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Staff member urges SNAP beneficiaries to lock cards after federal rules end benefit replacements
Summary
A staff member told a meeting audience that SNAP recipients should lock their electronic benefits cards after use and said federal guidance now prevents the agency from replacing skimmed or stolen SNAP benefits, leaving affected recipients without agency reimbursement.
A staff member at a meeting advised SNAP beneficiaries to lock their electronic benefits cards after use and to unlock them only when they intend to spend benefits, as a safeguard against skimmed or unauthorized transactions. The staff member said the agency can no longer replace skimmed benefits due to federal guidance.
The message focused on two practical points: "You can lock your Snap card," the staff member said, and advised beneficiaries to "lock your Snap card after you used it and then unlock it when you're going to use it." The staff member added, "We are no longer allowed to do that per federal guidance and federal rules," and said they were "disappointed by that because, obviously, these people have lost their SNAP benefits, and that is no longer a thing we can step in or replace as we have done in the past."
Why it matters: SNAP recipients who lose benefits through card skim or fraud commonly rely on agency processes to recover or replace funds. According to the staff member’s remarks, the agency’s ability to make such replacements has been curtailed by unspecified federal guidance or rules, which could leave affected households without a local remedy.
The staff member did not name a specific federal regulation or cite a statute, and the transcript does not identify the agency or office by name; those details were not specified. No formal motion, vote, or follow-up action was recorded in the transcript excerpt. The announcement consisted of guidance for beneficiaries and a policy update describing a restriction on replacing skimmed SNAP benefits.
