218 R.I. Code R. 218-RICR-20-00-1.21 - [Effective 4/29/2025] Replacement of Food Caused by Disaster or Household Misfortune
A. In cases in which food purchased with SNAP
benefits is destroyed in a disaster or household misfortune affecting a
participating household, that household may be eligible for replacement of the
actual value of loss, not to exceed one (1) month's SNAP allotment, if the loss
is reported verbally or in writing within ten (10) days and the household's
disaster is verified with a signed and completed DHS SNAP-55 form within ten
(10) days from the reported date of the loss.
1. This provision applies in cases of an
individual household disaster or misfortune, as well as in natural disasters
affecting more than one (1) household.
2. Examples of household misfortune include:
a. Extended power outage of four (4) hours or
more
b. A flood
c. An equipment failure
(refrigerator/freezer)
d. Loss of
electricity due to failure to pay a utility bill
3. The household must provide verification of
the food loss.
a. Prior to issuing a
replacement, the agency shall obtain a signed statement from a member of the
household attesting to the household's loss.
b. If the statement is not received by the
agency within ten (10) days of the date of report, no replacement shall be
made.
(1) If the tenth (10th) day falls on a
weekend or holiday, and the statement is received the day after the weekend or
holiday, the agency shall consider the statement timely received.
(2) It shall attest to the destruction of
food purchased with the original issuance and the reason for the
replacement.
c. This
shall be verified through a collateral contact, documentation from a community
agency including, but not limited to, the fire department or the Red Cross, a
note from a landlord or the power company attesting to an outage or other
event.
4. A household may
not make more than one (1) request for replacement benefits for the same
incident of loss.
a. However, there is no
limit to the amount of replacement requests a household can make for separate
incidents of household misfortune or disaster.
5. In cases where FNS has issued a disaster
declaration and the household is otherwise eligible for emergency SNAP benefits
in accordance with ยง
1.19 of this Part, the household must not receive
both the disaster allotment and a replacement allotment.
B. Mass Replacements
1. When there is a wide-spread storm or power
outage, the agency may apply for and receive a waiver from the FNS allowing for
an automated mass replacement of a percentage of SNAP benefits for households
in designated cities and towns.
a. These
designated cities/towns will receive an automatic replacement of a percentage
of their SNAP benefits .
b. They are
not required to submit a statement of food loss, nor are they required to
verify their food loss.
c.
Replacement benefits will automatically be issued and applied to the
household's EBT account.
d. If a
household submits a food replacement request after receiving a mass replacement
and requests an amount greater than the replacement benefit amount received,
the household is entitled to receive the difference between the requested
amount and the amount previously replaced (up to the total monthly SNAP benefit
allotment for that month).
Notes
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