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 [...]

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 [...]

In October 2021, Governor Hochul signed legislation establishing the Restaurant Meals Program (RMP), enabling eligible households to use their SNAP benefits via their EBT card to purchase prepared meals at participating restaurants.   In December 2023, with approval from the USDA, NYS began a pilot program with Monroe County, followed by NYC in 2024 in Brooklyn. Go [...]

For many years the Benefits Plus Leaning Center has offered an Immigrants’ Eligibility Chart which is designed for social service professionals working with individuals who are non-citizens.  The chart contains the immigration criteria for over 25 public benefit programs and is newly designed to identify programs that provide cash, food, health, etc.The chart, as well as [...]