What's new at MLS

We have good news and not so good news to report. First, the good news! Victories in the FY23 Budget:   The FY23 Budget Conference Report H.5050 was released last night, the House and Senate convene today to take a final vote of acceptance and ship it to the Governor for…

Replacement SNAP benefits In light of last night's storms, we want to remind the SNAP Coalition about SNAP replacement benefits. If a SNAP household loses food purchased with SNAP due to a power outage (of 4 hours or more) they can request replacement SNAP. About…

Over the past few weeks we have tried to reach as many of you directly - to share very sad news about the passing of our beloved Lauren Arms Ledwith, former DTA SNAP Director and anti-hunger troubadour. We know many of you were able to attend the wake and/or funeral service, and her family was…

Recent news reports have highlighted a growing fear among immigrants seeking necessary services, such as food assistance, health care, and police protection. Some of these fears are based on immigrants concerned their personal information will be shared with immigration…

DTA and the Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD) have a special "Heat and Eat" Fuel Assistance program, or H-EAT. This program has helped thousands of elderly and disabled households qualify for higher SNAP benefits. We are writing to share some updates with the DTA…

DTA recently updated a number of materials in the DTA Online Guide (policy manual for DTA staff). These updates were sent to DTA staff and case managers on Friday, 3/31, and are important for community partners to know!  For example, it can be helpful to point directly to DTA policy…

MBTA Youth Pass In February the MBTA announced a special discount Youth Pass program for low-income youth who are not enrolled in a traditional high school (These discounts are already offered to high school students.) The Youth Pass program is for individuals under the age of 26 who are in…

DTA has informed us that as of this morning BEACON (DTA's eligibility system) is down statewide. This means, for example, that workers cannot go in to look at case information or take other action on a case in the computer system. DTA has added language to the Assistance Line that there is a…

Some upbeat news! We did not have a chance at yesterday's SNAP Coalition meeting to update folks on the great work being done by DTA and community orgs to launch a Healthy Incentives Program (HIP) in Massachusetts. HIP Project Director Frank Martinez-Nocito of DTA sent on the following…

You or your clients can now use DTA Connect to send documents to DTA! On Monday DTA released the second phase of DTA Connect, allowing clients to submit documents to DTA directly through the app!! This is very exciting for our clients who have access to a smartphone. Sending…