Persons who reside in a drug addiction or alcoholic treatment and rehabilitation center may be eligible for SNAP as a separate household from others with whom they may have lived prior to entering treatment; residents must be certified as a one-person household unless their children are living with them, in which case their children must be included in the household with the parent.
For its residents to be certified for benefits, the treatment center must b e publicly or privately operated as non-profit and meet one of the following conditions:
The treatment center must be authorized by the USDA Food and Nutrition Service as a retailer if the center wants to use the EBT card for SNAP benefits through a Point of Sale POS device, as a wholesaler, or
The treatment center must be funded or eligible for funding under Part B of Title XIX of the Public Health Service Act, even if it does not actually receive funding under Title XIX.
Determining Eligible Treatment Centers
To determine if a drug addiction or alcoholic treatment center is approved under Part B of Title XIX of the Public Health Act, the CAO should use the following link approved by the Department of Drug and Alcohol Programs for their licensed Drug and Alcohol Treatment Centers.
http://sais.health.pa.gov/commonpoc/Content/PublicWeb/DAFind.aspx
To search, the CAO should select their county under the “Geographic Search” dropdown, select “Drug/Alcohol Treatment Facility” under the “Facility Type Search” dropdown and click "find."
To meet the requirements for residents to receive SNAP benefits, the facilities displayed as a result of this search must have: a “type of ownership” column indicating "non-profit"; a column titled “Activity (Added On) - Client Capacity – License Status” with the entry "Inpatient Non-Hospital."
Direct questions about centers not listed in the above website to:
Department of Drug and Alcohol Programs
Bureau of Quality Assurance for Prevention and Treatment
Division of Drug and Alcohol Program Licensure
1 Penn Center, 5th Floor
2601 N. 3rd St.
Harrisburg, PA 17110
Phone: 717-783-8675
Note: If calling, ask to speak to the person in licensure who is on call that day.
A resident of a treatment center must meet the same SNAP eligibility requirements as any other household.
A resident of a treatment center has the same rights to receive notices of adverse action, fair hearing, and entitlement to restored benefits as any other household.
The CAO must use expedited or normal processing, depending on the client’s income and circumstances.
The treatment center must choose an employee to act as an Authorized Representative, AR to apply for and get SNAP benefits. The center must spend the SNAP benefits on meals made by or for the resident and his or her children.
NOTE: Individuals in Pennsylvania Department of Corrections’ State Drug Treatment Program (SDTP) Level One are clearly incarcerated and are not eligible for SNAP. Individuals in SDTP Level Two are residing in inpatient D&A facilities and could be SNAP eligible as long as the facility meets the requirements listed in SHB 511.6 and the application is submitted by an AR. Individuals in SDTP Level Three and Four are no longer in D&A facilities and their circumstances should be reviewed carefully. They may have moved to a halfway house or other homeless shelter, or they may be at a private address. In these situations, they likely do not require an AR but can apply on their own.
NOTE: A halfway house or “work release” resident does not need to have a center-appointed AR.
If both halfway house/”work release” residents and inpatient D&A treatment patients are served at the same address, but on different floors of the building, the halfway house residents do not need a center-appointed AR. The CAO can verify this with documentation provided by the facility to the client or by collateral contact with the facility.
The CAO may need to contact the facility if the situation is unclear. To determine if a facility is a certified D&A treatment center, follow the instructions in SHB 511.6. Some facilities serve as both a halfway house and a certified D&A treatment center. For example, Renewal Treatment Inc. at 704 Second Ave in Pittsburgh, PA is both a licensed D&A treatment center AND a halfway house. Individuals residing on the second and third floors are residents of the halfway house. Individuals residing on the fourth, fifth, sixth and eighth floors are residents of the D&A treatment center. Residents of the second and third floors may apply without an AR while residents of the fourth, fifth, sixth and eighth floors may only apply through an AR.
Every month, the center must give the CAO a list of residents who are participating in treatment at the center. An official from the center must sign a statement saying that the list is accurate. The CAO may make random on site visits to the center to make sure the list is accurate.
The treatment center must report changes in the household's income or situation and must let the CAO know when the resident leaves the center.
When a resident leaves the treatment center, the center must do the following:
Notify the CAO that the resident left and that the center is no longer AR for the household. A SNAP Change Report Form (PA 239-SP) can be used for this.
Give the resident a SNAP Change Report Form (PA 239-SP).
Tell the resident to report the new address and changes in his or her situation to the CAO within 10 days.
Give the resident the PA EBT ACCESS Card, if it was in the center’s control, or
Return to DHS by the end of each month any EBT cards with a benefit amount not used by a resident who has left the center if the center was unable to return the card to the resident.
If the center used the PA EBT ACCESS Card, it must do one of the following:
Give the resident the full monthly SNAP benefit if benefits were not spent on his or her behalf.
Give the resident one-half the monthly SNAP benefit if benefits were spent and the resident leaves the center before the 16th of the month.
Give the resident no benefits if the resident leaves the center on or after the 16th of the month and the center already spent the benefits on the resident’s behalf.
When the resident leaves, the center can no longer be the household's AR. The center must return to DHS, benefits not given to the resident.
511.63 Recovery Houses
Recovery Houses are not considered Drug Addiction or Alcoholic Treatment and Rehabilitation Centers because Recovery Houses do not provide meals to residents as part of their normal operations. Individuals residing at recovery houses can be eligible for SNAP if otherwise eligible and the facility is not listed in the DDAP D&A Facility Locator site as “Inpatient” on the “Activity (Added On) - Client Capacity – License Status” column.
The for-profit/non-profit distinction is not relevant to eligibility for residents of recovery houses.
Not all drug and alcohol recovery houses must be licensed. In addition, some facilities may operate both licensed and unlicensed drug and alcohol recovery houses. Some Recovery Homes may be listed as “Drug and Alcohol Treatment” (D/A) on the DDAP Site. As long as the site does not have an “Activity” status with “Inpatient” they may be otherwise eligible for SNAP. Partial Hospitalization is not considered an “Inpatient” activity.
If the site offers both inpatient and non-inpatient activities verification of the facility resident’s participation should be requested. If the resident is an inpatient participant Drug and Alcohol institutional rules apply.
Revised September 17, 2025, replacing March 8, 2024