SNAP Early February Benefit Distribution - 2019 Partial Federal Government Shutdown

The Louisiana Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS) completed the early issuance of February Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits late Wednesday evening.

All households that were certified eligible for February benefits on or before Jan. 14 have received those benefits. Cases pending on that date and new applications continue to be processed.

These are early benefits for February, not extra benefits, and should be budgeted carefully to last into March. SNAP recipients who were included in this early issuance will not receive additional benefits in February for that month. More

• If you have your EBT card, you can call the number on the back of the card, 888-997-1117.
• If you have access to a computer, you can log into your CAFÉ account, then click on Check My Cases. Select SNAP DETAILS, and you should see the screen show below, which will include the most recent benefit issue date at the bottom.
• You can call 888-524-3578 and select your language, then press options 3, 1, 5, 1.
• You can email LAHelpU.DCFS@la.gov for assistance.

During the partial federal government shutdown, USDA has not yet been funded. However, a Continuing Resolution that expired Dec. 21, 2018, allows for the USDA to draw down funds for operation expenses incurred on or before Jan. 20, 2019. Therefore, SNAP recipients and applicants who have been determined eligible for February benefits before Jan. 20 will receive their benefits through that funding source on or before that date.

• Your name;
• Your case number, if known; and
• Detailed information on what you are requesting assistance with.

In order to apply for benefits, you must first create an online account for CAFÉ on the DCFS website (http://www.dcfs.louisiana.gov). After you successfully create your account, navigate to the My Applications Page of the CAFÉ Customer Portal and complete an electronic application for benefits. A DCFS staff member will contact you for an interview, if applicable. You can monitor the status of your application through the Application Status Page of the CAFÉ Customer Portal.

For questions regarding how to complete individual pages within the online application, click the Help link on the top of the page to view page-level help.

For help with computer usage, refer to the Help with Using a Computer resource on the first page of the online application by clicking the "If you haven’t used a computer very much and would like to practice before you get started, click here" link.

If you are having problems with your LA CAFE application, please contact DCFS at 888-524-3578 between the hours of 7:30 am and 6:00 pm Monday through Friday.

If you are unable to fill out the application on your own, staff at a local DCFS office are available to assist you with completing an online application. Visit a local DCFS office for in-person assistance with your online application. Some DCFS Community Partners also have someone on-site who can help you with your application. More information about services available through DCFS Community Partners can be found here.

Go to the DCFS website (http://www.dcfs.louisiana.gov) and click on About Us and click on Find an Office. Enter your Parish, City or Zip Code see the list of DCFS offices and Community Partners located nearest to you. Gold-level partners have people on-site who can help you fill out an application. A list of Community Partners also can be found here.

You can also contact DCFS at 888-524-3578 between the hours of 7:30 am and 6:00 pm Monday through Friday or by email at LAHelpU.DCFS@LA.GOV and request information about the DCFS office nearest to you.

If you do not currently receive benefits and wish to complete an application, you should complete an application through the My Applications Page on the CAFÉ Customer Portal.

If you already receive benefits and received notification that it is time to reapply for continued assistance, you should complete a redetermination through the My Redeterminations Page. You may only complete a redetermination if it is time for your redetermination to be completed. If you already receive benefits and would like to report changes, you should complete a change report through the Report Changes Page. If you would like to submit a simplified report and received a notification that it is time to submit your simplified report, you should complete a simplified report through the My Simplified Reporting Page.

The exact list of documents and information needed when applying for benefits varies by applicant. However, it is a good idea to have available basic information about all household members, including their dates of birth and Social Security Numbers, as well as the household financial information such as income statements, available resources, and monthly expenses. If you are a Federal Employee and have been affected by the Federal Government Shutdown, please also have your furlough paperwork as well.

If you are submitting a new application for benefits, you can check to see what the status of your application is by doing the following steps:

• Log into your CAFÉ account at /cafe
• Click on My Applications
• At the bottom of the page, there is a section called Submitted Applications (Applications you have submitted in the past 3 years)
• If no application is listed, you may want to check the middle section called Incomplete Applications (Applications you have started but not yet submitted). If your application is listed here, you will need to click on the application # (This will open your application). Once it opens, make sure all sections are completed, then select Submit.

Reminder: When you are submitting your application, redetermination, or simplified report, you will be asked for your PIN. Your PIN was created when you made your login for CAFÉ. If you cannot remember your PIN, please check Manage My Account, as it is listed there.

After successful submission of an online application, the status of the application will be monitored through the Customer Portal. Online status check is not available for redeterminations; however, you may see if verifications sent to DCFS were received. For Change Reports, users can view if their verifications were received by DCFS, as well. Online status check or verification status check is not available for simplified reports.

Application status information for applications submitted through the Customer Portal is found on the Application Status Check Page. The Application Status Check Page allows applicants to view the status and associated denial reasons for applications submitted online through the Customer Portal. The status information for the application is broken down into the various programs applied for with the status of the application listed for each individual program, as well as any relevant reasons for denials, if applicable.

In general, it takes about an hour to fill out an application for benefits depending on the application circumstances.

If you are unable to complete the full application in one session, click Save & Exit from any screen within the online application to save the incomplete application. An application that is not completed will be stored to the My Applications Page on the CAFÉ Customer Portal for 30 days.

The eligibility determination process takes up to 30 days from the date of application.

For applications, click the My Applications link, then select the View Status hyperlink. From the Application Status Check Page, users can view the status of the application, including the verification status, of the application.

For redeterminations, click the My Redeterminations link, then select the View Status hyperlink. From the Verification Status Check Page, users can view the current status of the redetermination.

For a faster receipt of verification documents, use the Document Upload tool to submit scanned documents electronically.