About 20,000 SNAP and Cash Assistance recipients must renew their applications in August in order to continue to receive benefits.
According to the Minnesota Department of Human Services, in March, the U.S. Department of Agriculture approved waivers that allowed SNAP and MFIP recipients to continue to receive benefits without having to gather documents to verify their ongoing eligibility.
Since that waiver is likely to end, DHS will notify people reaching the end of their certification period by a notice in the mail beginning next week.
“We appreciate that the process of re-certification will be a hardship for recipients who may be hard to locate or who may have barriers to producing their applications without technology and with county and tribal offices still partially closed,” said Human Services Commissioner Jodi Harpstead.
“We are sending notices now to make sure that people who are entitled to SNAP and MFIP benefits understand what they need to do to continue receiving them so they will not lose these vital supports.”
To renew, current SNAP and MFIP recipients must complete the Combined Application Form or 6-month Report, which they will receive in the mail, and provide proof of changes, such as a decrease in income, increase in housing costs, or change in number of members in their household as they did prior to COVID-19.
