All New Jersey recipients of the New Jersey Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) will receive extra benefits in December, the New Jersey Department of Human Services announced.

New Jersey households eligible for the program will receive at least $95 in emergency benefits or the maximum benefit for your household size, whichever is greater.

The 15 percent increase in SNAP benefits that began last January will now remain in effect through at least the month of December.

The extra benefits are intended to help address food needs related to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic.

NJ SNAP serves nearly 900,000 New Jerseyans in over 419,000 households, with the monthly SNAP benefit based on household size and income.

The emergency SNAP allocations are tied to the federal public health emergency which was first introduced in January 2020 and has been extended every 90 days since then. The last extension was announced on October 13, but it isn’t clear what will happen next year.

Individual states also play a part as SNAP is administered at a local level. Each state decides on whether it will extend the extra payments on a month-by-month basis. This month, only 13 states, including New Jersey, have announced extensions.

If you are a SNAP recipient, you can check your balance by visiting www.NJFamiliesFirst.com or by calling the number on the back of your card.