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Governor Laura Kelly announced that the Kansas Department for Children and Families (DCF) has responded to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Appeals Board. This response challenges the USDA’s request for private information about Kansans who have applied for or received SNAP benefits in the past five years.

The USDA asked DCF to turn over personal details, including Social Security numbers and birth dates, for SNAP recipients and their household members. The request would also allow that information to be shared with foreign governments. Kansas officials say this information is legally protected and should not be released.

After the USDA rejected DCF’s proposed alternative in September 2025, DCF filed an appeal. That appeal immediately stopped the USDA from withholding $10.4 million in SNAP administrative funding. Kansas has not lost any funding, and the SNAP program continues to run normally. The appeal process is still ongoing.

DCF says it has followed all state and federal laws throughout this process. Officials say they are required by law to protect the personal information of Kansans. Those protections are outlined in both the federal Food and Nutrition Act and the Kansas Cybersecurity Act.