SNAP Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program
Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program
What is this program?
The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) is the largest federal nutrition assistance program in the nation. SNAP provides benefits to eligible low-income individuals and families through an electronic benefits transfer card. This card can be used as a debit card to purchase eligible foods at authorized retail stores.
To get SNAP benefits, you must apply in the state where you currently live and you must meet certain requirements, including income and resource limits. SNAP income and resource limits are updated annually.
Who is eligible for this program?
To be eligible for this benefit program, applicants must live in the state where they are applying and meet certain bank balance limits. Households with a senior (over 60) or a member with a disability may have a higher bank balance limit. Visit the SNAP eligibility page to learn more about eligibility requirements and how benefits are calculated.
How do I apply for this program?
To find out if you are eligible for SNAP benefits use SNAP Eligibility. You can also check the SNAP Application and Office Locator page to find out how to apply in your state.
THIS PROGRAM IS NOT AVAILABLE IN PUERTO RICO.
What you receive is a similar program, but with lower benefits and higher requirements, known as the PAN (Nutritional Assistance Program). This program is especially important because of the high levels of poverty. Residents of Puerto Rico do not enjoy the same access to the social safety net that the United States provides for the rest of the country. It is true that PAN provides important nutritional benefits, but this support has major limitations versus the benefits of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), the food assistance program that serves all 50 states, Guam and the Virgin Islands.
Each year, PAN receives a fixed amount of federal funds known as a block grant. block grant). The NAP cannot exceed the amounts of this grant, and therefore cannot be expanded to address economic crises or natural disasters. This is not the case with SNAP, which has a more flexible funding structure that allows it to expand or contract to respond to instances of great need. From 1974 to 1982, Puerto Rico participated in the program that preceded SNAP, known as the Food Stamp Program. Food Stamp Program). However, when Congress and President Reagan converted the Food Stamp Program to SNAP in the 1980s, Puerto Rico replaced it with a block grant that would give way to PAN. This transition, which was carried out through the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1981 (Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1981), was a major step in Puerto Rico's transition to SNAP. Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1981This transition, which was carried out through the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1981, meant a substantial cut in nutritional assistance for the island. Currently, the block grant is used to cover all PAN food benefits plus 50 percent of administrative costs; Puerto Rico must cover the remaining administrative costs. In FY 2020, the federal block grant to fund PAN was approximately $1.94 billion.
PAN is one of the largest nutrition programs in the United States. The federal government provides it with almost $2 billion annually, an amount that places it just behind SNAP, child nutrition programs and the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women , Infants, and Children (WIC). SNAP provides benefits for the monthly purchase of food to about 40 percent of the island's population. However, despite the size and scope of PAN, there is little public information available about this program.
Who is eligible for PAN?
Historically, PAN has focused on very low-income families, although in recent years the program has also begun to serve working families with slightly higher incomes. In general, PAN is available to individuals who meet the income and asset limits, two items that are set low enough to ensure that the available funds are sufficient to cover those who apply. Because federal funding for PAN is limited, the program has historically had to set eligibility and benefit levels that are, on average, lower than those for SNAP.
Under PAN rules, family members and others living together may apply as a unit - or "nucleus" - and eligibility is determined by the income of the unit, while benefits are based on the number of members in the unit. Some family members who reside separately may also be included, such as college students who rely on their families' income to cover basic expenses. Similarly, seniors and people with disabilities can generally apply as if they were members of an independent family (even if they live with other family members). In this way, they may be eligible for more benefits.
Households must have net income - that is, income after certain exclusions and deductions are subtracted from total income - below certain amounts, depending on the number of members in the household. For example, as of March 2019, a household of three must have a total net income at or below $1,706; this figure is higher than what had been anticipated for 2019, as the program's original rules had set a much lower net income limit of $599 for a family of three. However, due to the devastation caused by Hurricanes Irma and Maria, and after receiving additional NAP funding, Puerto Rico raised the net income limit so that more families could apply for NAP. With a higher net income limit, the proportion of program participants was able to increase by 10 percent. When these additional funds were exhausted in March 2019, participant benefits were reduced to the previous amounts, but the income limit remained at the higher levels. For this reason, participating NAP households must have assets-such as bank accounts-equivalent to or less than $5,000 (or $15,000 for households with older adults), although it is very likely that most of these households already have assets well below this amount.
In addition to these financial requirements, households must provide proof of identity and residency, and demonstrate that school-age children are enrolled in school. It should be noted that certain non-U.S. citizens have restricted eligibility.
Sources:
https://www.benefits.gov/es/benefit/361