NEW ORLEANS — DSNAP, or Disaster Food Stamps, were approved on Tuesday for residents of 25 Louisiana parishes hit by Hurricane Ida, but despite the Tuesday approval, residents can't begin to apply until Monday, Sept. 20 because of federal guidelines.
In the meantime, folks impacted by Ida should pre-register for DSNAP to speed up their application process, Louisiana Department of Children & Family Services Assistant Secretary for Family Support Shavana Howard said.
Preregistering for DSNAP will not only speed up the application times; it will tell folks when it's their turn to call and apply — or if the volume of calls is low enough for people to call sooner than scheduled.
Folks could also sign up for LA Wallet to speed up their DSNAP application process, Howard said.
"LA Wallet will allow us to verify identity and residency, which will help speed up the process without you sending in that verification," Howard said. "Then, of course, just make sure you have your income verifications, you have your resource verifications, and any disaster-related expenses to help make the process a little bit easier."
You can also access brochures from DCFS on DNSAP pre-registration at these links:
How to pre-register for DSNAP benefits
- Create an LA CAFE account with the Louisiana Department of Children & Family Services. (LA CAFE houses DCFS's self-service portal and is an acronym for Common Access Front End.)
- Visit www.dcfs.louisiana.gov/cafe.
- Select Click Here to Get Started, below the photo.
- On the next webpage, click the Next button in the bottom right corner.
- The CAFÉ account process will begin. Follow the directions presented to complete the CAFÉ account creation process.
- After you create a CAFÉ account, you will have access to a personal dashboard called MyAccount. To pre-register for DSNAP, click the DSNAP Registration link.
- Complete your pre-registration by completing the screens for your:
- Personal Information
- Contact Information
- Other Information
- Household Information
- Income Information
- Resource Information
- Review the summary of the information you provided and click Submit to submit your pre-registration.