SNAP Recipients May Be Eligible For Food Loss Benefits

North Dakota Health and Human Services announced that Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) recipients who lost food due to recent June storms may be eligible for replacement benefits.

The assistance is available to households that experienced power outages lasting more than four hours, which may have caused perishable food to spoil. Eligible residents must report their loss within 10 days of the incident.

Households can file a report with the HHS Customer Support Center by email, phone, mail or by visiting a local human service zone office during regular business hours.

Officials said residents served by several utility providers — including Montana-Dakota Utilities Company, Otter Tail Power Company, and Burke-Divide Electric Cooperative — in communities such as Dickinson, Beulah, Hazen, Garrison and Velva are among those eligible to request replacement benefits.

SNAP recipients in other areas of the state may also qualify but must provide verification of a power outage lasting at least four hours. Acceptable documentation can include outage notifications from utility companies, such as website updates or text alerts.

The replacement amount is based on the value of food lost, up to the household’s monthly SNAP benefit. For example, a household that lost $50 in food and received $100 in June benefits could receive $50 in replacement assistance once the claim is verified.

Officials noted that replacement benefits cannot exceed the total amount of SNAP assistance a household received for the month of June.

More information is available through the HHS Customer Support Center or online, where residents can also find contact details for local human service zone offices.

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State officials encouraged affected residents to report losses promptly to ensure timely assistance.

People with questions can find information online at hhs.nd.gov/applyforhelp/snap or by contacting the Customer Support Center or their local human service zone office. Local office contact information is online at hhs.nd.gov/human-service/zones.