This is a letter clarifying public charge policy as it pertains to SNAP participation. The letter was sent to SNAP state commissioners in Jan. 2022.
This is a letter clarifying public charge policy as it pertains to SNAP participation. The letter is jointly signed by FNS and USCIS.
This letter provides key information about a change in the way the Department of Homeland Security is administering the public charge ground of inadmissibility.
This letter is an update to the April 12, 2021 letter that USCIS issued concerning public charge and how it interacts with the food assistance programs, including SNAP.
DUSEC letter to Commissioners on the new DHS rule on public charge (2022)
Building on best practices to date and consistent with USDA’s efforts to improve customer service and increase state flexibility within the bounds of the law, while continuing to encourage states as laboratories of innovation, FNS is once again expanding allowable activities for states seeking to use vendor/private staff in call centers
On Oct. 6, 2017, we issued a memo regarding SNAP applicants and households who are sending certification materials to the USDA instead of the appropriate SNAP state agency for processing.
In school year 2013-14, FNS introduced the unified administrative review and a 3-year review cycle. Since then, FNS has received feedback about the difficulties of the shorter review cycle, both for the state agencies conducting the reviews, and for school food authorities preparing for and responding to reviews.
Consistent with USDA's efforts to increase state flexibility within the bounds of the law, FNS is expanding allowable activities for states seeking to use non-merit system personnel in call centers. With FNS approval, states may now use non-merit personnel to provide basic case-specific information that is readily available in the system to a SNAP applicant or participant, such as application or case status, benefit issuance date, and status of submitted verifications.
This memo discusses SNAP applications and other documents being sent by clients to the USDA Office of Civil Rights instead of the appropriate state SNAP office. The memo outlines best practices states can use to make submission instructions clearer for clients.