Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) recipients across the country are facing significant delays in receiving their food benefits, with widespread problems in processing and delivering food stamps in most U.S. states and territories.
Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack expressed concern about these issues by writing a letter to 47 U.S. states and territories in February. Previous reports revealed considerable delays in the delivery of SNAP benefits in several states, with recipients reporting months-long waits for certification or payment of their benefits.
Snap Benefits Are Delayed in Many States: The Black List
SNAP is administered by each U.S. state, while funds are provided by the federal government. Under the supervision of the Food and Nutrition Service of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), the government agency requires states to process 95% of all SNAP applications and payments within 30 days, as established by federal law.
As for the delays in payments of SNAP benefits, it is evident that numerous states of the country are experiencing significant problems in their processing and delivery. According to the letters sent by the Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack, the poor performance of certain states in terms of the promptness with which these benefits are managed has been highlighted.
Among the states with the worst performance in the United States in this regard are Washington DC, with a processing percentage of 43.47%; North Dakota, with 55.68%; New York, with 64.95%; Florida, with 66.37%; and New Mexico, with a worrying 72.81%. These figures reveal the urgent need to improve SNAP’s benefit management systems to ensure timely and effective delivery to those who depend on them.
Some states mentioned by Vilsack have application processing rates (APTs) higher than 95%, but the USDA singled them out for other problems, such as overpayments or underpayments on SNAP benefits. For example, although Illinois has an APT rate of 99.86%, a letter was sent to you due to an overpayment error of 9.67% and an underpayment of 1.24% in fiscal year 2022. The USDA considered a yield below 6% acceptable when both types of errors are added together. The states that did not receive a letter from Vilsack are Alabama, Idaho, South Dakota, Vermont, Wisconsin and Wyoming.
What to Do if My Food Stamps Are Delayed?
If your SNAP benefit is delayed, you should take steps to fix the situation quickly, because we know that your family depends on that budget to cover their most basic food expenses. First, check the status of your application online or contact your local SNAP office to make sure all the information is complete and up-to-date. Then, if the delay persists, contact the SNAP office directly to find out the cause and how to speed up the process.
Review your financial information, stay on top of SNAP communications, and respond to any additional requests as quickly as possible. If you need more help, consider contacting local legal aid or consumer organizations to resolve the issue effectively and in a timely manner.