PENNSYLVANIA — The Pennsylvania Department of Human Services (DHS) recently announced changes made by the USDA’s Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) to SNAP income and benefit limits.
“SNAP is the nation’s most important anti-hunger program that helps more than 1.9 million Pennsylvanians to afford food for themselves and their families, and these updates to SNAP benefits will help recipients to expand their purchasing power and meet their nutrition needs,” said DHS Secretary Dr. Val Arkoosh. “DHS will always help Pennsylvanians facing food insecurity keep food on their tables, and I strongly encourage anyone who may need food assistance to apply for SNAP.”
FNS annually evaluates SNAP’s income eligibility standards, the maximum thrifty food plan, and the minimum benefit amount. These mass grant changes will benefit all SNAP recipients; SNAP benefit levels may increase as a result of these updates, and no one will experience a decrease in benefits.
Below are the SNAP income limits beginning October 1, 2023, through September 30, 2024:
| Household Size | Maximum Gross Monthly Income |
| 1 | $2,430 |
| 2 | $3,288 |
| 3 | $4,144 |
| 4 | $5,000 |
| 5 | $5,858 |
| 6 | $6,714 |
| 7 | $7,570 |
| 8 | $8,428 |
| 9 | $9,286 |
| 10 | $10,144 |
| Each additional member | +$858 |
Additionally, below are the changes to the Maximum Thrifty Food Plan effective October 1, 2023, through September 30, 2024. The Maximum Thrifty Food Plan is the maximum amount of SNAP benefits a household can receive.
| Household Size | Maximum Thrifty Food Plan |
| 1 | $291 |
| 2 | $535 |
| 3 | $766 |
| 4 | $973 |
| 5 | $1,155 |
| 6 | $1,386 |
| 7 | $1,532 |
| 8 | $1,751 |
| 9 | $1,970 |
| 10 | $2,189 |
| Each Additional Member | $219 |
The best way to determine if your household will qualify for SNAP and the amount of your monthly benefit is to apply. Current recipients should continue to report income and address changes to DHS and submit any semi-annual reviews or renewals they receive during this period to not risk an interruption of their benefits in the future.
Under Federal guidelines, SNAP benefits do not expire as long as the recipient’s EBT card remains active, which means that the household’s EBT card must be used at least once every nine months. SNAP recipients can check their current EBT balance, make transaction inquiries, and request card replacements from DHS’s EBT contractor, Conduent, at 888-328-7366. Alternatively, recipients may check their EBT balance and transaction history using the free myCOMPASS PA mobile app on both Apple and Android devices.
Planned EBT Outage
DHS is also alerting SNAP recipients of planned, temporary Electronic Benefits Transfer (EBT) service outages occurring on both October 12, 2023, and October 14, 2023, between 3:00 am and 9:00 am. DHS’s EBT contractor, Conduent, is conducting these outages in order to upgrade systems and improve client services.
The brief outages will impact all EBT services, to include point-of-sale EBT transaction processing, SNAP online shopping transactions, and additional web services; EBT users will not be able to complete transactions during these times.
EBT balance and transaction inquiries can be requested from Conduent at 888-328-7366.
Applications for public assistance programs can be submitted online at www.dhs.pa.gov/COMPASS. On-site County Assistance Office (CAO) services are available if recipients cannot access online services or need assistance that cannot be accessed through the COMPASS website, the myCOMPASS PA mobile app, or by calling the Customer Service Centers at 1-877-395-8930 or 215-560-7226 for people in Philadelphia.
For the latest news on everything happening in Chester County and the surrounding area, be sure to follow MyChesCo on Google News and Microsoft Start.