• By Matt Faircloth
• Posted Wednesday, October 9, 2013

Food and Nutrition Benefits Changing

Due to the end of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, Food and Nutrition Services benefits will decrease for all households effective November 1, 2013. This cut will affect all 47 million recipients across the nation.

In 2009, the maximum monthly amount of Food and Nutrition Benefits a household could receive increased to a greater amount due to the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) also known as the “Stimulus Act”. The part of this law that allowed this increase was limited to five (5) years, which ends November 1 of this year. This is the reason your benefits will decrease.

The decision for this action is based solely on federal requirements. Because this is change in federal law, you do not have the right to a fair hearing to dispute the fact that your benefits were reduced as mandated by federal law effective November 1, 2013.

If you have other concerns about how your benefits were calculated, you can request a fair hearing by letting your local Food and Nutrition Services office or County Department of Social Services know of your request. You may request the hearing in person, by telephone, or in writing. Please call 703-3800 if you would like to request a hearing, or mail requests to: DSS, 741 N. Highland Ave., Winston-Salem NC 27102.