the requirements of the PEAF, including adhering to the requirement not to supplant current federal, state, tribal, territorial, or local expenditures. Your completed application will be sent to the DHR office in the county where you live. In most cases under TANF, a NRST benefit addresses a specific episode of need, which means that the state or tribe has determined the specific need of that family; however, the regulation allows for NRSTs to address a specific crisis situation. As is evidenced by Congress creating the PEAF, the extraordinary nature of the COVID-19 pandemic and its sweeping economic impacts constitute a specific crisis situation allowing a grantee to offer a NRST benefit broadly to needy families who are financially and otherwise eligible. If a grantee does choose to offer a benefit without determining an individual episode of need, it would need to be clear that the NRST expenditure was related to the pandemic. SNAP has continued to approve flexibilities under this authority. You may also fax, mail, or bring the signed application to your County DHR office for processing. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure youre on a federal government site. Alabama food stamp recipients can now buy food online through Amazon. In other words, for this fund, NRST benefits, like all NRSTs under TANF, must: and (as explained in the instructions for reporting on line 15 of the ACF-196R) NRSTs paid for with PEAF funds: Like TANF, any PEAF-funded benefit must meet a purpose of Title IV-A of the Social Security Act. An official website of the United States government. EEF1GYo IQm-tX Major services/benefits to eligible families include: Information on eligibility requirements for the Family Assistance program. Call 1-855-797-4357(Monday Friday, 8:00 am to 4:30 pm). While each grantee must decide whether or not it intends to use its full allotment, it is important to understand that, Use of Funds Non-Recurrent, Short Term Benefits, For the purposes of the Pandemic Emergency Assistance Fund, NRST benefits. A benefit to secure personal protective equipment. TANF Caseload Data 2021. Office for Family Independence. Voucher payments, equal to up to three months of TANF benefits, are made available to families to help them with employment related expenses and avoid the need for TANF benefits. Learn more about the HOPE program. Option 1: Apply online through My Maine Connection. For more than a year, the COVID-19 pandemic has caused a national emergency affecting not only public health, but also the American economy. For example, a grantee might consider crafting a NRST to provide extra cash for all current TANF recipient families who are affected by the pandemic. The ASPIRE program helps TANF recipients move towards financial independence through case management, job training, education, support and employment services. Use of and/or registration on any portion of this site constitutes acceptance of our User Agreement, Privacy Policy and Cookie Statement, and Your Privacy Choices and Rights (each updated 1/26/2023). Families already receiving the monthly maximum benefit will not receive the supplement. Maximum benefits range from $194 for a single-person household to $1,164 for a household of eight people. Regardless of when it receives its PEAF funds, a grantee may use the funds for allowable expenditures on or after April 1, 2021. Grantees may use funds to provide certain non-recurrent, short term (NRST) benefits, described in more detail below. Preston Hornsby, governmental relations manager for the Alabama Department of Human Resources, told AL.com Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program beneficiaries received funds in their accounts today that increased March benefits to the monthly maximum for their family size, regardless of household income. FAX: (207) 287-3005 In Alabama, that amount is $215 a month for a family of three. endstream endobj startxref The PEAF provides funding to states (which includes the District of Columbia), tribes administering a TANF program, and five U.S. territories[1] to assist needy families impacted by the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. Food stamp benefits are determined by the number of people and income in a household. Will the extra $300/week in unemployment benefits stop when the Maine State of Emergency ends on June 30 th? The limit is higher in Alaska, Hawaii, and Guam. Maximum benefits range from $194 for a single-person household to $1,164 for a . You may also fax, mail, or bring the signed application to your County DHR office for . 102-477). We encourage grantees to use this opportunity to assist needy families affected by the pandemic in meeting their basic needs. 2023 SMG. %PDF-1.6 % For states (including the District of Columbia) and territories, the law provides a 15-percent cap on administrative expenditures. Community Rules apply to all content you upload or otherwise submit to this site. We anticipate having only one reallotment of those two sources of funds, but we will make a decision on whether to have more than one after we see how much of the allotment grantees request initially. The U.S. Department of Agriculture Food and Nutrition Service (USDA-FNS) administers the program at the federal level. Apply for Alabama Family Assistance For more information on this program, please visit the Family Assistance page. 109 Capitol Street Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. J5(T[QJTE MD %%EOF For the purposes of the Pandemic Emergency Assistance Fund, NRST benefits mean cash payments or other benefits that meet the regulatory definition (45 CFR 260.31(b)(1)), but are limited to those that fall into the specific expenditure reporting category mentioned in the legislation (line 15 of the ACF-196R(PDF), the state financial reporting form for the TANF program). This benefit clearly meets Purpose One and is pandemic-related. Grantees may use funds for administrative costs, within limitations. Nationwide Waiver to Allow Sponsors that Successfully Participated in the Summer Food Service Program in FY 2019 to Operate as Experienced Sponsors in FY 2021 Offered to All States 4/1/2021 Nationwide Waiver to Provide Flexibility for School Meal Programs Administrative Reviews of SFAs Operating Only the SSO in SY 2021-22 2.TANF Emergency Assistance (Formerly AFDC-EA as provided by 45 CFR 233.120 with provision date of August 21, 1996): Assistance and services to or on For example, suppose a grantee wants to offer diversion payments to families affected by the pandemic, but it already offers diversion assistance under TANF. All rights reserved (About Us). State, tribal, and territorial agencies administering the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) Program, and other eligible territories. Recipients should hold onto these cards because additional P-EBT benefits may be added in the future. Additionally, they may use funds for administrative costs (up to a 15-percent cap for states and territories and up to the negotiated cap for tribes). On March 11, 2021, the President signed the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 into law. here to find the Food Assistance office nearest you. Pandemic EBT Distribution Starts This Week for Families with Eligible School-Age Children June 8, 2021 Dominic Binkley MONTGOMERY, Ala. - Pandemic EBT (P-EBT) benefits will start rolling out this week to families with eligible school-age children who missed out on free or reduced-price school meals because of the pandemic. A payment for hotel rooms and meal delivery for people who need to quarantine away from their families. After deducting $2 million for federal administration: A grantee must make a one-time election of the amount of its allotment it wishes to receive. We will issue supplemental information specific to tribes that integrate TANF under Public Law 102-477 into a single plan. Family Assistance Eligibility Requirements, Resumen De Los Requisitos De Eligibilidad, Alabama Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy, Alabama Coalition Against Domestic Violence, Voter Registration Information (Informacion de registro de votantes), Earned Income Tax Credit (La Vida es mas facil con el EITC), Declaracin de No Discriminacin Espaol. Start your application for Food Assistance. Support specialists are available from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday. The Continuing Appropriations Act, 2021 ( PL 116-159 ), extended a number of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) flexibilities approved under the Families First Coronavirus Response Act. For example, suppose a grantees full allotment were $2,876,380. The law exempts PEAF funds from the spending cap in section 1108 of the Social Security Act. The amount of the shelter deduction is capped at (or limited to) $624 unless one person in the household is elderly or disabled. Susan J. GolonkaActing DirectorOffice of Family Assistance. Please direct inquiries to the TANF Program Manager in your region. This benefit clearly meets Purpose One and is pandemic-related. If you have already applied or are receiving food assistance, you can sign up for an account on MyDHR or MyAlabama to access your case information, complete your recertification for benefits, and manage your benefits including reporting changes and completing your six-month report. Families will receive separate EBT cards for each eligible child in their households. A grantee has from April 1, 2021, to September 30, 2022, the end of fiscal year 2022, to expend its initial award. The Alabama Department of Human Resources (DHR) oversees the distribution of P-EBT with assistance from the Alabama State Department of Education (ALSDE). 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