Food Stamps: This Is the Average Wait Time to Have Your SNAP Application Approved — But Thousands Are Left Waiting Much Longer
Written by
Josephine Nesbit
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The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) is the largest anti-hunger program in the U.S., helping low-income families achieve food security. If your household meets certain requirements to be eligible for SNAP, your state agency must approve your application within 30 days, or seven days if you qualify for expedited SNAP. However, some households are waiting months.
In Georgia, tens of thousands of people continue to wait for their SNAP benefits, which has impacted families on and off for a year now as the Georgia Department of Human Services (DHS) struggles to process cases within federal guidelines, according to 11Alive.
Through an open records request, 11Alive obtained internal emails between the Governor’s Office of Planning and Budget and leaders from Georgia’s DHS. The emails discussed the department’s use of overtime to tackle the backlog and stated that it could take until Jan. 31, 2024, to resolve the issue; however, the DHS also noted that “internal projections are subject to change.”
More than 12,000 people in Alaska have pending applications, some dating as far back as July, according to state officials and as reported by Alaska Public Media. Families in Memphis, Tennessee, also worry about not having enough food over the holidays as they wait to receive their SNAP benefits.
SNAP applicants in Memphis told FOX13 they’re not getting calls for their scheduled phone interviews. One woman stated that she’d been waiting seven months, while another said she’d waited five years.
In an August statement, the USDA’s Food and Nutrition Service said state agencies continue to face staffing and technology issues due to suspending certain quality control requirements in response to the pandemic.
The FNS monitors states’ application processing timelines and typically follows certain escalation procedures when timelines fall below acceptable performance, but the FNS stated that it must revise these procedures to “better reflect the current realities on the ground.”
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