Food stamps (SNAP) in
Pennsylvania.

Apply online on COMPASS, Pennsylvania's benefits website, or download the paper SNAP application and mail it or take it to your county assistance office. CAOs also take applications and renewals in a drop box. You must apply in the county where you live.

You do not need to know whether you qualify before you apply. A friend, relative, neighbor or community group can apply for you as an authorized representative. After you apply, check your status at trackmybenefits.pa.gov or on the myCOMPASS PA app.

If everyone in your home is 60 or older or has a disability, buys and makes food together, and has no work earnings, you can use the shorter Simple SNAP application. Households where everyone gets SSI can also apply at a Social Security office.

Pennsylvania gives expedited SNAP within 5 calendar days, and weekends and holidays count toward the 5 days. Your CAO must screen every application with your name, address and signature on the day it gets it.

You qualify if your liquid resources are $100 or less and your gross monthly income is under $150, or if your income and liquid resources together are less than your rent or mortgage plus utilities. Destitute migrant or seasonal farmworker households with $100 or less also qualify.

If the CAO denies expedited service and you disagree, you can ask for an agency conference, which must be set within 2 working days unless you want a later date.

Under expanded categorical eligibility, Pennsylvania lets most households qualify with gross income at or under 200% of the federal poverty guidelines. Those households get the DHS brochure Help for Pennsylvanians in Need (PUB 567) and face no resource limit.

Your benefit is still figured from net income after deductions, so a household near the 200% line may get only a small amount. If a member is 60 or older or disabled and income is over 200%, you can still qualify by passing the net test, with a $4,750 resource limit.

Expanded eligibility does not cover a household with a member disqualified for an intentional program violation, for not meeting semi-annual reporting rules, or for a probation or parole violation. Those households use the 130% gross limit and a $3,000 resource limit.

In ten-payment-day counties, October 2026 dates run from October 1 for digit 1 to October 15 for digit 0. In November 2026, digits 1, 2 and 3 all load on November 2, then 4 on the 3rd, up to 0 on November 12.

December 2026 runs from December 1 for digit 1 to December 14 for digit 0, and January 2027 from January 4 to January 15. Benefits stay on your card as long as you use it at least once every 274 days; after that, unused benefits are removed and cannot be replaced.

Call the EBT Recipient Hotline at 1-888-328-7366 (1-888-EBT-PENN), open 24 hours a day, to check your balance or report a lost or stolen card. You can also see your balance and transactions on the myCOMPASS PA app. A replacement card costs $2.50, which the CAO may waive.

Use Card Lock on the ConnectEBT website or app to lock your card when you are not shopping. You can lock it everywhere or only outside Pennsylvania, and Auto Re-Lock locks it again 30, 60 or 90 minutes after you unlock it.

DHS says SNAP stolen by card skimming, fraud or other electronic theft cannot be reissued. Federal authority to replace stolen benefits expired December 20, 2024. Report theft to the OSIG Public Benefits Fraud hotline at 1-800-932-0582 and order a new card right away.

Pennsylvania calls adults under the work rules PEERs. From September 1, 2025, county waivers ended because of the federal law change. From November 1, 2025, the rules cover adults 18 to 64 who can work and have no dependent child under 14.

To keep SNAP past three months in three years, work, volunteer or train at least 20 hours a week (80 a month), or earn $217.50 a week before taxes, and report it to DHS. If your hours drop, tell your CAO by the 10th of the next month.

Exemptions DHS lists include a physical or mental health condition that keeps you from working, pregnancy, caring for an ill or disabled person, getting or applying for Unemployment Compensation, domestic violence, and drug or alcohol treatment. Veterans are no longer exempt.

Programs that can help you meet the rules include KEYS, EARN and SNAP JETS. Use Form PA 1921 to claim a medical exemption. Call the HR1 FAQ Line at 1-877-883-6383 or the Customer Service Center at 1-877-395-8930 with questions.

SUN Bucks gives a one-time $120 for each eligible child. Most children get it automatically, including those in households that got SNAP or TANF between July 1, 2025 and August 31, 2026. Summer 2026 payments began in early June, and payments for 2026 applications finish by October 2026.

Applications received after August 31, 2026 count toward summer 2027. You have four months to spend SUN Bucks after they are issued, and stolen SUN Bucks cannot be reissued. Call the SUN Bucks FAQ Line at 1-877-762-1575 with questions.

For SNAP, you can ask for a fair hearing within 90 days of the CAO's action, orally or in writing. You can also ask at any time during your certification period if you think your benefit amount is wrong. The Bureau of Hearings and Appeals holds most hearings by phone.

Pennsylvania mails notice at least 15 days before it cuts or ends benefits. If you appeal within those 15 days, your benefits continue until the decision unless you say you do not want them. The hearing decision is due within 60 days of your appeal.

You are entitled to a postponement of the hearing of up to 30 days. If you lose, you can ask the Secretary of Human Services to reconsider within 15 days of the final order, and you can also petition Commonwealth Court within 30 days.