The Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS) and Governor Jeff Landry's office partnered with the U.S. Department of Agriculture Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) to operate a Disaster Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (DSNAP) for eligible residents in parishes approved for FEMA Individual Assistance following Hurricane Francine.

"Thanks to Governor Landry's strong and steady leadership and the support of the USDA FNS national and regional teams, we were able to streamline the process of issuing cards, leading to significant cost-savings and an expedited time frame," DCFS Secretary David Matlock said. "We are grateful to our Governor and our incredible partners at FNS for answering the call to offer these important resources to families impacted by Francine."

The DSNAP operation, which started with 8 approved parishes on September 25, provides disaster food benefits to households that would not normally be eligible for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP).

Jefferson Parish recently received authorization to run DSNAP, bringing the total number of approved parishes to nine. Applications for those residents opened October 2.

DSNAP for residents of Ascension, Assumption, Lafourche, St. Charles, St. James, St. John, St. Mary and Terrebonne parishes ran from September 25 to October 1. During the five-day operation for these first 8 parishes, almost 22,000 households were approved for more than $11 million in DSNAP benefits.

Jefferson Parish residents can call the LAHelpU line to apply on their assigned day, based on the first letter of their last name, from Wednesday, October 2 through Tuesday, October 8.

Most applicants will receive an eligibility decision before the end of the call. Approved applicants will receive an Electronic Benefits Card, more commonly known as an EBT card, in the mail.

"Our DSNAP team, under the direction of Assistant Secretary of Family Support Sammy Guillory and Emergency Preparedness Director Ricky Montet, is working tirelessly to get benefits into the hands of those who need them most," Matlock said. "We're doing everything we can to get the cards out as quickly as we can practically do so." 

DSNAP eligibility is determined by federal guidelines. It is based on net income and available resources minus disaster-related expenses. Jefferson Parish residents can use the DSNAP estimator tool on the DCFS website to get an idea of whether they might be eligible for benefits before they apply.

Current SNAP recipients are not eligible to receive DSNAP benefits.

Visit dcfs.la/dsnap for more information. Call the LAHELP-U line at 1-888-524-3578 or 206-792-7538 to apply.