NEW SNAP APPLICATION HELPS SENIORS

More than a year after Pennsylvanian rolled out a simplified SNAP application process for senior citizens, more than 350,000 elders have used the new tool. The Department of Human Services introduced the easier application in June 2016, changing from a 24-page form that covered multiple assistance programs to a two-page application. The streamlined enrollment is available to people age 60 or older who doesn't…. have earned income from employment. Individuals using this simplified application have to renew their application every three years, rather than annually as others must do. Because many seniors have income from Social Security, rather than a job, their income is more stable than someone whose wages, hours, and income might more frequently change.

Between June 2016, when the simplified application was introduced, and June 2017, the state saw a decrease of 1.1% in its total food stamp enrollment, but only a 0.36% decline in adults over age 60.

Source: MSN, 11/13/17, SNAP App for Seniors

NEW PROPOSALS FOR SNAP IMPROVEMENT

SNAP and the earned income tax credit (EITC) are the cornerstones of the social safety net. In 2014, SNAP kept 8.4 million people, including 3.8 million children, out of poverty. Because the EITC is designed to provide benefits only when a household has an employed worker, its effectiveness is limited in times of high unemployment. On the other hand, SNAP can both support work when it is available and serve as insurance, propping up food consumption levels during periods of unemployment. A new report lays out SNAP’s benefits, the characteristics of SNAP recipients, and its effects on families and the American economy.  It also proposes several ways to strengthen SNAP for the future:

• Increase the earned income deduction from 20% to 30%. This would increase monthly benefits by $40 on average, increase incentives to work, and increase food purchasing power for families with workers.
• Increase investment in the SNAP employment and training program would help states move more participants into the workforce.
• Boost federal support to help states purchase the “work number” service, which provides real-time data on employment and wages and can be used for data verification.The service may help improve fraud and error rates of other means-tested programs such as school meals.

Source: American Enterprise Institute, 11/6/17, SNAP Improvements

A student reflects on her time at GardenShare

One of the students taking part in the Community Based Learning program at SLU, reflects on here time at GardenShare...

When picking out which community service I wanted, I wasn’t sure which assignment appeared most appealing to me. There were a lot of choices that stuck out to me. However, with the little I knew about the GardenShare, I knew it would be a good fit. Throughout my high school education, community service had always been an important part of my life. Ever since middle school I have been volunteering at my local food pantry, named The Acord Food Pantry. For my Community Based Learning aspect of class, I volunteer my time at the GardenShare. The GardenShare is an organization, whose main goal is to make healthy fresh produce, more readily available to those in the St. Lawrence County.

More specifically, one of their major roles in the community is participating at the farmers market in Canton. At the farmers market, they have a tent set up where people can use their Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and a plastic electronic benefits transfer (EBT) cards. SNAP is a federal program, formerly known as food stamps, that provides monthly benefits to eligible clients on their EBT cards. GardenShare has set up a program where SNAP clients can use their EBT SNAP card at the Canton farmers’ market in order to gain access to healthy locally produced food options. At our tent, clients can use their EBT SNAP cards and receive coins each worth one dollar. In turn, these coins can be used to purchase fresh produce at the farmers market. One of the benefits of visiting the GardenShare tent at the Canton farmer’s market is that GardenShare is currently doubling the amount of money the clients are asking for. For instance, when a customer comes up with their EBT SNAP card and asks for 10 dollars, GardenShare will only charge them 10 dollars, however the client will receive 20 dollars’ worth of tokens. With this incentive, GardenShare is hoping to encourage the EBT SNAP users to purchase fresh and local food.

My time so far at GardenShare and specifically the farmers market has been more than valuable. It is here, that I learned how prevalent poverty is in the North Country. By attending a wealthy University, where communication off campus is limited, not everyone realizes what Canton is truly like. By working with GardenShare, I now know, and have witnessed firsthand how appreciative members of the community are when college students pay attention to the town they are living in. With this newfound knowledge of the community, I am better able to interact with the customers I work with, and attempt to understand the rest of the community. I learned to understand and acknowledge that everyone’s situation is different, and that there are varying degrees of poverty. However, I also learned that being sympathetic and patient is one of the most effective ways to be respectful and enact change into the community around you.  

                                                   - Lindsay Campbell

FOOD STAMPS WON’T BUY A HEALTHY DIET

SNAP (formerly called food stamps) isn’t enough for families to afford the healthy diet the federal government recommends. It would cost a family of four, with two adults and two children, as much as $627 more per month than they receive in food stamps to eat the recommended healthy diet, according to new research. The recommended diet, as expressed in USDA’s MyPlate, suggests putting fruit and vegetables on half a plate, and protein and grains on the other half. The daily recommendation for women ages 31 to 50 is 1.5 cups of fruit; 2.5 cups of vegetables; 6 servings of grains (a slice of bread is a serving); and 5 servings of protein (an ounce of meat or an egg is a serving). Researchers considered a variety of ways a family could meet the dietary recommendations. The most expensive way is to eat all fresh food. The least expensive diet is vegetarian, evenly divided between fresh, frozen, and canned food.

Source: Charlotte (NC) News Observer, 10/20/17, SNAP-Diet Gap

SENATE BUDGET HELPS FOOD PROGRAMS

The fiscal 2018 budget that the Senate passed last week could make moot the $10 billion in cuts to agriculture programs that were in the House version - a move that makes passage of the next farm bill easier. Backers of SNAP had been bracing for the prospect that the House spending cuts would be squarely aimed at welfare programs including food stamps. But the Senate version does not include the $203 billion in spending reductions the House had incorporated. The House and Senate need to pass identical budgets if Republicans want to fast-track the budget and avoid hammering out differences in the two versions over weeks and weeks in conference committee. There is a lot of pressure on the House to adopt the Senate version so that lawmakers can get onto the business of tax reform.  But SNAP may still be in bull's-eye: For instance, Rep. Mark Walker - who supports the House's proposed cuts to welfare and entitlement programs - asked GOP leaders to commit to separate votes on a balanced budget amendment and other deficit-reduction legislation.

Source: Politico, 10/23/17, Senate Budget

A SNAP Challenge that did not happen

So, I was planning to do the SNAP Challenge the week of September 17.  Instead, as some of you know, I was in the hospital at Upstate that week after having a seizure the Thursday evening before.

The SNAP Challenge, of course, is when  you try to live on the average SNAP budget of $4.60 per day for food for a few days, a week, or longer.  It can be an eye-opening exercise for anyone, including me when I did a few years ago, while I was still at Foodshare in Connecticut.

I do remember working hard to create a menu and a budget that worked for the week I was doing the Challenge.  And I remember how my two sons played into it.  The youngest, DJ, was still at home and partway through the week, he said to me, "I understand why you are doing this, but why do I have to do it?"  Hmm, I guess you're right, DJ, so he went straight for the ice cream that was in the freezer from before I started the Challenge.

I had planned my challenge to be from a Monday to the following Sunday.  Well, on Friday of the week, my older son, Alex, called me from the University of Connecticut to say that he wanted to bring a car full of his college friends to the house for dinner that very evening!  What mom is going to turn down that offer - to see her son and his friends!  So, the challenge went out the window a couple of days early and I cooked up a feast for the boys.

I did realize how lucky I was to have all of these options.  My menu/diet while on the Challenge was significantly different that usual.  Lots of carbs, lots of PB&J, and many less than healthy choices.  How glad I was to have Alex's phone call and get rid of this menu a couple of days early!

So, while I did not end up participating in this year's SNAP Challenge, I hope that I will be able to next year,  And thank you all for your good wishes during and after my recent hospitalization.  While I don't have any clear answers yet, I do have confidence in the team at Upstate and hope to know more soon.

Gloria

Defeated by the SNAP Challenge before it even starts

Another take on the SNAP Challenge, where people try to live on the SNAP average budget of $4.60 per person per day for their food...

"My husband and I were planning on trying the SNAP challenge, but were defeated before we started. We consider ourselves very healthy eaters. While healthy isn't always synonymous with expensive, there are certain things in our diet that make it impossible for us to live on ~$4/day each. 

"We start each day with a healthy breakfast smoothie. One ingredient is hemp protein, which costs around $30 for a package. One package lasts us more than a month, but the challenge doesn't allow us to use things that were already purchased. It makes sense, because a low-income family certainly couldn't afford a $30 investment in a food item that doesn't have any flavor if they are trying to stretch their SNAP dollars to last all month. We also add kale, bananas, blueberries, chia seeds, and almond milk in our breakfast smoothies. Those costs are adding up! 

"When I think about the fact that we also eat one Braeburn apple per person per day, I know we are over our $4/day without even dealing with lunch or dinner. Braeburn are my absolute favorite type of apple, but this challenge made me notice they are also the most expensive ones in the store at $4.99/lb! The cost of the diet we are comfortable with and live healthfully on is already so far beyond what a SNAP recipient could afford."

- A dual income, no kids household from Norfolk

SNAP HELPS CUT CHILD POVERTY IN HALF

Thanks to government programs, the child poverty rate fell to a record low of 15.6% in 2016, a little more than half its 1967 level of 28.4%.  Data incorporating the Supplemental Poverty Measure (which  counts the income that the SNAP, rental subsidies, and other federal non-cash benefits and tax credits provide) show that the drop is largely attributable to safety net programs, particularly SNAP and refundable tax credits for earned income and child care. This improvement has benefited all demographic groups.  Between 1991 and 2016, SPM poverty rates among black, Hispanic, and non-Hispanic white children were all cut roughly in half.  When poverty is measured without counting safety net income, child poverty is only modestly lower than it was in the 1960s.  

Source: Center for Budget & Policy Priorities, 10/5/17, Child Poverty

SNAP MAY BE BEST PATH TO SENIORS’ HEALTH

A recent study demonstrated that access to SNAP results in fewer hospital and nursing home admissions. Researchers studied the entire population of 69,000 Maryland seniors who are on both Medicaid and Medicare (known as “dual eligibles”).  The results were remarkable.  Access to SNAP reduced a senior’s likelihood of admission into a hospital by 14% and reduced the likelihood of entrance into a nursing home by 23%.  The study also found that the more SNAP dollars seniors received for healthy food, the lower the odds they would have to spend additional days in a hospital and nursing home. And, because connecting seniors to SNAP results in lower healthcare utilization and better health, it also leads to health care savings.  The researchers estimated that connecting dual eligibles to SNAP delivers $2,100 in annual healthcare savings per senior enrolled.

Source: Philly.com, 9/26/17, SNAP Benefits Seniors

ADMINISTRATION MAY REVIEW ALL WELFARE PROGRAMS

Trump administration officials are mulling an executive order that would instruct federal agencies to review low-income assistance programs, including SNAP and WIC,  as part of an effort to make sweeping changes to the country’s welfare system. The White House has begun circulating a draft order to federal agencies for comment. The draft order calls on agencies to review existing regulations and propose new rules that conform to a set of broad welfare principles, including tighter work requirements that encourage recipients to shift back into the labor force. It also calls for streamlining or eliminating duplicative services and establishing metrics for holding agencies accountable for program performance.

Source: Politico, 10/2/17, Welfare Review

ADVOCATES FEAR FEDERAL FOOD PROGRAM CUTS

Last year, about 12.3% of American households were food insecure, down from a peak of 14.9% in 2011. But anti-hunger advocates worry that the Trump administration and Congress are poised to undo that progress. The White House and Republicans in Congress argue that SNAP costs too much (about $71 billion last year) and doesn't do enough to encourage recipients to work. The Trump administration is calling for $190 billion cuts over 10 years for SNAP. The U.S. House Budget Committee has similarly proposed at least $150 billion in SNAP cuts over 10 years, starting with fiscal year 2018. The proposals would reduce SNAP benefits spending between 21% and 27% a year.  The good news--over the summer, Agriculture Committee Chairman Mike Conaway, a Republican, reportedly resisted the large cuts. And it's unclear whether centrist Republicans will back a plan that makes dramatic cuts to SNAP, which could complicate budget negotiations this fall.

Source: Governing, 9/25/17, Potential SNAP Cuts

WAIVING THE SAFETY NET

Several Republican senators have introduced the EMPOWERS Act (the Economic Mobility, Prosperity, and Opportunity with Waivers that Enable Reforms for States Act of 2017), which would let states waive or sharply alter key provisions of federal safety net programs that serve low-income individuals and families.  The bill would allow waivers in some 25 federally funded programs that provide over $150 billion annually in benefits and services to help low-income individuals and families. Those programs include SNAP and WIC; federal housing programs; and child welfare, job training, and child care programs, among others. States could have flexibility under EMPOWERS waivers to redirect federal funds that now provide benefits directly to families to help them meet their basic needs.  They could cut benefits such as basic food aid provided by SNAP, and shift the freed-up funds to a wide array of other services such as case management. Or they could divert funds from basic assistance for families in need to other areas of the state budget by using the funds freed up by cutting benefits to supplant existing state spending in other areas.

Source: Center for Budget & Policy Priorities, 9/28/17, Safety Net Waivers

SNAP BENEFIT MAY LOWER HEALTH CARE SPENDING

Enrollment in SNAP may be associated with lower health spending, a new study suggests. Researchers examined data on health spending for U.S. adults who were eligible for SNAP, including 1,889 people who were SNAP participants and 2,558 who were not. Overall, the study found,SNAP participation was associated with about $1,400 less in average annual health care costs for each low-income adult. There wasn’t much difference in annual health spending based on SNAP participation when researchers only accounted for two factors that can influence medical costs – age and gender. The difference was much more pronounced, however, when researchers also considered race, region, insurance, education, income, disability and other medical problems. When all of those factors were taken into account, SNAP enrollees had average annual health spending that was $1,409 less than people who didn’t participate in the program.

Source: Huffington Post, 9/26/17, Health Care Spending

FOOD STAMPS--A HISTORY LESSON AND BIPARTISAN MODEL

Forty years ago--September 29,1977--President Carter signed into law the landmark 1977 Food Stamp Act, setting the framework for today’s Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. The 1977 law and its bipartisan roots both were years in the making. Food stamps began as a pilot program in 1961 and was converted to permanent status in 1964, but it wasn’t yet a nationwide program and wasn’t doing enough to address hunger. Tens years later the program served the whole nation. When President Ford sought in 1975 to cut food stamp benefits sharply by regulation, Congress passed legislation to block the measure by bipartisan, veto-proof margins. The Food Stamp Act that Carter signed in 1977, which passed Congress with bipartisan support, included the most far-reaching improvements in the program’s history. It eliminated the “purchase requirement” — that recipients must pay cash to purchase their food stamps (for example, having to pay $90 to receive $200 in food stamps rather than just receiving the $110 difference). Until then, only about half of those eligible for benefits were receiving them, in large part because many potential beneficiaries could not come up with the lump sums of cash needed to buy food stamps every month. And it took important steps to simplify the program, reduce administrative costs, and combat fraud.

Source: Center for Budget & Policy Priorities, 9/26/17, Food Stamp History

SNAP BENEFITS DON’T PAY FOR HEALTHY DIET

A new study finds that SNAP, benefits may not be enough for a healthy diet. The study, found SNAP benefits only cover 43 to 60% of what it costs to consume a diet that fulfills federal guidelines for a healthy diet. Researchers analyzed the cost to follow federal dietary guidelines based on the USDA's monthly retail price data from 2015 for fruits, vegetables, dairy, grains and proteins. The study did show that SNAP benefits were enough to cover the cost of a healthy diet for children under the age of 8 and women over the age of 51, but was not enough to cover healthy dietary needs for older children, younger women and men of any age.

Source: UPI, 9/7/17, SNAP Diet

WEEKLY BUDGETING COULD IMPROVE SNAP SPENDING PATTERNS

A recent study of SNAP participants who use the FreshEBT app shows that the average household spends more than 80% of its SNAP benefits within the first nine days. Within the first 21 days, the average SNAP recipient has nothing left. Researchers suggest several reasons why SNAP benefits do not last through the month--(1) the benefit amount is too low to cover a household’s food costs and (2) the way SNAP benefits are disbursed only makes things worse. To test the latter proposition, they provided half of all new FreshEBT users a recommended weekly budget to remind them to spread consumption over the month and give them an appropriate weekly spending target. The remaining half got only a monthly balance. Over three months, researchers found that the weekly budget extended users’ monthly SNAP balance by roughly two more days. Families in the control group spent 80% of their monthly balance after nine days, while families who received a weekly budget took 11 days to spend 80% of their balance. Those two extra days means a family  could use SNAP to buy about six extra meals a month, just from a changing how a person’s SNAP balance is displayed.

Source: Scientific American, 7/21/17, SNAP Spending Patterns

SNAP APP

SNAP participants can get a free app that allows them to check the balance on their SNAP EBT card; locate grocery stores, corner stores, and farmers markets near them that participate in SNAP; and keep track of their SNAP spending history. People can even sign up for SNAP directly from the app. Retailers can use the app to highlight weekly deals and promotions, create custom loyalty programs and branded content like

recipes and health tips, and promote their stores in customers’ map view. The app--FreshEBT--is available at the Apple Store and Google Play. It was developed by Propel, a software company that aims to make America’s safety net more user friendly.

Source: Propel, FreshEBT

SNAP ENCOURAGES WORK

SNAP plays an important role in encouraging and supporting work a new report says. Most SNAP participants who can work, do work. The program’s benefit structure is designed to reward earnings over unearned income, giving participants an incentive to work.  Among SNAP households with at least one working-age, non-disabled adult, more than half work while receiving SNAP — and more than 80% work in the year before or after receiving SNAP. SNAP’s benefit design has four key features that support work:

• An entitlement structure that guarantees food assistance will be available to any eligible applicant when they need it;
• A benefit formula that favors earned income over other income through an earned income deduction;
• A benefit phase out structure that decreases benefits gradually as income rises; and
• A state option to ease the modest benefit cliff.

Source: Center for Budget & Policy Priorities, 7/25/17, SNAP Work Incentives

SNAP use is highest in rural areas and small towns

Households in counties determined by the U.S. Census Bureau to be rural and small town are more likely to participate in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) than their metro area counterparts, according to SNAP Maps, a new interactive data tool released today by the Food Research & Action Center (FRAC). Nationally, over the five years studied, on average, 16 percent of rural and small town households participated in SNAP, compared to 13 percent of households in metro areas. On a state-by-state and county-by county basis, rural and small town participation is typically higher

“No community in America is immune to hunger, but rural and small town areas are especially hard hit,” said Jim Weill, president, FRAC.

Census Bureau data show 15 percent of non-metro households and 12 percent of metro households are food insecure. These new state-by-state and county-by-county analyses show a virtually identical pattern in SNAP participation.

According to FRAC, this new data tool will allow local, state, and national policymakers and program administrators, as well as advocates, media, and others, to understand how substantial numbers of struggling families in every county across the country need help from SNAP. It will also serve to dispel too-frequently repeated myths and stereotypes.

“SNAP serves as the first line of defense against hunger and is critical to keeping and lifting low-income households — including massive numbers in rural and small town areas — out of poverty and hunger,” added Weill. “SNAP is one of the nation’s very best investments, and it is unacceptable that this proven and effective program is under attack.”

Both the president’s fiscal year (FY) 2018 budget and the House Budget Committee’s FY 2018 budget resolution propose dramatic cuts to SNAP. The House budget resolution, which is expected to be voted on in September, gives reconciliation instructions to the House Agriculture Committee to make $10 billion in cuts over 10 years to programs in its jurisdiction — a reduction clearly pointed at SNAP. The budget also calls for another $150 billion in SNAP cuts through benefit and eligibility restrictions and structural changes in the latter part of the 10-year budget window.

To learn more, visit FRAC.org.

SNAP PARTICIPANTS WORK DESPITE EMPLOYMENT BARRIERS

A new report finds SNAP participants are strongly connected to the labor force, but many experience changes in employment and labor force participation over the course of a year. In addition, many SNAP participants who are not employed face significant barriers to work. In April 2010, 41% of SNAP participants ages 18 to 59 were employed; most of the remaining participants were out of the labor force (46%) rather than unemployed (13%). Employed SNAP participants earned, on average, $1,250 per month before taxes and worked 40 hours per week. Nearly all employed participants (88%) worked one job; 10% worked at two jobs. SNAP participants who were not working faced a diverse set of barriers to employment. Many lacked significant recent work experience. More than two-thirds (68%) of had not worked in the past 18 months.

Source: Mathematica Policy Reports, 7/19/17, SNAP Work Data