REPLACEMENT ISSUANCES TO HOUSEHOLDS DUE TO MISFORTUNE
A. A household may request a replacement issuance if food purchased with program benefits was destroyed in a household misfortune, such as, but not limited to, fire or flood. Replacement issuances shall be provided in the amount of the loss to the household, not to exceed one month's allotment, unless the issuance includes restored benefits that shall be replaced up to their full value. To qualify for a replacement, the household shall report the destruction to the local office within ten (10) calendar days of the incident. The household shall sign and return a statement or an Affidavit for Food Destroyed in Misfortune to the local office within ten (10) calendar days of the date of the report, or benefits shall not be replaced. If the tenth (10th) day falls on a weekend or holiday, and the statement or Affidavit for Food Destroyed in Misfortune is received the day after the weekend or holiday, the local office shall consider the statement or affidavit timely received. The statement or affidavit shall: 1. Attest to the destruction of the food purchased with the household's SNAP benefits; 2. State that the household is aware of the penalties for intentional misrepresentation of the facts. B. Upon receiving a request for replacement of SNAP benefits for food reported as destroyed in an individual household misfortune, the local office shall: 1. Verify the disaster through either a collateral contact, documentation from a community agency including, but not limited to, the fire department or the Red Cross, or a home visit; 2. Issue replacement benefits within ten (10) calendar days of the report of loss, provided a signed statement of loss or an Affidavit for Food Destroyed in Misfortune is received. If the statement of loss is received on the ninth (9th) or tenth (10th) day after the report of loss, the issuance must be replaced within two (2) business days; and, 3. Document in the case record the date and reason that a replacement has been provided. This provision shall apply in cases of an individual household misfortune, such as a fire, as well as in natural disasters affecting more than one (1) household. No limit on the number of replacements shall be placed on food purchased with SNAP benefits that were subsequently destroyed in a household misfortune.