The Ohio Department of Job and Family Services is reminding Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program 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 because of 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. Replacement SNAP benefits will be added to the Ohio Direction Card of the recipients.

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.

The state JFS will have to verify the extended power outage before replacing benefits. Therefore, households must provide verification of the extended power outage, including screenshots of news reports, text or email alerts,or outage maps that show their specific area was without power for four hours or more. Anyone with questions can contact their local JFS office.