The federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program was disrupted at the start of November amid the longest-ever government shutdown, which ended late Wednesday. Earlier that day, ODJFS followed previous federal guidance from the U.S. Department of Agriculture Food and Nutrition Service and issued partial benefits to eligible Ohioans.
The Dayton Daily News, Journal-News and Springfield News-Sun asked community members if they had received any SNAP payments, and several residents confirmed some money had hit their EBT cards. One Fairborn mother told this news outlet that her payment was roughly 65% of what she typically receives, but “any little bit helps.”
Approximately 1.4 million Ohioans receive a total of $264 million in food benefits from SNAP each month. The average monthly SNAP benefit per person is about $190, according to the state.
In Montgomery County, more than 81,000 residents rely on SNAP — the fourth-highest recipient total in the state as of October. Greene County has 14,653 residents enrolled. In Clark County, there are 23,488 residents on SNAP, while Butler County has reported 40,084.
To comply with the newest federal guidance, Ohio will calculate the full benefit households would have received in November and deduct the partial amount already paid.
Authorization for those amounts will be transmitted to Ohio’s Electronic Benefit Transfer, or EBT, vendor to issue to recipients through their Ohio Direction EBT card. This includes households that received no partial benefits due to the previous federal guidance, according to a state press release.
State officials said recipients should monitor their accounts using the Connect EBT app, or through the Ohio Benefits Self-Service Portal.
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