Did your food go bad during the power outages? If you are a SNAP recipient, you may be eligible for replacement benefits

Pictured are volunteers at Shared Harvest Foodbank in Fairfield, Ohio, on Wednesday, July 9, 2025, packaging food in preparation for distribution. The federal cut to Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, benefits with the passage of the so-called "One Big Beautiful Bill" approved by Congress and signed by President Donald Trump, organizations like Shared Harvest expect to see an increase in clients as federal food supplies decrease. "Our greatest concern is that we continue in the pattern of reducing food sources, and we continue to see growing numbers of people coming to our network,” said Shared Harvest Executive Director Terry Perdue. “It’s less food and more people needing access to charitable food.” MICHAEL D. PITMAN/STAFF

Pictured are volunteers at Shared Harvest Foodbank in Fairfield, Ohio, on Wednesday, July 9, 2025, packaging food in preparation for distribution. The federal cut to Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, benefits with the passage of the so-called "One Big Beautiful Bill" approved by Congress and signed by President Donald Trump, organizations like Shared Harvest expect to see an increase in clients as federal food supplies decrease. "Our greatest concern is that we continue in the pattern of reducing food sources, and we continue to see growing numbers of people coming to our network,” said Shared Harvest Executive Director Terry Perdue. “It’s less food and more people needing access to charitable food.” MICHAEL D. PITMAN/STAFF

The Ohio Department of Job and Family Services is telling SNAP recipients who experienced food spoilage during the recent power outages that they may be eligible for replacement benefits.

Households that lost food purchased with SNAP benefits due to a power outage of four hours or more can apply to receive replacement SNAP benefits for the amount of food the household lost, as long as it does not exceed their monthly allotment, according to a press release from the ODJFS.

Replacement SNAP benefits will be added to the Ohio Direction Card of the recipients.

The department said impacted households must complete JFS Form 07222 within 10 days of the loss and submit it to their County Department of Job and Family Services (CDJFS).

“The CDJFS will have to verify the extended power outage before replacing benefits. Therefore, we encourage households to provide verification of the extended power outage,” the ODJFS said. “This includes screen shots of news reports, text or email alerts, or outage maps that show their specific area was without power for four hours or more.”

CDJFS follows reimbursement criteria provided in Ohio Administrative Code (OAC) Rule 5101: 4-7-11 established by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food and Nutrition Service, according to the department.

Recipients can find their county office by visiting here.

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