Delaware Will Issue Emergency Benefits for January to Eligible SNAP, TANF, and General Assistance Households

The Delaware Division of Social Services will issue emergency benefits for January to eligible households as part of the state’s ongoing response to the COVID-19 public health crisis.

Benefits will be issued as part of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and two cash assistance programs — Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) and General Assistance (GA). The SNAP emergency food benefit will be issued Wednesday, Jan. 27, and should be available on recipients’ Electronic Benefit Transfer (EBT) cards the next day. TANF and GA households should receive an emergency cash benefit check on or after Wednesday, Jan. 27.

The emergency assistance will increase a household’s monthly benefit for each program up to the maximum benefit amount for their household size (see tables below). Households that already receive the maximum benefit amount or that have a prorated benefit in the month of January are not eligible for the January emergency funds.

Under the Families First Coronavirus Response Act of 2020, which was signed into law in March 2020, the Delaware Department of Health and Social Services (DHSS) has issued emergency benefits each month to any household not already receiving the maximum monthly benefit.

“We are grateful to be able to provide this continued assistance to residents struggling to support themselves and their families as a result of the ongoing public health emergency created by the pandemic,” said Department of Health and Social Services Secretary Molly Magarik. “This assistance helps vulnerable Delawareans meet their basic needs and to afford additional pandemic-related expenses.”

Households will receive their regular benefits for January on the usual issuance dates. On Jan. 1, regular SNAP benefit allotment amounts increased by 15 percent under the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2021, signed into law in late December. All SNAP households will receive this temporary increase on their EBT cards on or before Jan. 26. The increase in food benefits will continue through June 30 as another measure to ensure food security during the pandemic.

Here are the maximum monthly benefit amounts per household size:

Emergency SNAP Benefits

Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF)

General Assistance (GA)

An estimated 158 households will be eligible to receive emergency cash assistance benefits in January, totaling about $20,400 in emergency benefits for the month.

For more information about DSS’s benefit programs in response to the pandemic, go to https://dhss.delaware.gov/dhss/dss/covid19.html. To apply for benefits, go to https://assist.dhss.delaware.gov/ or call 1–866–843–7212. To limit the spread of COVID-19, clients are asked to contact the Division of Social Services by phone or online.