BPLC Blog
Updates and news about public benefits, housing programs and community resources
Home / Blog
Topics
Published on Oct 3, 2024 by Leslie Bailey
SNAP ReplacementAs a result of the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2023, states were permitted to use federal money to replace SNAP benefits lost due to EBT skimming. The authority to replace these benefits was originally set to expire on September 30, 2024, and now has been extended through December 20, 2024.Cash ReplacementRules on replacing cash benefits [...]
Published on Oct 2, 2024 by Leslie Bailey
Effective October 1, 2024, the following changes have been made to the SNAP program:Increase in the income guidelines, click here for a full chart of the updated income guidelines.Slight increase to the benefit amount,Increase in certain deductions: the shelter cap, as well as the homeless deduction have increased.You can view all updates using our SNAP Budget [...]
Published on Oct 2, 2024 by Michelle Berney
Both the Essential Plan and Qualified Health Plans have expanded the citizenship/immigration criteria to include individuals granted deferred action through the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program. Essential Plan’s inclusion of DACA recipients is effective August 1, 2024, and Qualified Health Plans inclusion will be November 1, 2024.The expansion allows DACA recipients with higher incomes [...]
Published on Jul 19, 2024
Monday July 22, 2024On Friday, due to the widespread global IT outage, some government agencies were impacted but now have resumed normal operations. Please see links for current agency status.Social Security: https://www.ssa.gov/agency/emergency/Currently all Social Security offices are open in NYC.NYCHA: https://x.com/NYCHA/status/1814324890272444758.CCC and MyNYCHA are now fully operational again.NYC Human Resources Administration:The ACCESS HRA Client Portal and [...]