As soon as a household’s SNAP application is approved (which can take up to 30 calendar days), SNAP benefits are issued to an EBT card. Card delays during this time compounded the existing concerns advocates held about the untimely delivery of EBT cards to eligible customers.Įven before the pandemic began, SNAP recipients frequently reported not receiving their EBT card in the mail within federally mandated timeframes. Both of these things put extraordinary pressure on EBT processors to quickly ramp up the production and distribution of EBT cards. When the pandemic began in March 2020, demand for SNAP benefits spiked and a new federal program for school children (called Pandemic-EBT) was created.

After getting many referrals from the Food Bank, Legal Aid took the lead in investigating EBT complaints and traced them back to several policies and practices in place in Ohio: In 2020, the Benefits Access Partnership (BAP) identified Ohio’s EBT customer service line as a common source of frustration and confusion for SNAP recipients who struggled to access the food benefits they had been approved to receive. In 2020, the Benefits Access Partnership (BAP) identified Ohio’s EBT customer service line as a common source of frustration and confusion for SNAP recipients. The Benefits Access Partnership is a collaborative effort between Community Solutions, the Cuyahoga County Department of Job and Family Services (CJFS), the Greater Cleveland Food Bank (Food Bank), and the Legal Aid Society of Cleveland (Legal Aid) to improve access to public benefits in Cuyahoga County, with a focus on SNAP. The Center for Community Solutions (Community Solutions) and its advocacy partners are hopeful that ODJFS will incorporate these recommendations in its re-procurement process for Ohio’s EBT system in the near future. This paper presents a case study on efforts by Ohio advocates in 2020 to respond to identified problems with EBT’s customer service, some of which pre-dated the pandemic, to ensure that ODJFS makes responsiveness to SNAP recipients’ needs a top priority for EBT vendors serving the state. However, the pandemic also revealed weaknesses in some aspects of state-EBT systems, especially customer service. The COVID-19 pandemic revealed the strength of SNAP’s EBT systems to respond quickly to changing circumstances, including a sudden spike in need, ensuring eligible families continued to have access to food assistance benefits. Ohio is expected to begin a new procurement process for an EBT vendor this year.

Ohio’s current EBT vendor is Conduent, which took over the state’s EBT contract from JPMorgan Chase in 2014. EBT customer service, such as EBT hotline and online portal managementīecause of the complexity of states’ EBT systems and their interconnectedness to retail payment systems, all states contract with private-sector vendors to manage most or all of these responsibilities under the direction of the state’s SNAP agency.EBT transaction monitoring and fraud detection.The EBT system is complex and includes many components, such as: EBT technology is widely considered responsible for SNAP’s impressive track record on delivery efficiency and payment integrity.

The EBT system replaced paper coupons (called “food stamps”) in Ohio in 1999 and is the responsibility of the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services (ODJFS). In Ohio, SNAP’s EBT card is also called the Ohio Direction card. Families eligible for food assistance through these programs receive food-only funds on a debit-like card, called an EBT card, to purchase groceries at any participating food retailer.

Ohio Health and Human Services Journalism GrantĮlectronic Benefit Transfer (EBT) is the nationwide payment system used for two major food assistance programs – the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and Pandemic-EBT (P-EBT).

Community Solutions Presentations and Webinars.

Lakewood Community Needs Health Assessment.

Greater Cleveland American Rescue Plan Coalition (GCARPC).

Collaborative for Comprehensive School-Aged Health.

Strengthening Health and Human Services Safety Net.

Food stamp customer service