After weeks of profound uncertainty caused by the ongoing federal government shutdown, more than 600,000 Coloradans who rely on the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) will receive their full November benefits.

In a breaking development, Governor Jared Polis and the Colorado Department of Human Services (CDHS) announced today that the state is moving immediately to distribute the payments. This action follows a federal court order that compelled the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to release the frozen funds.

Benefits, which are normally distributed between the 1st and 10th of the month, had been on hold, leaving hundreds of thousands of families and individuals in a state of crisis.

The Rocky Mountain Dispatch has reported extensively on the impact of this issue for the last several weeks, documenting the severe strain on local food banks and the scramble for resources as families faced an unprecedented gap in food assistance.

How CDHS is Handling the Late Payments

The Colorado Department of Human Services (CDHS) is the state agency responsible for administering the federally-funded SNAP program. Here is a breakdown of its role in this crisis and the distribution of the late payments:

• Federal Funding is Key: CDHS oversees the program, but it does not have the authority to issue SNAP payments without first receiving the funds from the federal government. The USDA’s freeze on funds, which began in mid-October, meant CDHS was legally unable to load the benefits.
  
• The Distribution Process: Now that the USDA has been ordered to make the funds available, CDHS is taking immediate action. The department has submitted its request to the state’s EBT (Electronic Benefit Transfer) payment vendor.
  
• Loading the EBT Cards: This vendor will now work in the coming hours to draw the funds from the USDA and load the full November payment amounts onto recipients’ EBT cards.
  

Governor Polis stated that his administration is working to “ensure SNAP food assistance is distributed as soon as possible.”

While the process is being expedited, officials note that due to the sudden nature of the reversal and the technical logistics involved, some recipients may still experience a short delay as the system processes the statewide payments.

This resolution ends a period of intense confusion for SNAP recipients, who had been given conflicting information from the federal government over the past week, with reports ranging from no payments to only partial payments. The court order ensures that all eligible Coloradans will receive their full monthly benefit.

Recipients are encouraged to monitor their PEAK account or their EBT card balance for the deposit.