A federal agency warned state governments that they should ensure the timely sending out of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits after reports of delays in processing.
In a news release, the U.S. Department of Agriculture attempted to underscore the “urgency of the situation and encourages immediate state actions to improve” the delivery of SNAP payments, also known as food stamps.
“Timely and accurate SNAP processing is critical to meeting the nutrition needs of low-income families and protecting the integrity of SNAP,“ USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack said in the release. ”Americans in need should have access to essential benefits without unnecessary delays. States must deliver benefits in the right amounts, to the right individuals, in the required periods of time.”
The agency added it is “deeply concerned about the consequences” and “is urging states to take immediate action” by “considering options available to them that can streamline and simplify processes, such as cutting back on unnecessary paperwork and assigning the longest certification periods allowable for the household, and investing in systems and staffing to support modern business models and delivery systems.
The letters were sent to the governors of 44 states and the District of Columbia, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and Guam urging them to fix errors and improve payment deliveries.
In October, the USDA warned Colorado, for example, that it is “severely out of compliance with federal requirements” regarding the benefits program. “This has resulted in a hardship to needy households across Colorado who are not consistently receiving access to SNAP benefits within 7 or 30 days.”
In January, it was revealed that tens of thousands of SNAP applications in Tennessee face delays due to a system transition that was carried out the previous summer. One of the reasons for the delay is that state workers had to learn the new technology while processing applications using the old system, officials said
“We’re making really great strides in that effort in retaining those participants receiving SNAP with their benefits,” the head of the agency’s Income Support Division, Karmela Martinez, told the outlet.
More than 42 million low-income Americans receive benefits from SNAP, the largest of its kind in the U.S., whose administration by states is part-funded by USDA.
The COVID-19 pandemic and food price inflation increased SNAP enrollment in recent years and states are struggling to support higher case loads, said USDA Deputy Under Secretary for Nutrition Stacy Dean in an interview this week.
States have managed high caseloads before, not least during the 2008 recession, without significant issues, Mr. Dean said. “We haven’t seen this kind of problem in the program, it’s unprecedented,” he noted.
USDA matches states’ costs for administering SNAP. If that administration does not improve, there can be a fiscal penalty, he said.
Sometimes considered a form of welfare, SNAP is funded by the farm bill, a legislative package passed every five years. The last one expired in September but was extended for one year in November’s spending deal.
