Editorial Policy

1. Who Writes Our Content

All content on this Site is written by members of our editorial team described on the About Us and Why Trust Us pages. We do not accept guest posts, sponsored articles, or contributed content from outside writers. We do not use automated AI-only article generation pipelines — every article is researched and written by a human team member, fact-checked by a second human team member, and reviewed for calculator accuracy by a third. AI tools may be used for grammar checking and readability scoring, but never for generating the underlying factual claims, dollar figures, or policy interpretations.

We publish content under a single editorial team byline rather than attributing articles to named individuals. We made this choice deliberately: we do not hold licensed credentials (such as social work licensure, attorney licensure, or SNAP outreach counselor certification), and we do not want to imply authority we cannot independently verify. Instead, every claim on this site is backed by a cited primary government source — the United States Code, the Code of Federal Regulations, a USDA Food and Nutrition Service publication, or a state SNAP policy manual. Readers can verify any figure themselves by following the citation at the bottom of each article or on our Sources page.

Articles covering specialized topics — immigrant eligibility, ABAWD work requirements, state-specific deductions, calculator formula integrity — are reviewed by the team member with the most relevant research background for that topic. Our editorial process is described in detail below.

2. Sourcing and Citations

Every dollar figure, income limit, deduction threshold, and benefit amount that appears on this Site comes from a primary government source. Our standard sources are:

• The United States Code, Title 7, Chapter 51 (the federal SNAP statute)
• The Code of Federal Regulations, Title 7, Parts 271 through 285 (the federal SNAP regulations)
• USDA Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) Federal Register notices, especially the annual adjustment notices published each August
• The USDA SNAP State Directory of official state agency names, websites, and phone numbers
• Official state SNAP policy manuals and administrative code, linked from each state-specific page
• The Code for America GetCalFresh open-source eligibility engine, used as a cross-check on our calculator's net-income logic

Every claim in every article is traceable to one of these sources. A complete list of the federal-level citations used across the Site is published on our Sources page, and the bottom of each article lists the specific USDA notices and state policy sections relied on for that article. When a reader asks "where did this number come from," we can answer with a specific document, page, and effective date.

We do not cite secondary sources (news articles, blog posts, advocacy organization summaries) as authorities for dollar figures. Secondary sources may be cited for context, history, or commentary, but never as the basis for a specific eligibility number.

3. Editorial Review Process

Before any article is published, it goes through a three-step process:

1. Drafting — The assigned author researches the topic, gathers the relevant federal and state source documents, and writes the article. The draft must include inline source citations and a "Sources consulted" list at the bottom of the page.
2. Accuracy review — A second team member (different from the drafter) reads the draft against the cited source documents. They check every dollar figure, every income limit, every deduction threshold, and every regulatory citation. If a single number does not match the source, the article does not move forward.
3. Calculator integrity review — If the article references the calculator or describes a benefit calculation, a third team member confirms that the calculator on the live Site produces the result the article claims. This catches discrepancies between prose and code that are easy to introduce when formulas are updated.

Only after all three steps are complete does the article publish. The "Last reviewed" date at the bottom of each article reflects the date the most recent accuracy review was completed — not the date the article was first drafted. An article originally drafted in 2024 but reviewed in August 2026 shows "Last reviewed: August 2026."

State-specific pages follow the same three-step process, with an additional step: a check that the state's most recent administrative bulletin (BBCE election, ABAWD waiver, SUA amount) has been incorporated. State pages are reviewed annually and after any state-initiated policy change we become aware of.

4. Update and Recency Policy

Snap eligibility figures change annually. The USDA publishes updated income limits and maximum allotment tables each August, taking effect October 1 (the start of the federal fiscal year). State options — such as whether a state uses broad-based categorical eligibility, whether it operates an ABAWD time-limit waiver, and how it treats child support payments — can change at any time during the year.

We follow this update schedule:

• Annual USDA update (August–October): Every state page and every income-related article is reviewed and updated within 30 days of the USDA's annual Federal Register notice. The "Last updated" date at the top of each page is changed, and a note is added at the top of the article describing what changed.
• State policy changes (anytime): When a state changes a SNAP option — for example, raising the gross income limit under broad-based categorical eligibility — we update the affected state page within 30 days of the change taking effect.
• Reader-reported errors (anytime): If a reader emails us to report a number that does not match an official source, we investigate within 5 business days. If the reader is right, we update the page the same day and add a correction note at the top.

If you find a number on this Site that does not match an official USDA or state source, please email foodstampeligibilitycalculator@gmail.com with the URL and the source document. We treat accuracy errors as urgent.

5. Corrections Policy

When we publish a correction, we do not hide the original error. The corrected article carries a dated correction notice at the top, in a visually distinct format, that reads approximately:

The original (incorrect) text is then revised in place. We do not maintain a separate public changelog, but every page's Git history (in our internal content repository) preserves the prior version with the correction commit message.

For minor typographical fixes (spelling, broken links, formatting), we do not add a correction notice; we simply fix the issue silently. For substantive corrections — wrong dollar figures, wrong regulatory citations, wrong state-specific rules — we always add a dated correction notice.

If you spot an error, please email us at foodstampeligibilitycalculator@gmail.com with:

• The URL of the page
• The specific text that appears incorrect
• The official source showing the correct figure
• The effective date of the source

We will respond within 5 business days to confirm whether we agree the article needs correction, and the correction will be published the same day if confirmed.

6. Use of AI Tools

We use AI-assisted tools (large language models) in limited, supporting roles:

• Grammar and readability: AI tools may flag awkward sentences, passive voice, or reading-level issues for a human editor's review.
• Internal search: AI tools may help locate relevant passages in long federal regulations during research.
• Drafting marketing copy: AI tools may draft social media descriptions or meta descriptions, which a human reviews before publishing.

We do not use AI tools to:

• Generate the underlying factual claims in any article
• Produce dollar figures, income limits, or benefit amounts
• Interpret SNAP regulations or state policy
• Write article body content without human drafting
• Make editorial decisions about what to cover or how to frame a topic

Every factual claim on this Site has been researched, written, and verified by a human. If we discover that an AI tool introduced a factual error during the drafting process, we treat it as a substantive correction (see Section 5) and add a dated correction notice.

7. Advertiser Independence

Our editorial content is independent of our advertising relationships. Specifically:

• Advertisers have no input on article topics, content, or conclusions
• Advertisers do not see articles before publication
• Advertisers cannot request changes to articles that mention them, their industry, or their competitors
• Our ad slots are clearly separated from editorial content (ad slots appear in the header, sidebar, and designated in-article positions, never as part of the article body)
• We do not accept sponsored articles, native advertising, or paid placements disguised as editorial content

If an advertiser requests editorial changes, we decline. If an advertiser threatens to withdraw advertising over editorial content, we accept the withdrawal.

Our advertising is managed by Journey by Mediavine, a third-party ad management service. Mediavine serves as an intermediary between this Site and ad networks, demand-side platforms, and ad exchanges; we do not select individual advertisers, do not preview specific creatives before they appear, and do not have direct advertising relationships with any specific SNAP-related service provider, law firm, or benefits-counseling organization. If a specific advertiser (or its industry) is mentioned in editorial content, that mention is the result of independent editorial judgment, not a paid placement, and the advertiser had no prior knowledge of the mention.

Before transitioning to Mediavine, this Site displayed ads through Google AdSense. The transition to Mediavine does not change our editorial standards, our sourcing requirements, or our corrections policy. Editorial decisions are made independently of advertising relationships, and the choice of ad management partner is based solely on revenue, performance, and user-experience considerations — never on editorial influence.

8. Reader Feedback

We actively solicit reader feedback and treat it as a first-class input to our editorial process. Readers have flagged errors in state-specific BBCE limits, outdated ABAWD waiver statuses, and misstated utility allowances — each of which we corrected within 5 business days of receiving the email.

Ways to provide feedback:

• Email: foodstampeligibilitycalculator@gmail.com for corrections, questions, or article suggestions
• Article comments: Currently not enabled on the Site; please use email instead
• Contact form: See our Contact Us page

We do not pay for tips, but we will credit you in the correction notice if you request it (e.g., "Thanks to [reader name] for flagging this error"). If you prefer to remain anonymous, we will not include your name.

9. Calculator Integrity

The SNAP eligibility calculator is the centerpiece of this Site. We treat its integrity as seriously as we treat article accuracy.

• Formula transparency: The exact formula the calculator uses is published on our Methodology page, with citations to the underlying federal regulations. The calculator does not implement any hidden logic.
• Source-table transparency: The income limits, deduction amounts, and state parameters the calculator uses are the same ones published in our articles. We do not maintain separate "calculator-only" tables.
• Client-side execution: The calculator runs entirely in your browser. The math is verifiable by anyone who reads JavaScript. Open your browser's developer tools and inspect the page source to see the calculation logic.
• Version tracking: Each time we update the calculator's parameters (income limits, allotment tables, state options), we increment an internal version number displayed in the page's HTML comment. The version number corresponds to a specific USDA Federal Register notice or state bulletin.
• Accuracy testing: Before each parameter update goes live, we run the calculator against a fixed set of test cases (e.g., a single adult at 100% FPL in California; a family of four at 130% FPL in Texas; an elderly household in Florida with medical deductions). If the calculator's output does not match the expected result for any test case, the update does not ship.

If you believe the calculator is producing an incorrect result for a specific input set, please email us with the inputs (household size, state, income, deductions) and the result you expected, with citation to the source document. We will investigate within 5 business days.