Step 1 (optional): Take the pre-screening test here.
Step 2: Apply in one of the following ways:
- Print out an application here.
- Request an application by calling 1-800-479-6151.
Step 3: Mail, fax, or deliver your completed application to the agency of human services nearest you. Click here to find the nearest office.
Note: For assistance, please call: 1-800-287-0589
Applying For Vermont Food Stamps
For helping low income persons having difficulty affording food, SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program) was made. SNAP is often called food stamps, as previously, colored stamps were being disbursed and used to obtain food items. SNAP offered support to over 40 million Americans in 2010.
In Vermont, the 3SquaresVT program not only pays for part or all of your food each month, but it also can provide free school lunches for school-age children. The program can also help pay your telephone bill each month.
Lower income households located in the U.S. can apply for food stamps benefits no matter what their race, gender, religious beliefs, or even background is. The typical individual was given $101/month from the SNAP program in 2008, allowing them to purchase bread, milk, various meats, produce, fruits and even garden seeds.
There are specific specifications someone must meet in order to be eligible to collect help from the food stamp program. Some specific documents of proof of your eligibility are essential when you apply.
One particular prerequisite that pertains to many, is that you can’t have any more than $2,000 in assets if you are under 60 years old. If a person within your house, or you, are more than 60 years old, then the limit is raised up to $3,000. Assistance from TANF (Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program), or SSI (Supplemental Security Income), don’t be counted as assets when applying for food stamps. What is counted as assets is any cash you’ve got, money you have saved in a bank account, or your vehicle (in some cases).
One more requirement is an income limit, that is influenced by how many people you have living in your household when you are requesting for food stamps.
A person’s expenses will also be taken into consideration when you apply for food stamps. If you’re paying for child or elderly care, rent, mortgage, or utilities; all of those expenditures will be taken into consideration. Certain medical related expenses may also be considered under certain circumstances.
Once you have submitted your 3SquaresVT application, the Vermont Department for Children and Families (DCF) will contact you within 30 days. Before you can be approved you must complete an interview with your DCF caseworker. This interview will be scheduled and may occur over the phone or in person in the DCF office nearest you.
If your child or children qualify for the free school meals program, DCF will contact your child’s school, making it so you can bypass the schools paperwork.
The Vermont Express EBT Card
All those that pass the requirements and have their application approved to start receiving SNAP benefits, will be given an EBT (Electronic Benefits Transfer) card. In Vermont, the EBT card is called the Vermont Express card. The Vermont Expresscard may be used similar to a debit card to purchase food at certain grocery stores, convenience stores, or even farmer’s markets.
How To Use Your Food Stamps At Farmer’s Markets.
The Vermont Express card can be used at all participating stores and it can also be used at farmer’s markets. To use food stamps at a farmers market, go to the EBT/Debit Card stand and slide your EBT card through the machine. You will be given wooden tokens that act as food stamp cash and you use them to pay for your food at the farmers market.
For a full list of Farmer’s Markets that participate in the 3SquaresVT EBT program, click here.
Do My Vermont Express Food Stamp Benefits Expire?
From month to month unused benefits are added to the next month without expiring. If you do not use your Vermont Express card to buy food for 1 year, you will stop receiving benefits.