Tennessee EBT and Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP)

Using the One DHS Customer Portal

One DHS is the single TDHS account for SNAP, Families First cash assistance and Child Care Payment Assistance. TDHS says you can use it at any hour to apply, upload documents, report changes, renew and check the status of your case^1,4. If you do not have an account, you create one first, then link your case.

Two parts of the portal matter most after you apply. In the "My Benefits" section of "My Dashboard" you can pick your own interview time; if you do not, a caseworker may call you as soon as two days after you apply. The "Child Care & Family Assistance File Upload" tile is where pay stubs, IDs and bills go³. TDHS says uploading, rather than mailing, can shorten processing, and asks you to send copies, not originals, because mailed papers may not come back⁴.

In Davidson County, TDHS's SNAP page (checked October 2026) says the French Landing office at 227 French Landing Drive in Nashville is self-service only, with kiosks and a document drop box, and full in-person service moved to 5216 Hickory Hollow Parkway in Antioch¹.

One DHS Customer Portal

The Benefit Security Card and ebtEDGE

Tennessee's EBT card carries both SNAP and Families First cash benefits. TDHS names FIS as its EBT vendor¹¹. Check your balance and transactions in the ebtEDGE cardholder portal or the free ebtEDGE mobile app, or call EBT Customer Service at 1-888-997-9444². TDHS warns about imitation apps posing as ebtEDGE¹.

In ebtEDGE you can change your PIN, block purchases outside Tennessee, freeze the card at once, and request a replacement if the card is lost, stolen or compromised¹. TDHS says it will never call or text you to ask for your card number or PIN¹. The TDHS card pages checked in October 2026 describe no chip card².

For thefts from October 1, 2022 through December 20, 2024, TDHS replaced skimmed or cloned SNAP with federal money; for thefts after November 5, 2023, the request had to be filed within 30 days of discovery¹⁵. That federal authority ended December 20, 2024, and the TDHS pages checked in October 2026 describe no state program that replaces benefits stolen after that date^1,2. Report fraud to the TDHS fraud hotline at 1-800-241-2629¹⁴. You can keep using the card in any state if you move⁷.

• Card customer service: 1-888-997-9444
• Cardholder website: ebtEDGE
• EBT processor: FIS

Tennessee SNAP and EBT phone numbers

Applying for SNAP through TDHS

1. File the application. Apply in the One DHS Customer Portal, pick up a paper form at your county TDHS office, or mail it to Family Assistance, Tennessee Department of Human Services, 1843 Foreman Dr., Suite 102, Cookeville, TN 38501³.
2. Book your interview in One DHS. Choose a time under "My Benefits" in "My Dashboard." If you do not, a caseworker may call you as soon as two days after you apply. Most interviews are by phone³.
3. Send proof within 10 days. Upload ID, proof of address and income through the "Child Care & Family Assistance File Upload" tile, mail copies to P.O. Box 620001, Memphis, TN 38181, or drop them at your county office. TDHS says sending them within 10 days of applying helps avoid delays^1,4.
4. Watch for your notice. TDHS must decide within 30 days. If you miss your interview, call 1-833-772-8347 to reschedule. If you do not, TDHS denies the application at the end of the 30 days^3,8.

TDHS schedules every SNAP interview as a telephone interview, which USDA has allowed it to do. You can ask for a face-to-face interview instead⁸. The head of household, a spouse or another responsible adult in the home, or an authorized representative, must take the interview⁸.

If your household has very little income and cash, you may qualify for expedited service. In that case TDHS must hold the interview and get benefits on your card within 7 days of applying, instead of the normal 30⁸. TDHS screens for this when you apply⁸.

Tennessee SNAP income limits for FY2027

Gross limit: as published by Tennessee Department of Human Services (TDHS)⁵. Net limit and maximum benefit: USDA FY2027 cost-of-living adjustments. All states compared.

Tennessee's FY2027 chart, posted October 5, 2026, has four income columns: 130% of poverty ($1,729 for one person), 165% for households with an elderly or disabled member ($2,195), 200% ($2,660) and the 100% net limit ($1,330)⁵. Its FY2026 chart had only the 130%, 165% and 100% columns⁵. The 200% column is the broad-based categorical eligibility standard that federal rules allow; USDA's state chart, updated June 29, 2026, did not yet list Tennessee²². TDHS's eligibility pages do not yet say which households it covers⁴. The table above uses the 200% figures, so apply even if your income is above the 130% line.

TDHS's eligibility page still cites a $744 shelter cap, the FY2026 figure; for FY2027 it is $769^4,21.

Tennessee sets its standard utility allowance by the number of people in the household²³. TDHS had not published FY2027 utility allowance amounts as of October 16, 2026, so none are shown here.

Net income test. The TDHS FY2027 chart also lists a 100% of poverty maximum net income: $1,330 a month for one person, $2,750 for four⁵. Households with a member who is 60 or older or disabled skip the gross test but must pass the net test⁴. Households made up entirely of SSI and Families First recipients are exempt from both income tests¹⁶.

Assets. TDHS's eligibility page, checked October 16, 2026, still lists a resource limit of $3,000, or $4,500 if a member is 60 or older or disabled⁴; the federal FY2027 limit for those households is $4,750²¹. Households made up entirely of SSI and Families First recipients have no resource test¹⁶. Tennessee does not count a vehicle with less than $1,500 in equity, or vehicles used to transport the household or for work⁴. TDHS had not posted, as of October 16, 2026, whether households assessed under the 200% standard also skip the resource test.

Deposit days by Social Security number

Between the 1st and the 20th of each month, based on the last two digits of the Social Security number used on the application.

Tennessee keys the date to the Social Security number used when you applied, not to a case number. Each block of five endings moves the date one day later. The TDHS issuance schedule gives the example of an SSN ending in 89, which is paid on the 18th⁶. The schedule PDF is dated October 21, 2020 and is still the one linked from the TDHS card page^2,6.

At renewal, TDHS must give a household that applied on time the chance to get benefits on its normal issuance date the next month⁷.

Renewals, mid-certification forms and reporting

Households on a 24-month certification, and those TDHS certifies as simplified reporters for shorter periods, have a short reporting list between renewals. Report, by the 10th of the next month, if income goes over the gross limit for your household size, if an ABAWD member's work drops below 20 hours a week (80 a month), or if anyone wins a large lottery or gambling prize. Households on a 24-month certification also get a Mid Certification form, which must be returned to keep benefits⁷. Households whose only earnings are from self-employment, or who are certified for three months or less, report listed changes within 10 days⁷. Tennessee calls itself an "Act on All Changes" state: TDHS acts on any change it learns about, up or down. Use Change Report Form HS-2302, the portal, a phone call, mail or a visit⁷.

Before your last month, TDHS mails a notice of expiration. Your renewal counts as on time if TDHS gets it by the 15th of that last month; you then need to complete the interview and send proof within 10 days of a request. If no renewal arrives, the case closes on its own at the end of the period⁷. TDHS says that missing change reports or Simplified Reporting Forms can end your SNAP¹.

Rules specific to Tennessee

Soda and candy ban approved, then blocked before July 31, 2026

USDA approved Tennessee's food restriction waiver on December 10, 2025, to stop SNAP purchases of processed foods and drinks such as soda, energy drinks and candy from July 31, 2026, and approved a change to it on May 21, 2026¹⁰. On June 22, 2026, the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, in Aragon v. Rollins, vacated that approval and ruled that the waiver may not be put in place¹⁰. The restriction never took effect, so the standard federal list of SNAP-eligible foods applies in Tennessee.

Tennessee Summer Nutrition Initiative instead of Summer EBT

Tennessee did not take part in federal Summer EBT (SUN Bucks) in 2026¹². Instead, TDHS paid a one-time $120 per child in June 2026 to SNAP and Families First households in 13 counties with five or fewer summer meal sites: Bledsoe, Cannon, Clay, DeKalb, Fentress, Hancock, Humphreys, Jackson, Lewis, Marshall, Moore, Sequatchie and Smith¹¹. Children had to be 5 to 18 on May 1, 2026 and on an open case on May 31, 2026. No application was taken; the money went to the existing card, and appeals had to be filed within 30 days of issuance¹¹.

ABAWD time limit runs from January 2025 to December 2027

TDHS applies the 2025 federal law's definition: an able-bodied adult without dependents is 18 to 64 with no child under 14 in the household. Tennessee reset the time clock on January 1, 2025, and the period runs to December 31, 2027. In it, an ABAWD can get only 3 months of SNAP unless they work, volunteer or train at least 20 hours a week (80 a month)^1,9. Training can be through SNAP Employment and Training with the Tennessee Department of Labor and Workforce Development. Exemption proof had to be uploaded by October 31, 2025⁹.

No Restaurant Meals Program

Tennessee is not on USDA's list of states that run a Restaurant Meals Program, updated August 7, 2026, so SNAP cannot be used for hot prepared restaurant meals here¹³. SNAP can be used online at participating retailers, which TDHS points to through USDA's online purchasing list².

Other assistance in Tennessee

Sources

1. Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), Tennessee Department of Human Services (Internet Archive copy of October 12, 2026; tn.gov blocks scripted requests). Checked 16 October 2026.
2. SNAP Electronic Benefit Transfer (EBT) Cards, Tennessee Department of Human Services (Internet Archive copy of July 18, 2026). Checked 16 October 2026.
3. Applying for SNAP services, Tennessee Department of Human Services (Internet Archive copy of August 6, 2026). Checked 16 October 2026.
4. SNAP Eligibility Information, Tennessee Department of Human Services (Internet Archive copy of October 11, 2026). Checked 16 October 2026.
5. SNAP income standards and maximum allotments, FY2027 (PDF, posted October 5, 2026; FY2026 version compared from Internet Archive copy of July 27, 2026), Tennessee Department of Human Services. Checked 16 October 2026.
6. SNAP Benefit Issuance Schedule (PDF, October 21, 2020), Tennessee Department of Human Services. Checked 16 October 2026.
7. Policy 24.25 SNAP Continued Responsibilities (effective February 15, 2023), Tennessee Department of Human Services. Checked 16 October 2026.
8. Policy 24.02 SNAP Application Processing (effective December 1, 2022), Tennessee Department of Human Services. Checked 16 October 2026.
9. SNAP ABAWD Information, Tennessee Department of Human Services (Internet Archive copy of December 5, 2025). Checked 16 October 2026.
10. Tennessee SNAP Food Restriction Waiver, USDA Food and Nutrition Administration (page updated October 2, 2026; read from the fns-prod.azureedge.us copy). Checked 16 October 2026.
11. Policy 24.31 Tennessee Summer Nutrition Initiative (effective June 1, 2026), Tennessee Department of Human Services. Checked 16 October 2026.
12. Summer EBT: Participating States, Territories and Tribes (page updated August 14, 2026), USDA Food and Nutrition Administration (read from the fns-prod.azureedge.us copy). Checked 16 October 2026.
13. Restaurant Meals Program (page updated August 7, 2026), USDA Food and Nutrition Administration (read from the fns-prod.azureedge.us copy). Checked 16 October 2026.
14. TDHS Contact Us, Tennessee Department of Human Services (Internet Archive copy of July 29, 2026). Checked 16 October 2026.
15. Tennessee Announces Process to Request Replacement of SNAP and D-SNAP Benefits for Customers Impacted by Skimming and Cloning Fraud (November 6, 2023, updated), Tennessee Department of Human Services. Checked 16 October 2026.
16. Policy 24.24 Categorically Eligible SNAP Recipients (effective June 15, 2021), Tennessee Department of Human Services. Checked 16 October 2026.
17. Families First (TANF), Tennessee Department of Human Services. Checked 16 October 2026.
18. TennCare Medicaid eligibility, Division of TennCare. Checked 16 October 2026.
19. Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP), Tennessee Housing Development Agency. Checked 16 October 2026.
20. Tennessee Women, Infants & Children (WIC) Program, Tennessee Department of Health (Internet Archive copy of September 11, 2026). Checked 16 October 2026.
21. SNAP – Fiscal Year 2027 Cost-of-Living Adjustments (memo, August 21, 2026), U.S. Department of Agriculture. Checked 16 October 2026.
22. Broad-Based Categorical Eligibility (page updated June 29, 2026), USDA Food and Nutrition Administration (read from the fns-prod.azureedge.us copy). Checked 16 October 2026.
23. Policy 24.18 SNAP Deductions from Income (effective September 17, 2018), Tennessee Department of Human Services. Checked 16 October 2026.