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 [...]

What is Summer EBT?Summer EBT is a federally funded program that provides a one-time benefit of $120 for each eligible child which is encoded on an EBT card. Households will have 122 consecutive days from the date of issuance to use the benefit.NYS OTDA has identified children who will automatically receive Summer EBT benefits without submitting [...]

On May 19, 2024, New York's EBT system will be changing over to a new EBT vendor.  Cardholder access to EBT benefits will not be available during the changeover. This includes access for food and cash purchases or cash withdrawals, as well as access to the EBT toll-free customer service helpline, mobile app, and online client [...]