January renewals must be received by January 15
SANTA FE — The state Human Services Department is urging all SNAP recipients who are due for renewal of benefits in January to submit their renewal form no later than Jan. 15 in order to receive their February benefit. There are more than 25,000 SNAP households that are due for renewal, of which 14,500 are still outstanding.
"HSD wants to ensure every eligible family maintains their benefit and is working overtime to get that done," said David R. Scrase, MD, HSD Secretary-Designate. "But we need those households who are due for renewal to do their part and submit their renewal form in time for the Department to process it by the deadline we have been given to ensure those families have the food they need for the month of February."
Due to the Federal Government shutdown, the SNAP program was not funded beyond January 31. However, in an effort to minimize the impact of the shutdown, HSD decided to participate in a waiver option from the U.S. Department of Agriculture that will provide an early issuance of the February benefits on or before January 20.
SNAP recipients are granted 12 months of benefits when first approved, and cases are reviewed for renewal every six months. There are several efficient ways to submit the renewal form to the Income Support Division (ISD) to ensure it is received timely:
ISD is also making outbound calls to January renewal recipients to encourage them to renew early in order to receive the February benefit.
Each month approximately 223,000 New Mexico families receive SNAP benefits, with an average benefit of $241 for a total of more than $50 million.
It is important for families to note that the early release of the February benefit in January is not a double payment for January but is the SNAP benefit for the month of February itself.
