Food Stamp Program

1
Food Stamp Program

• Issues in Accessing Food Stamps
• Vicky Robinson
• January 27, 2004

2
Objectives

• To understand the history of the Food Stamp
  Program
• To learn basic program eligibility
• To identify and begin to resolve the barriers
  that homeless families face

3
Program History

• The original Food Stamp Program (FSP) was
  designed
• To reduce hunger among the poor
• To reduce farm surpluses.
• The original FSP lasted about 4 years from
  May 16, 1939 to Spring of 1943 and served
  approximately 20 million people in nearly half of
  the counties in the U.S.peak participation was 4
  millionat a total cost of 262 million.

Quote "We got a picture of a gorge, with farm
surpluses on one cliff and undernourished city
folks with outstretched hands on the other. We
set out to find a practical way to build a bridge
across that chasm." (Milo Perkins, first
Administrator of the FSP)
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Program History

• Pilot Food Stamp Program - May 29, 1961-1964
• In fulfillment of a campaign promise he made in
  West Virginia, President Kennedy's first
  Executive Order called for expanded food
  distribution and, on Feb. 2, 1961, he announced
  that food stamp pilot programs would be
  initiated.
• By January 1964, the pilot programs had expanded
  from eight areas to 43 in 22 States with 380,000
  participants. 

Mr. and Mrs. Alderson Muncy of Paynesville, West
Virginia, were the first food stamp recipients on
May 29, 1961. They purchased 95 in food stamps
for their 15-person household. In the first food
stamp transaction, they bought a can of pork and
beans at Henderson's Supermarket.
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Program History

• Food Stamp Act of 1964 - August 31, 1964In
  order to bring the pilot FSP under Congressional
  control and to enact the regulations into law,
  President Johnson requested Congress to pass
  legislation making the FSP permanent. Major
  provisions included the
• Requirement that recipients purchase their food
  stamps and what they could purchase with stamps
  (no alcohol or imported foods) 
• Prohibition against discrimination on bases of
  race, religious creed, national origin, or
  political beliefs
• Division of responsibilities between States
  (certification and issuance) and the Federal
  Government (funding of benefits and authorization
  of retailers and wholesalers), with shared
  responsibility for funding costs of
  administration. 

• The House version would have prohibited the
  purchase of soft drinks, luxury foods, and luxury
  frozen foods 

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Program History

• The Food Stamp Act of 1977Major provisions
  included the
• Elimination of the purchase requirement
• Establishment of statutory income eligibility
  guidelines at the poverty line
• Elimination of the requirement that households
  must have cooking facilities 
• Recipients' right to submit applications the
  first day they attempt to do so
• 30-day processing standard and inception of the
  concept of expedited service (getting benefits
  fastwithin 7 days). 

The rallying cry for FSP reform was
"EPREliminate the Purchase Requirement!as it
presented a barrier to program participation.
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Program History

• The Personal Responsibility and Work
  Opportunities Reconciliation Act of 1996
  (PRWORA)
• Placed a time limit on food stamp receipt of
  three out of 36 months for able-bodied adults
  without dependents (ABAWDs) who are not working
  at least 20 hours a week or participating in a
  work program
• Provided additional Employment and Training (ET)
  funds targeted toward providing work program
  opportunities for ABAWDs
• Allowed States to exempt up to 15 percent of the
  estimated number of ABAWDs who would otherwise be
  ineligible.

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Program History

• The Farm Bill of 2002Reauthorization of the
  FSP
• Changes were made to simplify the FSP and to
  increase program access, including
• Simplified determination of housing costsallows
  States to use a standard deduction from income of
  143 per month for homeless households with some
  shelter costs
• State option to reduce reporting
  requirementsallows States to extend semi-annual
  reporting to all households not exempt from
  periodic reporting
• State option to implement transitional food
  stampsallows States to extend food stamps 3-5
  months to eligible households that leave TANF
• Employment and training provisionauthorizes 90
  million for ET funding and up to 20 million in
  additional funding for States that pledge to
  offer work slots to unemployed, childless adults
  who are subject to the 3-month time limit (ABAWD)
  provision.

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Definition of Homeless

• For the Food Stamp Program, a homeless
  individual is an individual who lacks a fixed and
  regular nighttime residence or an individual
  whose primary nighttime residence is
• A supervised shelter that provides temporary
  accommodations
• A halfway house or similar institution that
  provides temporary residence for individuals
  intended to be institutionalized
• A temporary accommodation for not more than 90
  days in the residence of another individual
• A place not designed for, or ordinarily used, as
  a regular sleeping accommodation for human beings
  (a hallway, a bus station, a lobby or a similar
  place).

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Who is Homeless?

• According to the National Law Center on
  Homelessness Poverty (NLCHP), a survey
  conducted of 27 major U.S. cities by the U.S.
  Conference of Mayors found that, of those that
  were homeless
• 40 percent are families with children
• 67 percent are single-parent families
• 40 percent are single men
• 39 percent are mentally disabled
• 34 percent are drug or alcohol dependent.

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Who is Hungry?

• According to the Urban Institute
• 28 percent of homeless clients say they sometimes
  or often do not get enough to eat
• 20 percent eat one meal a day or less
• 39 percent say that in the last 30 days they were
  hungry but could not afford food to eat
• 40 percent went one or more days in the last 30
  days without anything to eat because they could
  not afford food
• Only 37 percent of homeless households receive
  food stamps.

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Filing an Application

• To file an application (start the application
  process) all that is needed is a
• Name
• Address
• Signature.

13
Expedited Service

• All applicants must be screened for expedited
  service at the time they apply for benefits.
  Households eligible for expedited service get
  benefits within 7 days from the date of
  application. Households are eligible for
  expedited service if they
• Have less than 150 gross monthly income and
  liquid resources of no more than 100 or
• Are a destitute migrant or seasonal farmworker
  household and have liquid resources of no more
  than 100 or
• Have combined monthly gross income and liquid
  resources of less than the households monthly
  shelter costs.

14
Eligibility Requirements

• To qualify for Food Stamp Program benefits, most
  households must meet certain resource and income
  limits
• Resource limit2,000 (3,000 if a member is 60
  or older or disabled)
• Cash, bank accounts, IRAs, bonds
• Nonexempt vehicles (exclude first 4,650 of FMV)
• House or personal effects are not counted as
  resources
• Income limitsvary according to household size
• Gross monthly income - 130 percent of poverty
  (1,994 for 4 in FY 04)
• Net monthly income - 100 percent of poverty
  (1,534 for 4) (Net is gross, less allowable
  deductions)

Note that homes are excluded as resources. A
homeless family that lives in their car can have
their vehicle excluded as it is their home.
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Benefits

• Benefit level
• Maximum allotment based on Thrifty Food Plan
  (gives 471 for 4)
• Deduct 30 percent of net income from maximum
  allotment
• A household with 0 net income gets the maximum
  benefit
• FSP - Fact Sheet on Resources, Income, and
  Benefits
• Benefit issuance
• Households eligible for FS get their benefits
  through an Electronic Benefit Transfer (EBT) card
• Bost and EBT Card
• FSP - Food Stamp Program State-by-State EBT Map

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Access Issues

• The issues that homeless families face in
  accessing the Food Stamp Program occur on three
  basic levels
• Client level
• Service level
• Policy level.

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Access IssuesClient Level

• Client level issues in accessing food stamps
  include
• Lack of identification
• Lack of mailing address
• Lack of transportation
• Lack of information about the program
• Low literacy level.

18
Access IssuesService Level

• Service-level access issues include
• Complex, lengthy applications that are difficult
  for clients to complete
• Not screening for expedited service or issuing
  expedited benefits
• Misapplication of policy such as
• Applying ABAWD policy to a disabled person
• If an ABAWD, not putting homeless client under
  15 ABAWD exemption or Labor Surplus Area waiver
• Pending case for verification thats not needed
  to determine eligibility (such as a photo ID).

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Access IssuesService Level

• Service-level access issues include
• Incorrectly denying benefits because the client
• Lacks a permanent address or
• Resides in a shelter that provides meals
• Doesnt have a photo ID
• Lack of sensitivity of some caseworkers.

20
Access IssuesPolicy Level

• The primary access issue at the policy
  level is that federal regulations prohibit the
  purchase of hot foods and hot food products
  prepared for immediate consumption. It would
  take an act of Congress to change this rule.
• Currently, some homeless clients can
  purchase hot food through restaurants that are
  authorized meal providers. To become a homeless
  meal provider, restaurants contract with the
  appropriate State agency to serve meals to
  homeless persons at low or reduced prices.
  However, very few restaurants in the U.S. are
  authorized meal providers.

• Examples of reduced prices include, but are not
  limited to, a percentage reduction, a set dollar
  amount reduction, a daily special meal, or an
  offer of a free food item or beverage (excluding
  alcohol).

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Improving Access

• Service Level
• Shorten and simplify application forms
• Issue expedited benefits the same day client
  applies
• Train staff on correct FS policy -
• IDs that are acceptable
• Clients residing in shelters that provide meals
  can get FS
• Take advantage of available exemptions or waivers
• Improve outreach

A States best practice New Hampshire has a
nutrition education brochure that teaches
homeless people what they can buy with food
stamps that doesnt require a stove to prepare or
a refrigerator to store. The brochure is provided
in places where homeless people congregate, such
as soup kitchens, food pantries, and emergency
shelters.   NH also has a bookmark slip of
paper that states boldly YOU DONT NEED AN
ADDRESS TO APPLY FOR FOOD STAMPS. CALL
1-800-852-3345 EXTENSION 4238. As Community
Action Agency homeless outreach workers find
homeless campsites or people on the streets, they
leave this slip.
22
Improving Access

• Policy LevelPolicies already in place
  that States can take advantage of include
• Simplified housing costs for homeless
  peopleallows States to use a homeless shelter
  deduction of 143 for homeless households with
  some shelter expenses http//www.fns.usda.gov/fsp/
  rules/Memo/Support/03/State_Options/second/simplif
  ied-housing.htm (Ohio South Carolina have
  since been added)
• Waiverscan waive the ABAWD time limit if the
  client lives in an area that has an unemployment
  rate over 10 percent or an insufficient number of
  jobs (e.g. designated as an LSA or average
  unemployment rate is 20 percent above the
  national average for a 24-month period)

Coming Soon FNS Homeless Access Guide!
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Improving Access

• Policy LevelPolicies already in place
  that States can take advantage of include
• Exemptions15 ABAWD, disability, drug and
  alcohol, and others
• Semiannual reporting (SR)allows States to extend
  semi-annual reporting of changes to all
  households not exempt from periodic reporting. SR
  Households only have to report when income
  exceeds the gross income limits.
• Relevant Links
• FNS http//www.fns.usda.gov/fsp/default.htm
• Informational materials http//www.fns.usda.gov
  /fsp/info.htm

Coming Soon FNS Homeless Access Guide!
24
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