Advocates seek food program changes

LITTLE ROCK — A recently published report states that another 150,000 or so Arkansans are estimated to be dealing with food shortages during the covid-19 pandemic.

The surge of newly food insecure families will be added to the 318,000 or so who already were enrolled in food assistance programs before the crisis began four months ago, according to a report from the Arkansas Advocates for Children and Families.

As a result of that increase, the state Department of Human Services has been providing more benefits to more households, the agency

has announced.

Still, Arkansas Advocates for Children and Families has urged the state to eliminate policies making it more challenging for out-of-work parents to provide food for themselves and for everyone in their household. Specifically, the group wants to end the practice of setting an “asset limit” capping on the amount of money people have in the bank to be eligible for relief, said Laura Kellams, the advocacy group’s Northwest Arkansas director, who authored the report that came out earlier this month.

Such a policy change requires a legislative vote, but

the Human Services department said it has allowed families enrolled in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, to continue receiving assistance, spokeswoman Amy Webb said. She added more of those families are now eligible to receive the maximum amount.

“[We] have been providing Emergency Supplemental SNAP to families who are already on the program, which gives the maximum amount of benefit for their household,” Webb said. “We’ve done this every month of the public health emergency so far and will do so in August.”

Additionally, the department has continued to provide money for families whose children were enrolled in the free-and-reduced-lunch

program when schools closed in mid-March, she said. That relief has continued for roughly 300,000 families in Arkansas, about 200,000 of which were not originally enrolled in SNAP, according to the Department of Human Services.

Webb added SNAP clients in Arkansas will soon be allowed to have groceries delivered to them through use of the SNAP card.

Webb confirmed the state has seen a noticeable increase in applications since the start of the pandemic.

Arkansas is one of 10 states with an asset limit preventing certain families from taking part in the program, Kellams said.

Families are ineligible for SNAP, according to state law, if they have more than $2,250

in the bank. That cap is raised to $3,500 for those households that include someone with a disability or who is 60 or older, Kellams said.

“As a relatively poor state, we shouldn’t be adding to the burden of food insecurity for Arkansans in the middle of a pandemic,” she said. “These state policies are unnecessary and put us at a disadvantage, now and during the economic recovery to come.”

Webb said there are other programs designed to help needy families during the crisis, including financial assistance for low-income home energy assistance programs and funding for organizations that help the homeless.

Since February, there has already been a 27% increase in SNAP enrollment, Kellams said.