When Gov. Brian Kemp announced last month that Georgia's more than 1 million food stamp recipients would get additional benefits to deal with the coronavirus pandemic, many expected those funds to appear automatically.
But state Division of Family and Children’s Services officials instead are rolling those additional benefits out during the last week of the month to avoid overwhelming grocery stores.
“They do it in bursts so that retailers have a chance to restock,” DFCS spokeswoman Patrice Meadows said. “If everybody got it the same day, some communities wouldn’t be able to respond.”
Officials initially said the additional funds would be dispersed in April on the day benefits typically were received.
Under the pandemic Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, also known as SNAP, recipients have been granted the maximum amount allowed based on household size under federal guidelines for March and April. DFCS is also seeking approval to grant the additional benefit amount in May.
In all, about 433,000 households are receiving SNAP benefits this month.
Under the guidelines, for example, a senior citizen who typically receives about $15 in monthly benefits through SNAP will qualify for the maximum $194 allowed to be given to a household of one. A federally-funded program, no state money is used for SNAP benefits.
SNAP recipients received their usual April benefit amount on the day their accounts are typically replenished. The additional amounts began being distributed on Saturday, with everyone receiving the higher benefit amount by Friday.
Money is being dispersed in batches based upon the recipient’s SNAP identification number, which can be found on the front of the electronic benefit transfer card.
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