BOWLING GREEN, Ohio — Starting Tuesday, more Ohioans may be eligible to receive Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits.
This comes as changes are being made in terms of who meets the criteria to receive food assistance.
Wood County Jobs and Family Services eligibility referral supervisor, Rebeka Shiffert, said it's called broad-based categorically eligible individuals.
A new consideration that allows all Job and Family Services in the state of Ohio to look at other factors when determining whether a person is eligible for food assistance, despite their household gross income.
"One of those factors is, we're going to look and see, is the entire AG eligible for any federally funded programs such as OWF, our cash assistance program, PRC, which is one of our other programs," Shiffert said.
Shiffert said these factors can be quite vast.
"Residency, social security number, citizenship," Shiffert said. "There's certain eligibility factors that include if an individual is receiving social security disability or has been deemed disabled. There's a multitude of different things that we look at as far as our budgeting. We also look at living expenses, certain other expenses depending on what their living situation is."
Shiffert said if a household is eligible for any of these programs and factors, then the 130% federal poverty level requirement to qualify for assistance will be waived.
This is one of the main changes being made for SNAP recipients in the state of Ohio, while another drops the requirement for people who receive SNAP payments and are able to work to participate in volunteer programs.
"An individual that has no dependence and is meeting other requirements is now no longer going to have to automatically participate in our SNAP programs, in our work activity programs," Shiffert said.
Instead of being required, people will be given the option to volunteer in these programs. However, if they do not volunteer, they can only receive three months of food assistance.
Shiffert said this new change will broaden the array allowing more individuals to maintain some type of supplement and combat the high food prices.