IM-125 December 8, 2021; IM-101 December 1, 2008; IM-94 September 20, 2004
Effective November 14, 2021, unused SNAP and cash benefits— including Transportation Reimbursement Expense (TRE)— are expunged 274 days after their date of issuance, regardless of account activity.
Each day, FSD receives an electronic file from the EBT vendor identifying benefits which have not been used during the last 234 and 274 days.
Participants with benefits not used during the last 234 days receive a notice reminding them to use the benefits or to contact FSD if they need a new card.
From October 1, 2008 until November 14, 2021, SNAP and cash benefits were no longer aged; they were expunged when the last transaction was over 365 days old. Participants were sent a notice for benefits that had not been accessed in 300 days. The letter requested participants to contact FSD within 10 days to discuss a possible change in circumstances. The notice also directed the participant to make a purchase with the EBT card to restart the time period for the expungement process to prevent the benefits from being removed permanently.
Prior to October 1, 2008, participants with unaccessed SNAP and/or cash benefits were sent a notice after 30 days letting them know the benefits had not been accessed and asked them to contact FSD to discuss a potential change in circumstances in their cases. If there was no change in circumstance, the participant was directed to make a purchase with the EBT card to restart the time frame for the aging process.
If cash benefits on an open case were still not accessed after 60 days, participants were sent a letter telling them that the benefits would be removed if not used by the 25th day of the next month.
When SNAP and cash benefits were not accessed for 90 days, participants were sent a notice stating the benefits had been removed from their EBT accounts.