The Weekly Food Research and Action Center News Digest highlights what's new on hunger, nutrition and poverty issues at FRAC, at the U.S. Department of Agriculture, around the network of national, state and local anti-poverty and anti-hunger organizations, and in the media. The Digest will alert you to trends, reports, news items and resources and, when available, link you directly to them.

Issue #25, August 25, 2010

1. Growing Opposition to SNAP/Food Stamp Cuts
2. SNAP/Food Stamp Benefits Cut as Participation Grows
   
3. Vermont's SNAP/Food Stamp Participation Increase Creates Application Backlog
   
4. Nevada Streamlines SNAP/Food Stamp Process to Reduce Wait Times
   
5. SNAP/Food Stamp Pilot Program Gives Recipients Fresh Produce Discounts
   
6. Deaf SNAP/Food Stamp Recipients Find Difficulty Re-Applying for Benefits in Texas
   
7. Summer Meal Programs Struggle to Increase Numbers Amid Budget Cuts
   

1. Growing Opposition to SNAP/Food Stamp Cuts
(Huffington Post, August 17, 2010; The Hill, August 18, 2010)

More than 100 House members sent a letter to Speaker Nancy Pelosi to state their opposition to cuts to SNAP/Food Stamp benefits. "This is one of the more egregious cases of robbing Peter to pay Paul, and is a vote we do not take lightly," said Reps. James McGovern (D-MA) and Keith Ellison (D-MN) in the letter. One measure, which is now law, cuts SNAP/Food Stamps by $11.9 billion to save teaching (and other public sector) jobs. The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) increased SNAP/Food Stamp benefits 13.6 percent and were originally intended to "phase out" by allowing inflation to catch up to the increased payments. The bill would cut off that increase early. FRAC noted that "[t]hese are real cuts with real impact on low-income households who, for the first time, will see their benefits fall from one month to the next." It is estimated that a family of four would lose $59 a month in benefits. The Senate included another cut to SNAP/Food Stamp benefits in its version of Child Nutrition Reauthorization; the letter sent to Speaker Pelosi urged her to take up the House version of child nutrition bill instead. "It's very sad," said Sheila Zedlewski, director of the Urban Institute's Income and Benefits Policy Center. "It's unprecedented to raid one safety net program to feed another."

2. SNAP/Food Stamp Benefits Cut as Participation Grows
(KTSM, August 12, 2010)

Representative Silvestre Reyes (D-TX) says that using SNAP/Food Stamp funds to pay for the jobs bill is "robbing Peter to pay Paul." 160,000 El Paso residents now receive SNAP/Food Stamps, an increase of 25,000 in the past two years. One grocery store in the city reports that 70 percent of its customers use SNAP/Food Stamps. Reyes [signed] a letter to his House colleagues which urges the House to "forestall any more cuts in food stamp benefits."

3. Vermont's SNAP/Food Stamp Participation Increase Creates Application Backlog
(Times Argus, August 14, 2010)

Vermont's SNAP/Food Stamp Program - titled "3SquaresVT - has experienced a dramatic increase in participation. This increase, combined with "hitches" in a new case management system, have resulted in longer wait times for benefits. The recession has helped the program grow from 28,000 households in July 2008 to its current participation of 43,000 households. There are likely several hundred applications now delayed beyond the mandated 30-day processing period, and the state's call center is harder these days to reach because of the increase volume of calls. Two years ago, Vermont began implementing a new processing system, moving from 12 district offices to a single call center and computerized application and case management, which promised to remove inefficiencies - but full implementation of that system is now delayed to October. The state has been shifting more workers to the call center in order to handle the increased workload. "It is a major undertaking and will have substantial benefits," said Steve Dale, head of the Department of Children and Families (DCF). "Anything of this magnitude can have bumps along the way and we are experiencing some bumps." Marissa Parisi, executive director of the Vermont Campaign to End Childhood Hunger, acknowledges that there are challenges due to the huge participation increase. However, she said that the  delays are "not acceptable." The organization is working with DCF to reduce the delays.

4. Nevada Streamlines SNAP/Food Stamp Process to Reduce Wait Times
(Reno Gazette-Journal, August 14, 2010)

Nevada experienced the nation's largest increase in SNAP/Food Stamp participation from January 2009 to January 2010, as the state's caseload grew 46.9 percent. With that increase came application processing delays - last year only 68 percent of applications were processed in the federally-required 30-day time period. The state has made great increases in reducing processing time; in June 2010, nearly 90 percent of the 14,601 applications were processed within the 30-day limit. Of those applications, 5,870 were first time applicants - "a whole new layer of people," said Alanna Fitzgerald, special programs coordinator for the Family Resource Center of Central/South Reno. "Our mandate is to help as many people as we can, so Nevadans aren't going to bed hungry at night," said Miki Allard, staff specialist for the Nevada Division of Welfare and Supportive Services. "Our workers are carrying astronomical caseloads." At the same time, the department's capacity was reduced by 10,000 hours a month due to furloughs begun last July. And although the agency received 250 additional temporary workers, it takes nearly two years to fully train SNAP/Food Stamp caseworkers. To cope with the constantly increasing application numbers, the agency reduced employee training from 16 weeks to 10, switched to client telephone interviews instead of face-to-face, and reduced to one page the review of eligibility form for recipients re-applying for benefits. The agency has also partnered with the Food Bank of Northern Nevada and Family Resource Centers in Northern Nevada. These organizations now provide information and answers to client questions about SNAP/Food Stamps. The food bank conducts SNAP/Food Stamp application interviews, processing 450 applications a month. "We're starting to see the influence of the staff we've hired, and see processing challenges minimize," said Allard. The average Nevada household receives $200 in SNAP/Food Stamp benefits each month, with every five dollars of that money generating as much as $9.20 in local economic activity.

5. SNAP/Food Stamp Pilot Program Gives Recipients Fresh Produce Discounts
(FOXNews.com, August 19, 2010)

In an upcoming pilot program, USDA will give 7,500 SNAP/Food Stamp households in  Hampden County, Mass. a 30 cent credit for every dollar they spend on fruits and vegetables. The $20 million dollar, year-long pilot begins this fall, and "is a way for us to rigorously look at how we can encourage the purchase of fruits and vegetables, and ultimately do we see a change in behavior?" said Jean Daniel, spokeswoman for USDA's Food and Nutrition Service. While cost is a big factor, it's not the only barrier that can keep a low-income household from eating healthy. According to Ellen Vollinger, legal director at the Food Research and Action Center, access to fresh produce is a big challenge. "Some people are living in neighborhoods where there's easy transport to a grocery store and the grocery store is fully stocked. There's some communities where that's not the case," she said. Vollinger also noted that Congressional cuts to the SNAP/Food Stamp Program could undo the pilot's work. "This type of modest incentive approach doesn't seem to be anything that would trump (the cuts)," she said. "One would think that that would undermine that kind of approach."

6. Deaf SNAP/Food Stamp Recipients Find Difficulty Re-Applying for Benefits in Texas
(The Monitor, July 26, 2010)

Deaf Brownsville, Texas resident Adam Schraer has asked for a sign-language interpreter be present at his SNAP/Food Stamp re-application interviews, but has been denied an interpreter on four separate occasions. Consequently, his re-application has been denied, as "his ability to understand questions from government workers and respond with accurate descriptions about his income and bills on his own determine the amount of food assistance he can receive." During those times without the benefit, he and his wife have had to ration food to keep their children fed. "If I don't have my food stamps, my family does not have enough to eat," he said in an affidavit filed in a lawsuit, brought by a South Texas legal services organization against the state's Health and Human Services Commission and two Rio Grande Valley doctors. The Americans with Disabilities Act states that government agencies and medical offices must supply, at their own expense, interpreters for the deaf. Two decades after the act was made law, full compliance with the interpreter mandate has been spotty, said Corinna Spencer-Scheurich, director of the South Texas Civil Rights Project, which is representing the deaf plaintiffs. "We have to borrow food and money," said Schraer of the times when he's denied SNAP/Food Stamps. "We have to eat less and conserve food."

7. Summer Meal Programs Struggle to Increase Numbers Amid Budget Cuts
(Education Week, August 16, 2010)

According to FRAC's analysis of USDA data, in July 2009 the two summer meal programs - the Summer Food Service Program and the National School Lunch Program - served 73,000 fewer children on an average day than in July 2008. This year, the Corning-Painted Post school district in Corning, N.Y. served fewer summer meals to children, dropping from 19,305 to 15,710. The rural district, which covers 57 square miles, eliminated its K-5 summer school program because of funding shortfalls, and lacked the money to transport children to summer food sites at churches and recreation centers. Summer food numbers have increased in Denver, Colorado public schools, which served 123,072 lunches, up from last year's 79,140 lunches. The program benefitted by extra publicity, including recorded phone calls to the homes of 78,000 of the district's students. These calls featured Gov. Bill Ritter reminding households of the free summer meals program, and went out three or four times over the summer. Meals connected to programs saw higher participation. "If all you are going to do is come in and eat and go home, that makes a difference in participation," said Leo J. Lesh, executive director of enterprise management for the school system. "Some of the recreation centers do better [with participation] because you can go there, play basketball, and eat. The New Haven school system in Connecticut also saw increased participation this year, going from serving 102,299 lunches in 2009 to 106,451 lunches this year. Timothy Cipriano, the district's food services director, said the increased participation stems from families experiencing tough economic times. "When school is out, there is very little availability of good nutrition," said Cipriano, and food banks and soup kitchens can't keep up with the extra demand.

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