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The Center for
Civil Justice Respond to News Report Attacking Food Stamps
In a recent Fox News special called "The Great Food
Stamp Binge," reporters introduced a jobless California surfer who
says he expects taxpayers to pay for his life of beaches and
bar-hopping through food stamps. He was videotaped buying lobster
with his bridge card. The television station also reported that a
Fox News poll found that a majority of people responding believed that
food stamp recipients are taking advantage of the system and are not
truly in need.
In actuality, United States
Department of Agriculture data shows that 92 percent of recipients of
the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, formerly known as
food stamps) are the working poor, senior citizens, children and people
with disabilities. (See next story)
More than 50 million Americans live
in households that can't consistently afford enough food. In
Michigan, one in five people may be going hungry right now.
"SNAP doesn't just hand out
benefits to everyone who applies for the program," explains
Executive Director Terri Stangl, from the Center for Civil Justice
which operates a statewide food assistance helpline. "Before
someone can get SNAP, their income and expenses are documented and the
program looks at what a family has left to spend on food in a given
month after paying certain bills, like housing and child support."
SNAP has one of the highest accuracy
records of any governmental program. Its error rates stand at
record lows. According to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities
(CBPP), fewer than two percent of SNAP benefits are issued to
households that do not meet all of the program's eligibility
requirements. The United States Department of Agriculture reports
that in the fiscal year 2012, the SNAP payment accuracy rate was 96.58
percent - the best on record.
"It's ironic that Congress is
threatening to cut one of the most carefully monitored and error-free
programs in the entire government," says Stangl. "SNAP
is the nation's most effective tool in the fight against
hunger." Stangl also cites a recent national poll which
found that there continues to be high rates of public support for the
SNAP program.
SNAP benefits aren't making anyone
rich either. The average recipient receives about $133.41 a month
- that's only about $4.45 a day. The benefits can only be spent
on unprepared food and non-alcoholic beverages. CCJ works with
the Michigan Poverty Law Program to offer an online calculator where
interested people can run scenarios to get estimates of how many
benefits they can receive each month. See www.foodstamphelp.org
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Don't
"fix" a problem that isn't there, Say Hunger Advocates
80% of State's
Able-bodied Food Stamp Recipients Have Recent Connection to Workforce
As lawmakers continue to debate
whether to cut the food stamp program - now called the Supplemental
Nutrition Assistance Program - recipients, anti-hunger advocates and the
Center for Civil Justice (CCJ) want to make sure it's well-known who
gets SNAP and why. SNAP recipients aren't taking advantage of the
system. According to U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, 92
percent of recipients nationwide are children, the elderly, the
disabled, or people who are already working. The overwhelming
majority of SNAP recipients who can work, are working. People who
voluntarily quit work are disqualified from benefits under current
rules.
Advocates say the SNAP program has grown
in recent years - not because people are avoiding work, but because the
program and community partners are both doing a better job of reaching
out to those who aren't earning enough to make ends meet.
"SNAP is a very important
supplement for working households and for social security benefits that
are too low to pay for all household expenses," says CCJ's
Executive Director Terri Stangl. "The program should not be
attacked because it has been successful for finding and helping those
who it was intended to help. It's helping those who - after
paying housing, childcare and child support expenses - simply don't
have enough money left each month to feed their families."
In Michigan, more than 50 percent of
SNAP households with at least one working-age, non-disabled adult are
receiving income from work. More than 80 percent worked in the
year prior to or go back to work the year after receiving SNAP. The
rates are even higher for families with children - more than 60 percent
work while receiving SNAP and almost 90 percent work in the prior or
subsequent year. SNAP helps both low-wage workers and those who
are between jobs. A recent report by the Washington-based Center
on Budget and Policy Priorities shows the size of SNAP grows when jobs
are scarce and shrinks somewhat after the job market
improves. Click here for details.
"It doesn't make sense for
Congress to be spending a lot of taxpayer money creating and
administering new work rules and the related red tape when most
of the people on the program already are working, soon to return to
work,or have shown themselves unable to work," says Stangl.
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Growth in SNAP
Program Tied to Improved Public Awareness
Some people have
referred to Obama as the "Food Stamp" president because the
number of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP - formerly
known as Food Stamps) participants has grown in recent years.
News syndicate Breitbart reported that in April of this year almost
48-million people are on SNAP - 16 million more than were on food
stamps in 2009.
Those in the trenches know that the
growth in the program is due in large part to greater public awareness
of the program, and how families can use it to supplement low wages and
irregular work hours. "A large part of the increase in SNAP
caseloads is because states like Michigan have had lots of strategies
to reach out to hungry people who are eligible but have previously
fallen through the cracks," says the Center for Civil Justice's
(CCJ) Executive Director Terri Stangl. "There have also been
new and simpler ways for people to apply - online or with the help of a
community organization."
The U. S. Department of Agriculture
(USDA) confirms that factors like increased outreach and improved
access to SNAP have contributed to the rise in participation rates in
the past. The USDA states that aside from increased outreach to
low-income households there have been program simplifications making it
easier for those eligible to apply. Plus, many state SNAP agencies
provide extended hours, waive some face-to-face interviews and have
streamlined parts of the overall application process.
"USDA reports show that the
participation rate of those who are eligible has improved in recent
years," says Stangl. "At the same time, audits show
that the SNAP program is enjoying an all-time record of accuracy.
Audits show that the people who get on are eligible and have proven
they need the help, even under closer-than-usual scrutiny."
The USDA and outside economists agree
that continued SNAP growth is also associated with a sluggish economy
and the program has an historic pattern of declining over time as things
improve.
Click here for more
details.
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A
Personal Story about a Students
Attempt to Get Food Stamps
Part
II
$37 is all that stood between a
Michigan college student and food assistance benefits. We told you
about 29-year-old Jamie Diel in our July newsletter. She's
studying to become a medical laboratory technician. Some day she
wants to be part of the Michigan State Police forensics team.
Jamie is putting herself through college and she only has enough money
to pay for rent so she turned to The Department of Human Services (DHS)
and the Food Assistance Program (FAP).
"I'd go to food pantries to get
food, my dad would help," said Jamie. "Without my
family I would have gone hungry." But she decided last
December not to burden her family any longer, so she applied for food
stamps. She called the Center for Civil Justice's Food and
Nutrition Program helpline for assistance. Attorney Holli Wallace
took her case. After Wallace made a lot of phone calls and
contacted supervisors at DHS, Diel was finally notified that she would
be getting food assistance retroactively.
But the story doesn't end
there. Because DHS took so long to find Diel's paperwork, she
re-applied yet again for FAP. This time in the application,
Diel reported that she had found work. Diel found out that
because she's a post secondary student between the ages of 18 and 49,
federal law says she's not eligible for FAP except under certain
circumstances. The good news is that one of the special
circumstances is being employed. Diel's sister pays her with DHS
childcare assistance to watch her kids while she works. The bad
news is that it turns out that Diel wasn't making enough money to be
eligible for FAP.
DHS pays Diel $1.35 per hour, per
child, to take care of her niece and nephew through the state's Child
Development and Care Program. That totals $108 for 20 hours of
work. The Food Assistance Program rules require that she earns an
amount that equals no less than minimum wage - $7.25 an hour, 20 hours
a week which totals $145. That means she's $37 short of being
eligible for food stamps.
But CCJ staff members don't give up, they discover that
if Diel takes special online training she can increase her earnings by
50 cents per hour to a tier-two salary putting her $3 over what
FAP mandates for eligibility.
"I'm so happy with how
Holli worked, she really helped me out," says Diel. Today,
she's still going to school and refuses to give up on her dream of
being a forensic technician.
As a result of Jamie's experience,
CCJ is trying to make other students aware of how they can combine work
and school to qualify for food assistance. CCJ's helpline
receives calls like Jamie's everyday from people who are frustrated by
their inability to get through the system. CCJ works to ensure
that people receive the help they need and get the benefits for which
they are eligible.
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Have any
Questions or Want to Explore a Topic?
CCJ is looking for your input. If you want
questions answered or if you want us to write about specific topics let
us know. CCJ's newsletter is your newsletter. Let us know
what you're interested in. Contact Kimberlee at: kcharchan@ccj-mi.org.
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One Person can Make a Difference.
Your
donation helps us in the fight against poverty.
For
more information about the
Center for Civil Justice please visit our
website:
click
here
Please continue to support our work by using the
"make a donation" button below.
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OUR HELPLINES
Statewide
Food and Nutrition Programs
1-800-481-4989
Genesee
County
-
Heathcare Eligibility Law Project
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Family Economic Security Project
1-810-244-8044
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"Justice is
Truth in Action" - Benjamin Disraeli
436
S. Saginaw
Flint, Michigan 48502
(810) 244-8044 Ext. 306
800-481-4989
Fax: (810) 244-5550
Contact: Kimberlee
kcharchan@ccj-mi.org
320 S. Washington
Saginaw, Michigan 48607
Fax:
(989) 755-3558
Contact: Marybeth
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