Louisiana Receives Approval to Extend DSNAP Due to High Applicant Volumes
The Louisiana Department of Children and Family Services received federal approval to extend its Hurricane Ida Disaster Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (DSNAP) operation by three days to provide the large volume of applicants more time to complete DSNAP interviews.
According to the request approved by the USDA Food and Nutrition Service, the extended period will begin on Oct. 11 and run through Oct. 13.
The DSNAP extension is an attempt to serve those who were still unable to apply during their assigned week. Residents from Phase 1 parishes, which includes Orleans Parish, must wait until Oct. 11-13 to apply and interview, and should not call during Phases 2 or 3. The same applies to residents in Phase 2 if they miss their week to apply, they must wait until the extension period to complete their DSNAP application.
In the first phase of DSNAP operations, DCFS staff answered over 100,000 calls and processed more than 73,000 applications. Higher than anticipated call volumes jammed phone lines. At times, the DSNAP line received as many as 350 calls per second.
DSNAP parishes include:
Ascension, Assumption, East Baton Rouge, East Feliciana, Iberia, Iberville, Jefferson, Lafourche, Livingston, Orleans, Plaquemines, Pointe Coupee, St. Bernard, St. Charles, St. Helena, St. James, St. John the Baptist, St. Martin (only lower St. Martin parish ZIP codes 70339 and 70380), St. Mary, St. Tammany, Tangipahoa, Terrebonne, Washington, West Baton Rouge, and West Feliciana parishes.
During the extension, residents of these parishes who have not yet applied for DSNAP may call on the following days according to the following alphabet schedule:
- October 11 – Last names beginning with A-L
- October 12 – M-Z
- October 13 – A-Z (open to all last names)
