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DCFS Announces Friday Schedule for DSNAP Sites

Final day in East Baton Rouge serves S-

September 27, 2012

BATON ROUGE - The Louisiana Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS) has released the Disaster Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (DSNAP) schedule for Friday in East Baton Rouge, the final day sites will be open in the parish.

The six sites will serve parish residents who have last names beginning with S-Z on Friday. All sites will be open from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m.

On Wednesday, when East Baton Rouge Parish residents whose last names begin with H-L were served, DCFS issued 7,428 electronic benefit cards, with benefits totaling $2.7 million. In three days of DSNAP in East Baton Rouge Parish, 17,037 households have received benefits totaling $6.2 million. As of 4 p.m. Thursday, unofficial totals show that 4,982 households whose last names begin with M-R have received DSNAP benefits today.

Sites serving East Baton Rouge Parish are:

Southern University F.G. Clark Activity Center, Harding Blvd.
Former Sam's Club, 7685 Airline Hwy.
Mount Pilgrim Baptist Church, 9700 Scenic Hwy.
Healing Place Church, 19202 Highland Road
Former Walmart, 14740 Plank Rd., Baker
Lamar Dixon Expo Center, 9030 S. Landry Rd., Gonzales

DSNAP operations ended Wednesday in East and West Feliciana. In total in those two parishes, 2,522 households received benefits totaling $931,773.

To help expedite the application process, individuals should pre-apply for Hurricane Isaac DSNAP either online at www.dcfs.la.gov/preapply or www.getagameplan.org or by calling 1-888-LAHELP-U (888-524-3578) prior to coming to a site. When applying by phone, callers should select the appropriate language and then select options 3 and 3.

DSNAP is an income eligibility based program to assist eligible households who do not receive regular SNAP benefits and who need help buying groceries due to lost income or damages following a disaster. Eligibility is determined by federal guidelines and is based on an individual's known or expected income, resources (such as cash on hand, saving and checking account balances) and unreimbursed disaster expenses during the disaster period of August 26 and September 24. For more information on income guidelines, visit www.dcfs.la.gov or call 211.

DSNAP benefits are loaded on to cards at midnight after the card is issued. Technical problems with the DSNAP card can be addressed by returning to the DSNAP issuance site if it is still open or by staff at a local DCFS Economic Stability office.

Individuals who already have received DSNAP cannot reapply. Attempts to defraud the DSNAP program will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. Applicants who knowingly provide inaccurate or incomplete information as part of a DSNAP application could face criminal prosecution and disqualification of benefits. DCFS will investigate suspected fraud and aggressively pursue recoupment and possibly prosecution.

The application period for DSNAP benefits in the following parishes has ended and residents are no longer eligible to apply - Ascension, Assumption, East Feliciana, Iberville, Jefferson, Lafourche, Livingston, Orleans, Plaquemines, St. Bernard, St. Charles, St. Helena, St. Mary, St. James, St. John, St. Tammany, Tangipahoa, Terrebonne, Washington and West Feliciana.

DSNAP is administered in Louisiana by DCFS and overseen by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Food and Nutrition Service. USDA is an equal opportunity provider and employer. Read more about recipients' rights.