SNAP Archives - Missourinet

Missouri families receiving food stamps to get their benefits extended

July 29, 2020 By Alisa Nelson

The USDA has approved the state’s request to extend pandemic food stamp program benefits through August. Missouri households receiving SNAP benefits will automatically get the maximum benefits loaded onto their Electronic Bank Transfer card.

Missouri families receiving food stamps to get their benefits extended

“I am very pleased Missourians will receive the maximum SNAP benefit for their household size during a month when families are buying needed items for the upcoming school year,” says Jennifer Tidball, Acting Director, Missouri Department of Social Services. “Those maximized SNAP benefits may allow families to spend their income on essential items their child needs for a successful return to the classroom, an important part of the ‘Show Me Strong’ Recovery Plan.”

As of June 30, nearly 373,000 Missouri households or 773,079 individuals receive Food Stamp/SNAP benefits.

Missouri set to restart food stamp recertification checks on July 1

June 17, 2020 By Alisa Nelson

Missouri set to restart food stamp recertification process on July 1

The Missouri Department of Social Services’ temporary waiver of recertification for SNAP program participants ends this month. The process was suspended during the height of the coronavirus pandemic.

Jennifer Tidball, Acting Director of the Missouri Department of Social Services, joined Gov. Mike Parson today at the Missouri Capitol in Jefferson City to announce the state will begin checking again on Missourians getting food stamps to ensure they still qualify for the benefits.

As of April 30, 360,937 Missouri households or 752,315 individuals receive Food Stamp/SNAP benefits. More than 16,000 SNAP households in Missouri are due for recertification in July.

Letters have already gone out to some households due for recertification next month.

Food Stamp participants must complete their recertification form every year, or every two years, if the individual is aged, blind, or disabled.

SNAP and Food Stamps can be used for online grocery shopping in Missouri

May 14, 2020 By Ashley Byrd

The Missouri Department of Social Services says SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program) benefits households can use an Electronic Benefit Transfer (EBT) card to buy food online from Amazon and Walmart, and other retailers might be added.

To get started with online purchasing, Food Stamp/SNAP participants can connect directly with the online store. A DSS spokeswoman says this can help reduce the stress of possible exposure to coronavirus.

The benefits cannot cover any delivery fee or other associated charges.

The USDA also approved Disaster Household Distribution now through June 6, 2020.

Food Stamp/SNAP recipients can view Buying Groceries Online with your EBT Card FAQs to get more information about this new option.

As of April 30, 2020, about 361 thousand Missouri households get SNAP benefits.

Gov. Parson in Saturday briefing: Extensions and waivers to help families, drivers (FULL VIDEO)

March 21, 2020 By Ashley Byrd

Missouri Governor Mike Parson held a rare Saturday press conference at the Capitol to continue coronavirus response updates.

Some of the takeaways include:

-Licensed childcare providers can use rules for emergency school closing and exceed facility capacity limits by one-third of normal.

-Dept. or revenue is automatically extending driver’s licenses and motor vehicle registrations by two months from renewal dates. That also applies to inspections.

– March, April and May, registered SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program) benefit recipients get an increase. Families who get free and reduced lunch programs will get additional SNAP benefits. The Dept. of Social Services will reach out to families through the schools to help them enroll in SNAP.

-A federal waiver extends re-certification for SNAP-eligible families by six months.

-Personal protection equipment orders have been delivered to 101 hospitals and 22 EMS providers from the strategic stockpile.

-911 dispatchers must ask callers COVID-19 questions, including potential exposure, travel, medication, and testing to protect and prepare first responders answering the calls.

WATCH THE ENTIRE PRESS CONFERENCE:

Schmitt to issue Friday report about clergy abuse in Roman Catholic Church in Missouri

September 12, 2019 By Brian Hauswirth

Missouri’s attorney general will release a long-anticipated report Friday morning in St. Louis, regarding allegations of clergy abuse statewide within the Roman Catholic Church.

Then-State Treasurer Eric Schmitt speaks to former House Minority Leader Gail McCann Beatty on June 11, 2018 in Jefferson City (file photo courtesy of Tim Bommel at House Communications)

Attorney General Eric Schmitt (R) has called a press conference for Friday at 10 a.m. at the old Post Office in downtown St. Louis.

His report will include all four Missouri dioceses: the Archdiocese of St. Louis, the Diocese of Jefferson City, the Diocese of Springfield-Cape Girardeau and the Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph.

The investigation has been going on for about a year.

Former Attorney General Josh Hawley’s office told Missourinet in September 2018 that all four Missouri dioceses had agreed to independent reviews conducted by the attorney general’s office.

Hawley resigned as attorney general after his November election to the U.S. Senate, and Schmitt was appointed to the post by the governor.

The Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests (SNAP) held a Statehouse press conference last September, the same day Hawley’s office spoke to Missourinet about the four dioceses agreeing to independent reviews. SNAP said then that there were at least 113 publicly-accused Catholic priests in Missouri, although SNAP believed the number is higher.

Diocese of Jefferson City Bishop Shawn McKnight briefs reporters in Jefferson City on August 24, 2018 (Brian Hauswirth photo)

SNAP has called on the Missouri attorney general’s office to use subpoenas and to question Missouri Catholic church officials under oath.

Diocese of Jefferson City Bishop Shawn McKnight held a press conference last August, where he said Mr. Hawley had called to express his gratitude for the bishop’s request that the AG’s office review diocese files about clergy abuse.

During that August 2018 press conference, Bishop McKnight was critical of previous Roman Catholic Church leaders.

“Their active cover-up or passive silence when clergy abusers were continued in the ministry or promoted in office gravely compromised the credibility of the hierarchy, and by extension, the whole Church,” McKnight told mid-Missouri reporters that day.

Bishop McKnight described sexual abuse of children as “a crime and a sin,” adding that the Diocese of Jefferson City has no tolerance for those who intentionally harm children.

Missourinet’s Jill Enders is covering General Schmitt’s Friday morning press conference in St. Louis.