How can I get extra SNAP benefits in 2022?

The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program is designed to supplement the food budget of low-income families to ensure that they can afford to purchase healthy food and avoid periods of food instability.

The Food and Nutrition Service from the Department of Agriculture (USDA) outlines its central aim to improve “access to food, a healthful diet and nutrition education in a way that supports American agriculture and inspires public confidence.”

During the early states of the pandemic that goal has been particularly crucial with millions of households losing their main source of income and the soaring inflation of recent months. While, average prices did not inch up any further in July, food indexes rose 1.1 percent comapared to June - this brought the year over year increase for food to 10.9 percent.

Accordingly the federal government has set aside additional funds to boost the amount on offer from SNAP benefits, but not all states have opted to take advantage of the support. However, many of these additional funds have been used up and any possibilities of increases will differ state to state.

Boosted SNAP benefits became available in January in 37 states

As of 12 January 2022, 37 states had signed up to make their residents eligible for extra SNAP benefits, as part of the Emergency Allotment (EA) program. Residents in those 37 states will receive a boosted food stamp payment this month, approved by the USDA.

The EA benefits do not apply to all recipients, but will instead be used to boost the entitlement of households who would not otherwise be eligible to receive the full amount. If you were not previously receiving the maximum entitlement for your house size then the EA benefits will increase your total monthly benefits to the maximum for January 2022.

You do not need to do anything to trigger the payment of the extra SNAP support, the additional money will be automatically added to your regular monthly payment. For a full breakdown of when you can expect your SNAP benefits payment for January, check out What is the SNAP schedule for 2022 for each state?

Here’s the full list of the states included in the EA program: