On January 12, 2024, the Office for Family Independence automatically issued replacement SNAP Benefits to residents of 14 counties (all except Cumberland and York) as well as 34 additional towns in Cumberland and York Counties:
- Counties: Androscoggin, Aroostook, Franklin, Hancock, Kennebec, Knox, Lincoln, Oxford, Penobscot, Piscataquis, Sagadahoc, Somerset, Waldo, and Washington
- Towns: Acton, Alfred, Baldwin, Brunswick, Buxton, Casco, Chebeague Island, Cliff Island, Cornish, Cumberland, Dayton, Falmouth, Frye Island, Gray, Harpswell, Harrison, Hollis, Lebanon, Limerick, Limington, Long Island, Lyman, Naples, Newfield, New Gloucester, North Yarmouth, Parsonsfield, Pownal, Raymond, Sebago, Shapleigh, South Berwick, Standish, and Windham.
If you live in one of the places above, and received SNAP benefits in December, you should have already received a replacement benefit of 60% of your December issuance without having to submit a form, and those funds are available on your EBT card (or “Pine Tree Card”).
Normally, if you receive SNAP benefits and the food purchased with those benefits is destroyed in a household misfortune, you may be able to get replacement benefits. Most often this is the result of food spoiling during an extended power outage. To request replacement benefits, typically, you would provide a completed SNAP Loss and Replacement Form within 10 days of the loss.
Because the storm of December 18th impacted so many households, the Office for Family Independence (OFI) received a federal exception to this process (in addition to the automatic replacement) and forms related to that storm only are due in 30 days, or on January 18. If you also submitted a replacement request, it will be processed as quickly as possible. OFI has already processed over 5,000 individual replacement requests.
More information is available at www.maine.gov/dhhs/ofi/programs-services/food-supplement