ATLANTA – The USDA Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) has approved Georgia’s request to automatically replace food stamp benefits lost in Hurricane Irma for two additional counties.

Residents of Bibb and DeKalb counties will now receive an automatic replacement of 45 percent of their food stamp benefits for September. The Georgia Division of Family and Children Services conducted a similar replacement for recipients in 69 Georgia counties affected by the storm late last week.

The Division of Family and Children Services (DFCS) sought to add the counties to an existing waiver allowing mass replacement of the benefits in Bibb and DeKalb after reviewing reports of widespread power outages in the aftermath of the storm.

FNS, which oversees the food stamp program in Georgia, previously approved a waiver allowing Georgia to replace benefits in the following counties:

Appling, Atkinson, Bacon, Baker, Banks, Berrien, Brantley, Brooks, Bryan, Butts, Camden, Candler, Clinch, Coffee, Colquitt, Cook, Crawford, Dawson, Dooly, Echols, Emanuel, Evans, Glascock, Glynn, Greene, Habersham, Hall, Hancock, Irwin, Jackson, Jasper, Jeff Davis, Jenkins, Johnson, Jones, Lanier, Lee, Long, Lowndes, Lumpkin, Macon, McIntosh, Mitchell, Monroe, Morgan, Oglethorpe, Peach, Pickens, Pierce, Pulaski, Putnam, Rockdale, Screven, Stewart, Taliaferro, Tattnall, Telfair, Tift, Towns, Turner, Warren, Washington, Wayne, Webster, Wheeler, White, Wilcox, Wilkes and Worth.

SNAP recipients in the counties covered by the waiver do not need to complete the Food Loss Replacement Form or take any action to receive the replacement benefits. The September replacement benefits for all approved counties have been automatically uploaded to the recipients’ Electronic Benefits Transfer (EBT) cards and are currently available.

SNAP recipients who experienced a loss of food due to Hurricane Irma, but who do not reside in one of the counties covered by the waiver, can still request a replacement.

Recipients who have not already requested a replacement of benefits have until Oct 2. to submit a Food Loss Replacement Form (Form 841) in person or by mail to the local DFCS office. The form does not need to be accompanied with verification from the utility company. 

October benefits will not be affected. 

To locate a county DFCS office, visit: https://dfcs.georgia.gov/locations. To download the Food Loss Replacement Form (Form 841), visit https://dfcs.georgia.gov/document/form/form-841-food-loss-replacement-form/download. 

For additional information and updates, please visit www.dfcs.georgia.gov or visit the DFCS Facebook page at www.facebook.com/gadfcs.