SNAP (food stamps) is a federal food assistance program that is administered by each individual state. The most basic rules and regulations for food stamp eligibility are the same no matter which state you live in. Because of the uniform eligibility regulations, there is one central place where you can find out if you qualify for food stamps, and you can do it online in the comfort of your own home. Follow the link to the food stamp eligibility pre-screening tool if you would like to know if you and your family qualify for SNAP benefits.

According to the Des Moines Register, The Iowa Department of Human Services neglects to ask Iowa food-stamp recipients whether they are prisoners, parolees or fugitives. According to state officials, Iowa DHS also doesn't check the names of prisoners against all food-stamp beneficiaries. Federal regulations prohibit people who have been jailed for 30 days or more from collecting food-stamp benefits while incarcerated. But state investigators recently found that 30 percent of the inmates in the Polk County Jail last spring were illegally collecting Iowa food-stamp benefits. Iowa's food-stamp program, which is administered by the state's Department of Human Services, does not routinely check on recipients' compliance with those restrictions. The state's written application for food stamps - unlike applications used in many other states - doesn't ask whether the applicants are bound for jail, wanted by the law, on parole or on probation. If those questions were ask...

According to an article in Businessweek.com, The Indiana Food Stamp Program (Indiana SNAP) was positively impacted by Stimulus money. Food stamp officials say federal stimulus funds have delivered almost $169 million to Indiana in food benefits and support services over the past 10 months. The U.S. Department of Agriculture has recently announced dollar figures for additional food stamp aid in Indiana since the stimulus plan was approved a year ago. It reflects the stimulus funding provided additional food stamps to needy recipients. For a family of four, the extra food stamps amounted to $80 per month. More than 780,000 people currently receive food stamps in Indiana, according to November figures. That figure was 18 percent more than the same month a year earlier. USDA says Indiana also received more than $4 million in stimulus funding for food banks, soup kitchens and school meals.