Important Information for SNAP Clients

BATON ROUGE - Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) clients who have lost their Electronic Benefits Transfer (EBT) card due to the flooding may make food purchases at authorized retailers using their EBT card number, as long as they also know their account PIN.

SNAP recipients who lost their card should contact the EBT Call Center at 1-888-997-1117 for a replacement EBT card. They will be given a new card number at that time and will be able to activate the card and set a PIN for their card. This will allow them to make purchases until their card arrives in the mail. Purchases using an EBT card number and PIN will only be available now through September 6, 2016.

This temporary process is based on an approval that the Louisiana Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS) received from its federal partner, U.S. Department of Agriculture's Food and Nutrition Service (FNS).

DCFS has also received a waiver for SNAP and Disaster SNAP recipients to use their EBT cards to purchase hot/prepared foods through October 17, 2016.

The hot food approval letter from FNS stated that "the State has noted that removal of this exception is necessary to avoid undue hardship for Louisiana citizens affected by the severe storms and flooding because of widespread evacuations in parishes and resulting in clients who are unable to purchase food for home preparation and consumption because they have been displaced. Many affected households are residing in shelters or temporary housing and are unable to store food or access cooking facilities."

Without this waiver, hot foods and hot foods ready for immediate consumption are not eligible for purchase with SNAP benefits.

Frequently Asked Questions About DSNAP