Department of Social Services
Family Support Division
PO Box 2320
Jefferson City, Missouri
TO: ALL FAMILY SUPPORT OFFICES
FROM: KIM EVANS, DIRECTOR
SUBJECT: CITIZENS OF MICRONESIA, THE MARSHALL ISLANDS, AND PALAU ELIGIBLE FOR SUPPLEMENTAL NUTRITION ASSISTANCE PROGRAM (SNAP) AND TEMPORARY ASSISTANCE (TA)
MANUAL REVISION #
| 1105.010.05 | 0205.040.05.05 |
| 1105.010.10 | 0205.040.05.15 |
| 1105.010.10.40 | 0205.040.05.25 |
| 1105.097.00 | |
| 1105.099.00 |
DISCUSSION:
Micronesia, The Marshall Islands, and Palau have a Compact of Free Association (COFA) with the United States, meaning citizens of these nations are allowed to enter, leave, and reside in the United States at will. Per the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2024, effective 3/9/2024, citizens of COFA nations residing in the United States are now eligible for SNAP and TA. They do not have a waiting period and are not subject to sponsor deeming.
Eligibility for Title-XIX MO HealthNet and Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) was previously introduced in Memo IM-50 2021 and Memo IM-28 2024.
Verification of COFA citizenship is required. If verification has previously been entered into the system, the documentation must be located in the electronic case record (ECM) or confirmed by SAVE. If prior verification cannot be confirmed, then verification must be requested.
Acceptable forms of verification include:
- Birth certificate from Micronesia, The Marshall Islands, or Palau
- Passport issued by Micronesia, The Marshall Islands, or Palau
- I-94 with the following Class of Admissions (COA) codes:
- FSM or CFA/FSM (Federated States of Micronesia)
- RMI or CFA/RMI (Republic of the Marshall Islands)
- PAL or CFA/PAL (Republic of Palau)
Note: COFA individuals are not routinely issued an alien registration number and instead use their I-94 number, which can be used to run SAVE.
The eligibility system has been updated to determine participants eligible for SNAP and TA benefits during the following actions:
- Application
- Recertification
- Add-a-person
- Mid-certification review
- Manually processed annual review
The system will not automatically reinstate participants of already-active cases during an interim change. This includes when one of the above actions is taken on one program but not another and system-completed reviews. COFA members must be manually reinstated if their status is confirmed or verified outside of application, review, or add-a-person processing.
The policy sections noted above, as well as the SNAP Guide to Immigrant Eligibility, have been updated to reflect this change in policy.
NECESSARY ACTION:
- Review this memorandum with appropriate staff.
KE/mn