Since March 2020, SNAP households that were not already receiving the maximum SNAP benefit amount for their household size received an increase to their benefits to bring them to the maximum amount.

The federal government approved a similar increase for January 2021. DHS previously reported the increase for households with benefit amounts under the maximum amount will receive additional benefits as a supplement to the regular January issuance on January 5th. That will now happen on or around January 15th.

This is because the recently passed COVID-19 relief package increased SNAP benefit allotments by 15 percent. This increase will be in effect from January through June 2021 and will begin to be applied to January allotments on or around January 15th.

The amount of SNAP benefits a household receives is based on a federal formula that considers the number of people in the household as well as income and expenses.

A table showing the new maximum amounts for household sizes can be found on our What's New Page (link below).