MONTGOMERY, Ala. – Alabamians receiving food assistance who have had their benefits stolen will soon have a path to be reimbursed.
On May 30, the Alabama Department of Human Resources will begin accepting theft reports from Alabamians receiving Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits, with the replacement funds coming from appropriations made in the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2023, the $1.7 trillion omnibus spending bill passed in late December last year.
Alabama will be the fourth state in the nation to roll out the program, behind Oregon, Vermont and Maryland. The ADHR has received approximately 300 reports of stolen SNAP benefits since October 2022, with SNAP thefts growing by tens of millions of dollars in recent years.
“We cannot let thieves rob low-income families of their ability to put food on the table,” ADHR Commissioner Nancy Buckner said in a statement. “Replacing stolen benefits will support uninterrupted access to nutritious meals for victims of SNAP fraud who rely on this program to feed their families.”
The program is limited to SNAP thefts that occurred between Oct. 1, 2022 and Sept. 30, 2024, with those eligible asked to contact their local ADHR office by June 30, or within 30 days of a theft after May 30. After submitting a theft report, applicants will be required to complete an affidavit of stolen benefits to start a verification process.
Common SNAP theft tactics include card skimming, card cloning and other common card fraud methods. The ADHR encourages SNAP recipients to avoid using simple PIN codes, to not share PIN codes, to change PIN codes often, and to regularly check accounts for unauthorized charges. To avoid card skimming fraud, SNAP recipients are also encouraged to check card machines for oddities including glue marks, damaged or loose parts or covers that hide portions of the machine.
Managed by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, SNAP supports around 42 million Americans, 81% of which are “individuals who are part of a working family, a person with a severe disability, or a senior citizen living on a fixed income.”
In 2022, more than 750,000 Alabamians received SNAP benefits, amounting to approximately 15% of the state’s population, or one in seven Alabamians. Of the three quarters of a million Alabamians receiving SNAP benefits, more than 71% are in families with children, versus 65% nationally. Alabamian SNAP recipients received an average of $242 a month in benefits in 2019.