Maximum amounts of benefits increased by federal government on October 1
Submitted to OnFocus – The public health emergency declared by Governor Tony Evers on September 22 enables the Wisconsin Department of Health Services (DHS) to once again provide additional FoodShare benefits to eligible households. These benefits will help those Wisconsin families with the costs of food for October. Also, the federal government increased the limits of how much each household can receive per person, beginning October 1.
Under the federal Families First Coronavirus Response Act, states with declared public health emergencies are able to provide FoodShare recipients with the maximum monthly benefit amount that is based on the number of people in their household. Wisconsin families previously received emergency benefits in March, April, May, July, August, and September. There were no emergency benefits in June because the state did not have a declared public health emergency at that time.
“FoodShare benefits provide households that are struggling across our state the ability to access food, one of our most basic human needs,” said Andrea Palm, Secretary-designee of the Department of Health Services. “Being able to provide these emergency allotments is crucial to helping offset the effects of the pandemic for our hardest hit families.”
FoodShare households not currently receiving the maximum monthly benefit amount for their family size will receive additional benefits, bringing them up to that level. The additional October benefits will be available on QUEST cards on November 1. Households will receive a letter notifying them of the additional benefits. Households already receiving the maximum amount will not receive additional benefits.
In addition, the federal government announced new monthly income limit adjustments, effective October 1, 2020, that increased maximum benefit amounts, which are based on the number of people in each household. Below is a table with the new amounts. A more detailed table is available on the DHS website.
| People in the household | Maximum monthly benefit amount |
|---|---|
| 1 | $ 204 |
| 2 | $ 374 |
| 3 | $ 535 |
| 4 | $ 680 |
| 5 | $ 807 |
| 6 | $ 969 |
| 7 | $1,071 |
| 8 | $1,224 |
| Each additional person | Add $153 |
For up-to-date information about Wisconsin’s COVID-19 response, visit the DHS COVID-19 webpage. We encourage you to follow @DHSWI on Facebook(link is external), Twitter(link is external), or @dhs.wi on Instagram(link is external) for more information on COVID-19.
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Author: News Desk
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