Food Stamps

Nebraska food stamps provide numerous enrollees and their dependents with financial relief. This program, which is officially called the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), extends monetary benefits to claimants who qualify as low-income and need help purchasing groceries for their households. As a result, claimants who qualify to receive SNAP in Nebraska are awarded funds they may use to help supplement their grocery budgets each month. In many cases, these benefits permit enrollees to purchase food items they otherwise would not have been able to afford.

The goal of this food assistance program is to help ensure that families across the country have access to sufficient amounts of nutritious food for each meal. Although this program is available throughout the United States, each state oversees its own version of the program. In Nebraska, the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) spearheads this program. Therefore, the DHHS manages the SNAP food stamps initiative and ensures that benefits are being distributed to families in need. To help prospective applicants understand this program, the following sections explain what petitioners need to do in order to prepare their applications for the DHHS to review. The information below also explains what petitioners can do if their claims expire or if the department rejects their applications altogether.

What are food stamps in Nebraska?

Nebraska SNAP food benefits are available throughout the state to claimants who qualify for public assistance. The program provides funds to local residents who need additional help purchasing groceries for their households. Families of any size may apply to collect food stamps benefits, and the DHHS examines claimants’ petitions to evaluate who is permitted to receive these funds. While SNAP programs exist in every state throughout the country, candidates must remember that they may only apply for benefits in the state where they reside. Applicants must also be sure that they adhere to the DHHS’s enrollment requirements. However, once claimants successfully enroll to receive SNAP benefits, they are able to use their allotments to purchase various groceries at stores throughout the United States.

Nebraska Food Stamps Requirements

There are a few food stamps requirements in Nebraska that claimants must meet in order to collect SNAP benefits. First, petitioners must be state residents. Second, candidates must be sure that they meet the DHHS’s income requirements for food stamps. Applicants must prove that they earn less than a certain monthly income, based on household size. Specifically, the department uses the claimants’ gross monthly incomes and compares these totals to the number of family members in the petitioners’ households to determine eligibility.

Finally, NE food stamps eligibility requirements indicate that candidates can only have $2,000 in quantifiable resources. The total value of petitioning households’ assets, including their bank accounts, must total less than $2,000. However, this maximum limit rises to $3,250 in households where at least one family member is older than 60 years of age or disabled.

How to Apply for Food Stamps in Nebraska

Petitioners who want to know how to apply for food stamps in Nebraska should keep in mind that they can file their claims in several ways. First, candidates may submit an online food stamps application through the state’s official website. Oftentimes, this is the quickest, most convenient method for claimants because it gives them the freedom to apply for SNAP at any time, day or night. However, candidates who prefer not to use computers or who do not have access to the internet may file paper petitions to the DHHS. In order to obtain applications, claimants may download and print these documents or request paper applications from their nearest department offices.

Preparing for the Nebraska Food Stamps Interview

Applicants will need to complete a Nebraska food stamps interview after they file their claims with the DHHS. This is a standard procedure in the enrollment process and does not indicate that the state department is preparing to reject petitioners’ applications. Oftentimes, these interviews take place over the phone. However, candidates may call the DHHS and request that their interviews take place in person, if they prefer this option.

Many interviewees want to know, “What do you need for the food stamps interview?” These conversations are straightforward and simple. In most cases, the department representatives will be expecting candidates to bring documented proof of whatever monetary or factual figures they listed in their applications. Since almost all of the questions asked during their food stamps interview in NE will relate to these topics, petitioners can best prepare for these conversations by readying the necessary documentation. Claimants should bring proof of at least one item provided in the list below:

• Identity: Driver’s license, state identification card, birth certificate or passport.
• NE residency: Utilities addressed in the claimant’s name, driver’s license or petitioner’s lease documents.
• Income: Tax records, pay stubs, official employer letters or other public benefits receipts.
• Immigration status: Passport, employment authorization document or visa.

How to Use the Nebraska EBT Card

Petitioners who want to know, “How long does it take to get a Nebraska EBT card?” should note that the department mails these cards as soon as claimants are accepted into the program. The acronym EBT stands for Electronic Benefits Transfer. Petitioners directly receive their funds from the DHHS onto plastic cards that works like debit cards. The department gives each petitioner a Nebraska EBT card that they must use to spend his or her benefits at participating supermarkets and other food stores. There is no exchange of cash between the department and beneficiaries.

With these cards, petitioners have the ability to check their EBT card balance and otherwise stay aware of the funds they have available in their food stamps accounts. Furthermore, claimants may use their EBT cards in any state throughout the country, as well as D.C., Guam and the Virgin Islands. As long as the enrollees are purchasing food items at stores that are permitted to accept SNAP benefits, program participants may use their cards outside of their home states.

How to Appeal a Nebraska Food Stamps Denial

After claimants receive a NE food stamps denial from the DHHS, they have 90 days to file appeals with the department. These requests indicate that the petitioners believe these denials are unjust, and they would like additional state representatives to review their cases. Applicants who learn that their food stamps application was denied may submit their requests for reconsideration either verbally or in writing. However, candidates who would like to maintain documentation of their appeals requests should consider submitting their appeals requests in writing.

The department is required to begin the food stamps appeal process, even if claimants only provide oral requests for reconsiderations. However, it is in the candidates’ best interests to file written requests. These requests help applicants to maintain detailed records regarding their food stamps appeals, in case they need to refer to these documents at a later date.

How to Renew Your Food Stamps in Nebraska

Eventually, SNAP beneficiaries will have the option to submit a Nebraska food stamps renewal application if they would like to continue collecting benefits beyond their initial enrollment periods. Oftentimes, claimants need to fill out the same type of application they first submitted when they enrolled in program benefits. Candidates have the opportunity to renew food stamps online or by filing paper applications with the department. Regardless of which format petitioners choose to utilize, they must be sure they provide the DHHS with information that proves they are still eligible to collect SNAP. Specifically, petitioners need to notify the department of any changes that their households underwent since they last filed their claims.

When filing their food stamps renewal application, candidates need to notify the department if:

• Anyone moved into or moved out of the home.
• The household is making more or less money than before.
• Household members gained or lost any employment opportunities.
• The family moved from one address to another.

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

What income do you need to have in order to be eligible for food stamps in Nebraska?

Here is a list of the maximum allowable (gross) monthly income needed in order to qualify for food stamps as it relates to the number of people in your household:
1 $1,307
2 $1,760
3 $2,213
4 $2,665
5 $3,118
6 $3,571
7 $4,024
8 $4,477

What is ACCESS Nebraska?

ACCESS Nebraska is the official government website for the State of Nebraska. In order to use the ACCESS Nebraska website, you must sign in by using a PIN number that is assigned to you by state. The website is also used to access Healthcare/Medicaid applications, developmental disabilities applications, economic assistance applications and much more. You can visit the website by going to ACCESSNebraska.ne.gov.

How can I get in contact with someone regarding my food stamps?

Below is the contact information for the Economic Assistance department of ACCESS Nebraska:
Call (800) 383-4278
In Lincoln: (402) 323-3900
In Omaha: (402) 595-1258
8:00 am – 5:00 pm Monday thru Friday
TDD: (402) 471-7256

You can mail your document to:
Economic Assistance
ACCESSNebraska Document Imaging
Center
P.O. Box 2992
Omaha, NE 68103-2992
Fax: (402) 742-2351

Helpful Links : You can visit the Nebraska SNAP website here.