The federal government’s short-term inflation of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefit through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA) will end on Nov. 1, causing a reduction in the monthly amount for households across the nation receiving the food stamps benefit.
As a result, according to the U.
S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), which funds and oversees SNAP, on Nov. 1, for a family of four receiving a maximum allotment, benefits will decrease from $668 to $632, a decrease of $36, or 5.4 percent. This marks the final phase-out of federal stimulus funding administered by the Tennessee Department of Human Services connected with ARRA.
The federal government’s annual cost-of-living adjustment (COLA), increased benefits for recipients on Oct. 1
In September, the Tennessee Department of Human Services (DHS) began sending letters to SNAP recipients that both explain the federal adjustment to the benefit and that provide USDA resources that help recipients make healthful food choices on small budgets.