MDHS Announces Temporary Pause in SNAP Benefits Due to Federal Shutdown
The Mississippi Department of Human Services (MDHS) announced today that due to the ongoing federal shutdown, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits for the month of November will not be issued.
This pause in benefits is a direct result of the federal shutdown and is not a state-level decision.
The United States Department of Agriculture’s Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) has directed states not to transmit the EBT issuances files to EBT vendors until further notice. As a result, no new SNAP benefits will be issued for November unless federal guidance changes.
Existing clients are reminded to fulfill all requirements to maintain SNAP eligibility.
At this time, MDHS has not received confirmation from federal partners on when benefits will resume. MDHS will provide updates to beneficiaries and retailers as the situation develops. MDHS SNAP customer service representatives will continue to be available to answer technical questions but will not be able to provide information on the timing of benefit issuance.
MDHS Highlights Long Term Care Residents’ Rights Month, October 2025
Ensuring the health, safety, welfare, and rights of residents in long-term care facilities.
Across the state of Mississippi, residents of nursing homes and other long-term care facilities, along with family members, Ombudsman program representatives, citizen advocates, facility staff, and others, will honor the individual rights of long-term care residents by celebrating Residents’ Rights Month. Residents’ Rights Month is an annual event held in October to celebrate and focus on awareness of dignity, respect, and the value of long-term care residents living in skilled nursing facilities or assisted living facilities across the state.
Residents have the right to self-determination and to use their voice to make their own choices. This year’s Residents’ Rights Month theme, Stand with Me, highlights the importance of solidarity and support for residents who stand up and advocate for their rights, as well as the value of encouraging the community to join residents in sharing their voices.
“Residents and the community need to come together for support when facing challenges in long-term care,” said Shelby Walker, Mississippi’s State Long Term Care Ombudsman. “This year’s Residents’ Rights Month theme shows how residents, staff, family members, long-term care Ombudsman program representatives, and other advocates can work together as a collective to promote quality care and quality of life for residents.”
During the month of October, the Mississippi Long Term Ombudsman Program, in collaboration with the Mississippi Department of Human Services and Area Agencies on Aging, will highlight the importance of engaging residents of long-term care facilities and their families through social media and in facilities across Mississippi.
The Nursing Home Reform Law, passed in 1987, guarantees nursing home residents their individual rights, including but not limited to: individualized care, respect, dignity, the right to visitation, the right to privacy, the right to complain, and the right to make independent choices. Residents who have made their home in other types of facilities, such as assisted living, adult care homes, and other long-term care residences, maintain their rights as U.S. citizens. Residents’ Rights Month raises awareness about these rights and pays tribute to the unique contributions of long-term care residents.
The Mississippi Long-Term Care Ombudsman Program serves residents in long-term care facilities and their families. The State Long-Term Care Ombudsman provides services that protect the health, safety, welfare, and rights of residents through leadership, oversight, and monitoring. The Older Americans Act authorizes the Ombudsman Program, and the Ombudsman services are always confidential and free.
An Ombudsman is an individual who advocates for the rights of residents living in long-term care facilities such as nursing homes or assisted living facilities. An Ombudsman can literally serve as the voice of a resident even when the resident can no longer use his or her own voice due to age or infirmity.
Dear Child care Providers, Parents, ECE Support Organizations and Other Stakeholders:
The Division of Early Childhood Care & Development (DECCD) will be holding a virtual public hearing to receive public comment on proposed updates to the Child Care Payment Program (CCPP) Policy Manual. The virtual public hearing will take place on October 22nd, 2025, from 11:00AM – 1:00PM. During the hearing, attendees will be allowed to make public comment on the proposed updates to the CCPP Manual. Please note, you MUST sign up to provide verbal comment during the public hearing. Additionally, DECCD will be receiving written comments, via the link listed below, until 1:00PM on October 22nd. Whether making verbal or written comment, please be as specific as possible in referencing the section or sections of the policy manual your comment pertains to. This makes it easier for DECCD to address all comments that are provided. Also, please note that both a clean version and marked up version of the manual have been provided for your review.
The link to sign up for comments, the link to the CCPP Policy Manual Draft, and the link to the hearing meeting link are all listed below.
Thank you for doing your part in improving the Child Care Payment Program to better serve children and families across Mississippi! We look forward to hearing from you.
Best regards,
DECCD
Public Hearing Information October 22, 2025 11:00AM – 1:00PM
The Mississippi Department of Human Services, Division of Aging & Adult Services would like to hear from you!
The MDHS, Division of Aging & Adult Services would like to hear from older Mississippians and their families as they begin preparing the State Plan on Aging that will guide the Division’s activities for the next four years.
There are two ways you can participate:
The Division hosted 3 virtual public listening sessions at the following dates/times:
September 29, 2025
4:00pm – 5:30pm
October 1, 2025
9:00am – 10:30am
October 14, 2025
10:00am – 11:30am
You can also complete a consumer survey to share your thoughts. To participate in the survey, please click on the following link: MS SPoA Survey. The survey will remain open until Thursday, October 30.
Your input is very important to the Division of Aging & Adult Services as they begin planning for the next four years. We look forward to hearing from you and learning more about what your think is important to older adults in Mississippi!
Our October 14 listening session is recorded for you to watch:
SNAP Fraud Investigation Leads to Plea Agreement in Benton County
A Benton County, MS, resident who was charged with welfare fraud has entered into a plea agreement following an investigation by the Mississippi Department of Human Services Investigation Division.
MDHS announced that Amanda Feathers, 38, of Benton County, entered into a plea agreement with the District Attorney concerning welfare fraud in the Benton County Circuit Court on August 4, 2025.
Feathers received an over issuance of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits in the amount of $18,764.00 by not accurately reporting her household composition and income to the MDHS. She was ordered to participate in the Pretrial Intervention Program for three years and pay fines, fees, and restitution in the amount of $19,907.50.
“This is a great example of collaboration between our investigations team, MDHS County offices, District Attorneys, and local law enforcement,” stated MDHS Inspector General Sandra Griffith.
This investigation was conducted by Agent Hunter Walton of the Investigations Division of the Mississippi Department of Human Services (MDHS). The Investigations Division is a part of the MDHS Office of Inspector General (OIG), which was created in August 2018 and is charged with detecting, preventing, and deterring fraud, waste, and abuse. OIG has been responsible for recovering millions of dollars from SNAP overpayments.
“This investigation and plea agreement demonstrate the controls we have in place to identify, investigate, and eliminate fraud in our programs; plainly, those controls are working,” MDHS Executive Director Robert G. “Bob” Anderson said. Suspected fraud can be reported to MDHS online any time by submitting the MDHS Fraud Tip Form at https://www.mdhs.ms.gov/report-fraud/, calling the Fraud Tip Line at 1-(800)-299-6905, or email at fraud@mdhs.ms.gov.
SNAP Fraud Investigation Leads to Plea Agreement in Oktibbeha County
An Oktibbeha County, MS, resident who was charged with program fraud has entered into a plea agreement following an investigation by the Mississippi Department of Human Services Investigation Division.
MDHS announced that Deidre Blair, 41, of Oktibbeha County, entered into a plea agreement with the District Attorney concerning program fraud in the Oktibbeha County Circuit Court on August 7, 2025.
Blair received an over issuance of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits in the amount of $43,690.00 by not accurately reporting her household composition and income to the MDHS. She was also ordered to participate in the Pretrial Intervention Program for three years and pay fines, fees, and restitution in the amount of $44,690.00
“This is a great example of collaboration between our investigations team, County offices, District Attorneys, and local law enforcement,” stated MDHS Inspector General Sandra Griffith.
The investigation was conducted by Agent Hunter Walton of the Investigations Division of the Mississippi Department of Human Services (MDHS) The Investigations Division is a subset of the MDHS Office of Inspector General (OIG), which was created in August 2018 and charged with detecting, preventing, and deterring fraud, waste, and abuse. OIG has been responsible for recovering millions of dollars from SNAP overpayments.
This investigation and plea agreement “demonstrate the controls we have in place to identify, investigate, and eliminate fraud in our programs are achieving their desired result,” MDHS Executive Director Robert G. “Bob” Anderson said.
Suspected fraud can be reported to MDHS online any time by submitting the MDHS Fraud Tip Form at https://www.mdhs.ms.gov/report-fraud/, calling the Fraud Tip Line at 1-(800)-299-6905, or email at fraud@mdhs.ms.gov.
SNAP Fraud Investigation Leads to Plea Agreement in Desoto County
A Desoto County, MS, resident who was charged with welfare fraud has entered into a plea agreement following an investigation by the Mississippi Department of Human Services (MDHS) Investigation Division.
MDHS announced that Syerra Lynks, 36, of De Soto County, entered into a plea agreement with the District Attorney concerning program fraud in the De Soto County Circuit Court on August 4, 2025.
Lynks received an over issuance of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits in the amount of $30,853.00 by not accurately reporting her household composition and income to the MDHS. She was also ordered pay fines, fees, and restitution in the amount of $32,053.00.
“This is a great example of collaboration between our investigations team, County offices, District Attorneys, and local law enforcement,” stated MDHS Inspector General Sandra Griffith.
The investigation was conducted by Agent Hunter Walton of the Investigations Division of the Mississippi Department of Human Services (MDHS) The Investigations Division is a subset of the MDHS Office of Inspector General (OIG), which was created in August 2018 and charged with detecting, preventing, and deterring fraud, waste, and abuse. OIG has been responsible for recovering millions of dollars from SNAP overpayments.
This investigation and plea agreement “demonstrate the controls we have in place to identify, investigate, and eliminate fraud in our programs are accomplishing their desired result,” MDHS Executive Director Robert G. “Bob” Anderson said.
Suspected fraud can be reported to MDHS online at any time by submitting the MDHS Fraud Tip Form at https://www.mdhs.ms.gov/report-fraud/, calling the Fraud Tip Line at 1 (800)-299-6905, or emailing fraud@mdhs.ms.gov.
SNAP Fraud Investigation Leads to Indictment in Tate County
A Tate County, Miss. resident was apprehended by authorities on September 8, 2025, following a SNAP fraud investigation conducted by the Investigations Division of the Mississippi Department of Human Service (MDHS).
MDHS announced that Arnika Jackson of Tate County received $19,727.00 in SNAP benefits by not reporting household income and composition accurately to MDHS. Based on the evidence obtained during the investigation, the case was referred to the Tate County District Attorney’s office. The Tate County District Attorney secured an indictment on August 6, 2025. Jackson was arrested by Tate County officials on Monday, September 8, 2025.
“This is a great example of collaboration between our investigations team, County offices, District Attorney’s, and local law enforcement,” stated MDHS Inspector General Sandra Griffith.
Agent Hunter Walton of the MDHS Investigations Division investigated the case. The Investigations Division is a subset of the MDHS Office of the Inspector General (OIG), which was created in August 2018 and charged with detecting, deterring and preventing fraud, waste, and abuse. OIG has been responsible for millions of dollars collected from overpayments.
“This investigation demonstrates the strengthened controls we have in place to identify, investigate, and eliminate fraud in our programs,” MDHS Executive Director Robert G. “Bob” Anderson said.
An indictment is only an allegation. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.
Over the past few weeks, the MDHS Office of Inspector General has reported an increase in reports of stolen SNAP benefits across Mississippi and specifically near the state line.
Following instructions from our federal partners, we can no longer replace stolen SNAP benefits. The Mississippi Department of Human Services reminds SNAP clients to take immediate steps to protect their SNAP benefits.
It is important to change your PIN after each use. MDHS has put together a video tutorial explaining how to change your PIN from your mobile device or you can download the attached PDF
Here are some additional tips to safeguard your card from benefit theft:
Change your PIN the night before your benefits are loaded each month.
Keep your PIN secret. Do not share your PIN with anyone outside your household. Cover the keypad when you enter your PIN on a machine.
Check your EBT account regularly for unauthorized charges. If your EBT card has been compromised, call the Mississippi EBT card holder service center at 1-866-512-5087 as soon as possible to report the card as compromised. This will deactivate the card and send a new card to the account holder.
Check card reading machines to make sure there’s nothing suspicious overlayed or attached to the card swiper or keypad.
Criminals are working quicky to steal benefits. In a matter of minutes, they can gain access to your card number and PIN and send it to anywhere in the country where it can be immediately used online.
MDHS is working with our vendor to enhance security solutions to protect our client’s benefits. Additionally, we are working with local and state law enforcement partners to investigate and prosecute the criminals that prey upon Mississippi’s neediest resident.
Continuing to report stolen benefits to the Office of Inspector General fraud hotline at 1-800-299-6905 can help with ongoing investigations.
Choctaw County DHS Office to Temporarily Close for Maintenance
Effective August 19, 2025, the Choctaw County Human Services Office will be closed by Choctaw County officials for maintenance.
The Mississippi Department of Human Services (MDHS) is making every effort to ensure clients in Choctaw County continue to be served. During this time, MDHS staff will relocate to the Webster County Office at 53 Government Avenue, Eupora, MS 39744 to continue assisting clients with their cases.
For the most efficient customer support, Clients are encouraged to submit documents via email at dfo.choctawcounty@mdhs.ms.gov or on the MDHS website via the document upload feature at ea-upload.mdhs.ms.gov.
“We understand this temporary relocation may cause some inconvenience, but our top priority is to ensure that our clients continue to receive assistance during this maintenance period,” said Shenetta Drone, Deputy Executive Director for Economic Programs. “We appreciate the community’s patience and support as we work with the Choctaw County Board of Supervisors to improve our facilities and services.”
Clients are encouraged to create an account on the Common Web Portal to access up to date information and messages regarding their case. When creating an account, our clients should use their name exactly as it appears on their EBT card to ensure continuity.
The Choctaw County Office will reopen after the maintenance is complete. Please follow MDHS on social media and check our website for the latest updates on this temporary office closure.
