IDHS Seeking Eight Restaurants for New Pilot Program

CHICAGO - The Illinois Department of Human Services (IDHS) announced today it is seeking partners for a special Restaurant Meal Pilot Program - an initiative that aims to provide prepared meals to elderly, homeless, and disabled Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) customers. The program is being piloted in Cook County. 
 
The federally funded Restaurant Meal Pilot Program will provide eligible customers the ability to use SNAP (Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program) cards to order from participating restaurants.
 
"At IDHS, we are always looking for ways to help the families we serve put nutritious food on the table. The restaurant meals program is a win-win for restaurants and our communities," said IDHS Secretary Grace B. Hou. "This program will bring more business to restaurants - and crucial meals to individuals in need."
 
In order to further support Illinois residents who have difficulty preparing their own food due to disability, age, or lack of kitchen access, IDHS will administer the pilot program to provide an affordable mix of prepared meal options to eligible participants. There are more than 427,000 elderly, disabled, and/or homeless SNAP customers in Illinois, almost 250,000 of whom are in Cook County. They would all be eligible for meal purchases in participating restaurants.
 
Restaurants in four Cook County zip codes (60617, 60619, 60620, and 60628), including the neighborhoods of South Chicago, Chatham, and Auburn Gresham, are eligible to participate in the pilot. Selected restaurants will be able to accept SNAP benefits through the Illinois Link Card as a form of payment for eligible customers.

Selected restaurants must:

• Have dine-in seating available (unless prohibited by a public health order that would only allow delivery or carry-out).
• Be fully accessible to persons with disabilities;
• Comply with current federal, state, and local laws, regulations, and/or orders through the duration of the program.

Food sales must account for at least 50% of an establishment's total sales for a restaurant to qualify. Restaurants that primarily advertise as establishments for alcoholic consumption or those which provide strictly carry-out items may not qualify.
 
When a restaurant participates in the Restaurant Meals Program, eligible SNAP customers can use their Link card to pay for a meal. 

For example, an individual SNAP customer might have $295 per month on their Link card, which they would typically use in a grocery store to buy food or drink (excluding alcohol and tobacco). Through the pilot Restaurant Meal Program, Link cards can be used in authorized restaurants in the same way they are in grocery stores. There is no per-meal or per-item limit for customers and restaurants. Eligible customers include SNAP customers that are homeless or households that have members who are 60-year-old, and over and/or disabled, and their spouses.

The application deadline for interested restaurants is August 13, 2021. Those interested can visit http://www.dhs.illinois.gov/rmp for more information.  To apply, establishments must complete a simple online interest form. Selected restaurants will become authorized retailers of the USDA Food and Nutrition Service (FNS).
 
All questions about the program can be emailed to DHS.LINK@Illinois.gov.