Announcement by the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services (ODJFS) highlights important steps for SNAP recipients in the eight counties affected by recent severe storms in Ohio. If you’re a SNAP recipient in one of these counties and experienced a power outage of four hours or more, you have until September 5 to request replacement benefits for any food lost during the outage. The extension from 10 to 30 days for seeking reimbursement is due to a federal waiver secured by ODJFS.
To request replacement benefits, you’ll need to fill out a specific form and submit it to your local County Department of Job and Family Services (CDJFS). The CDJFS will need to verify the power outage, so be prepared to provide proof, such as screenshots of news reports, text or email alerts, or outage maps showing that your area was without power for at least four hours.
This is an important opportunity for those affected to recover some of the losses they may have experienced due to the power outages, and it’s crucial to meet the September 5 deadline to ensure your application is processed.
Ohio has extended the time for residents in certain counties to request replacement SNAP benefits due to recent power outages caused by severe storms. The counties eligible for this extended benefit period are Trumbull, Ashtabula, Cuyahoga, Geauga, Lake, Lorain, Portage, and Summit. Residents in these counties who lost food because of power outages have until September 5 to apply for replacement benefits.
To apply, residents must fill out a specific form and submit it to their local County Department of Job and Family Services (CDJFS). The office will verify that the power was out for at least four hours before approving the request for replacement benefits. This extension aims to help those who were affected by the storms recover some of the food they lost during the power outages.
