The date of your application affects when your benefits start. The date of your application is the date any field office receives your application unless:

(1) Your entire assistance unit gets or applies for supplemental security income (SSI) and applies for Basic Food at the local Social Security office. The date of application is the date Social Security gets your application; or

(2) You apply outside of normal business hours, including applications you submitted online, dropped off, or sent to us by fax. The date of your application is the next business day.

(3) You request Basic Food benefits when you have applied for benefits through another department program, but we have not made a decision on the application. We call this a "pending application." If you ask for Basic Food benefits when you have a pending application for another program:

(a) We use your application for the other program, but we use the date you requested food benefits as your date of application for Basic Food; and

(b) You must provide us the necessary information to determine if you are eligible for Basic Food, even if we did not need this information for the other program.