“Why were my food stamps stopped?!” That question can elicit panic in anyone who relies on food stamps benefits to feed their family. After all, people with EBT are usually acutely aware of when they should receive their food stamps. If the money doesn’t show up on time it can be very alarming! If you’re wondering “why were my food stamps stopped?!” don’t worry.
It turns out there are several common reasons why your food stamps may not arrive when you expect them. We’ve found four reasons why your food stamps or EBT cash benefits may not have arrived when you expected them.
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4 Reasons Why Your Food Stamps May Be Stopped
First, the schedule may have been adjusted
Although many states send their benefits payments on the first of each month, other states do things differently.
Some states determine their schedules based on:
- Birthday
- Last name
- Case number
- Application date
- Social security number
- or another factor
And sometimes the schedule chances!
We have a current schedule for all 50 states on our website at this website. There’s a direct link in the description of this tutorial for your convenience.
Weekends and holidays can also mess up the schedule. If your payments were due to be sent out on a Sunday, they will often be dispersed the following Monday. Holidays can also affect the distribution schedule.
Second, you may have missed a re-certification deadline
Every few months, you will need to re-certify or resubmit paperwork to prove that you are still eligible for benefits. If you miss a deadline for paperwork or a phone interview, your benefits may stop suddenly. The re-certification period varies depending on your circumstances. The length of time is usually every 6 to 12 months. Some people may have to re-certify more frequently.
With the ESAP program, seniors and disabled adults may only need to re-certify once every two years.
It’s important to always check your mail and open anything you receive from the food stamps office. This will help you ensure that you do not miss any deadlines. If the answer to “why were my food stamps stopped?!” is that you missed a deadline, you will need to contact your local agency as soon as possible in order to complete your re-certification. Usually, if you complete it within 30 days of the date it was due, your case may be reopened with minimal difficulty.
Third, you haven’t used your benefits in a while
Although it is much less common, sometimes benefits will be stopped because someone has not used their card in a long time (usually an entire year) or the card has accrued an unusually high balance. You will receive a letter from the agency before your benefits are stopped for this reason, however.
Lastly, your account may have been closed
In some cases, your account may have been closed unexpectedly. This may happen if you fail to comply with terms of the program (such as a work requirement) or if you are suspected of fraud. If this happens, you should receive a letter in the mail notifying you about
the closure. Hopefully this tutoril answers your question about “why were my food stamps stopped?!”
If you still have other food stamps related questions, please let us know in the comments and we’d be happy to answer them for you. Thanks for reading our tutorial! Make sure you keep an eye on our app because we’ll be back soon with more ways that you can save money and get free stuff!
Hey, while you’re here, did you know that you can get over 450 freebies and deals just by having a food stamps card?! We’ve got all of the information. Stop by and check out our resource list!