Complete Story
03/07/2026
ODJFS releases details on new SNAP County Payment Error Review (PER) Process
ODJFS releases details on new SNAP County Payment Error Review (PER) Process
House Bill 434, passed in November 2025, requires the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services (ODJFS) to develop a methodology and system to determine county by county SNAP payment error rates (PER). This provision is in direct response to the passage of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act by Congress last summer, which requires Ohio to have a statewide PER below 6% to avoid paying a cost of the state’s SNAP benefit share.
ODJFS convened a workgroup that included county JFS agency staff, the Ohio Job and Family Services Directors’ Association, and CCAO members and staff to develop a methodology that generally follows the Quality Control Review Handbook (FNS-310) published by the U.S. Food and Nutrition Service (FNS).
ODJFS announced the details of the new county SNAP PER calculation process last week:
- Start Date: April 5, 2026
- Monthly Case Reviews:
- Large counties: 25 cases
- Medium counties: 20 cases
- Small counties: 15 cases
- Timeline: Cases assigned on the 5th of each month for the previous month; reviews due by the 5th of the second month (approximately 60 days).
- The review will only be a desk review. Client interviews are not required.
- ODJFS will have a review tracking tool that counties will use for the reviews.
- ODJFS will review a subset of cases and return any errors for correction. Disputes can be escalated to the ODJFS Quality Control Unit.
- Counties with a cumulative payment error rate of 6% or higher after any quarter must implement a Corrective Action Plan.
- Each county JFS agency will designate one or more people responsible for conducting the review and certifying results to ODJFS.
- ODJFS must submit quarterly county PER reports to the General Assembly. The first report must be submitted by June 30, 2026.
Members with questions about this new process should contact Rachel Reedy at rreedy@ccao.org.
