[StBernard] DISASTER FOOD STAMP PROGRAM TO BEGIN IN ST. BERNARD PARISH ON WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 5, 2012 AT 8:00 A.M.

[Westley Annis]

DISASTER FOOD STAMP PROGRAM TO BEGIN IN ST. BERNARD PARISH ON  WEDNESDAY,
SEPTEMBER 5, 2012  AT 8:00 A.M.  

The Louisiana Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS) have set up
a temporary office in St. Bernard Parish to provide assistance with DSNAP.
The program, formerly called Disaster Food Stamps, provides food assistance
for eligible households who do not receive regular SNAP benefits and who
need help buying groceries due to lost income or damages following a
disaster.

The program will be housed at Christian Fellowship Church located 5816 E.
Judge Perez Drive, Violet from Wednesday, September 5th through Saturday,
September 8th and from Monday, September 10th through Wednesday, September
12th.  The hours will be 8:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.

Residents must park in the Winn Dixie parking lot in Meraux (Legend Dr. &
Judge Perez Dr.) and they will be shuttled to and from the church.  Walk-ins
and drive-ups will not be accepted.

To help expedite the application process, individuals should pre-apply for
DSNAP prior to Wednesday either online at www.dcfs.la.gov/preapply
<http://lra.louisiana.gov/action.cfm?md=emaillist&task=addMessageClickThru&m
sgid=962&uid=gff%21mro%3D&encoded=1&redirect=http%3A%2F%2Fwww%2Edcfs%2Ela%2E
gov%2Fpreapply>  or www.getagameplan.org
<http://lra.louisiana.gov/action.cfm?md=emaillist&task=addMessageClickThru&m
sgid=962&uid=gff%21mro%3D&encoded=1&redirect=http%3A%2F%2Fwww%2Egetagameplan
%2Eorg>  or by calling 1-888-LAHELP-U (888-524-3578) between 7 a.m. and 11
p.m. When applying by phone, callers should select the appropriate language
and then select options 3 and 3.

The following information is required for DSNAP pre-application:

*	Names, Social Security Numbers and Dates of Birth for each household
member;
*	Address and Parish where you currently live;
*	Monthly income for each household member; and
*	All liquid resources for each household member (cash on hand,
checking, savings).

Individuals in the approved parishes who pre-applied for DSNAP must visit a
DSNAP issuance site at a time to be determined to verify their identity and
information to decide final eligibility before receiving benefit cards.
Pre-applying does not guarantee benefits and pre-applicants must go to a
DSNAP site to complete the process.

Regular SNAP households DO NOT need to pre-apply. Households that receive
regular SNAP benefits in parishes where DSNAP has been activated will
automatically have additional DSNAP benefits added to their Electronic
Benefit Transfer (EBT) cards if they are not already receiving the maximum
allotment for their household size.

DCFS will open DSNAP sites beginning on Wednesday, September 5 from 8 a.m.
to 6 p.m. at sites soon to be announced in each of the parishes. The sites
will be open for a seven day period for applicants on a staggered alphabet
schedule that will be released when sites are announced. Once finalized,
site locations will be posted at www.dcfs.la.gov
<http://lra.louisiana.gov/action.cfm?md=emaillist&task=addMessageClickThru&m
sgid=962&uid=gff%21mro%3D&encoded=1&redirect=http%3A%2F%2Fwww%2Edcfs%2Ela%2E
gov>  and will be available by calling 211 or 1-888-LAHELP-U.

Applicants may name an Authorized Representative to go to a DSNAP site on
their behalf. Accommodations will be made for the elderly and those with
disabilities to reduce on-site wait times.

An estimated 288,155 households could be eligible for DSNAP benefits in the
nine declared parishes. Another 115,262 households who already receive
regular SNAP benefits will have the disaster benefits automatically added to
their EBT cards. Only households who resided in the nine parishes at the
time of the disaster are eligible for DSNAP.


Benefit amounts for eligible families are:

Household Size

Household Benefit Allotment

1

$200

2

$367

3

$526

4

$668

5

$793

6

$952

7

$1,052

8

$1,202

Each additional member

$150