Massachusetts Provides Increased SNAP Benefits and Heating Assistance for
Low-Income Households
DTA and DHCD adjust food benefit to reflect increased utility costs, connect households to heating assistance
BOSTON – Today, the Baker-Polito Administration announced that approximately 200,000 Massachusetts households who participate in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) will see an increase in benefits starting March 2022 in response to rising utility costs.
SNAP benefit levels are determined in part by the average cost of utilities for Massachusetts households, and the Commonwealth requested and received approval from the federal government to adjust heating costs used when determining SNAP benefit amounts to reflect the rising costs of consumer goods occurring this winter. This adjustment increases support to eligible families by an estimated $1.4 million.
The Baker-Polito Administration also announced that the Department of Transitional Assistance (DTA) and Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD) have partnered to increase outreach to thousands of households with information on the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP), commonly known as Fuel Assistance. In January, DTA sent out multilingual text messages to over 69,000 households with young children receiving SNAP with information on LIHEAP.
To-date, this text helped lead to an 85% increase in new LIHEAP applications among this population compared to the same time period in the previous year. A second message will be sent in late March to an estimated 300,000 households who receive SNAP benefits and include a person who is age 60 or older or have a disability.
This year’s heating assistance program is accepting applications through May 13, 2022. DHCD also received substantial additional LIHEAP funding from the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) to maximize benefits for residents during the 2020-2021 heating season, and the current heating season. In the 2020-2021 heating season, LIHEAP served approximately 135,000 households.
