Questions remain on food stamp program
Advocates look for answer to Florida’s work requirements
For the hundreds of thousands of “able-bodied adults” relying on food stamps during the coronavirus pandemic, it’s unclear whether Florida officials will once again require them to work or search for work despite soaring unemployment levels, advocates said Wednesday.
The waiver of work requirements had been set to expire June 30 — the date still listed on the Florida Department of Children and Families website Wednesday afternoon. The agency, which administers the federally funded government benefit, has issued no news releases on the subject and has not answered inquiries from lawmakers and nonprofit leaders.
Under pre-pandemic rules, Florida’s food stamp program requires adults 18 to 49 without physical or mental disabilities to document that they’re spending at least 80 hours a month working, looking for work or volunteering. Exemptions can be made for pregnant or homeless people or those re
sponsible for the care of a dependent child under age 6 or an incapacitated adult.
“I have emailed DCF staff multiple times since the end of June about this — and I still can’t get a clear answer,” said state Rep. Anna Eskamani, D-Orlando, who also has been pushing for the state to ease its recertification requirements for unemployment, food stamps and temporary cash assistance during the economic crisis spawned by COVID-19. “I’m very, very concerned. There are thousands and thousands of families that are potentially at risk right now.”
The work requirements, if reinstated, would come as the demand for food and food stamps is hitting record levels in Central Florida. In Orange County alone, some 270,000 residents received food stamps in May, the most recent month available, a 40% increase over the same time a year ago. And food pantries and school district meal programs are also serving an unprecedented number of families.
“In June, we provided more than 1 million meals, and we’re set to top that in July,” said Lora Gilbert, senior director of food and nutrition services for Orange County Public Schools. “We’ve had people go through the [grab-andgo meal distribution] line and say, ‘You know what? I have nothing left at home.’”
Several inquiries of DCF went unanswered Wednesday. A spokesman said he was seeking clarification on the subject but did not reply further.
At Second Harvest Food Bank of Central Florida, staffers were equally uncertain whether the work rules had been reinstated.
“It doesn’t seem like anybody [with DCF] has actually confirmed, but we’re obviously very concerned,” said Kelly Quintero, the nonprofit agency’s director of advocacy and government relations. “We’re already doing what we can, but charity cannot fight hunger alone.”
Second Harvest employees who help applicants file for food stamps — known officially as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program or SNAP — have not yet had clients turned down for lack of documentation on work. The food bank is providing 300,000 meals a day to Central Florida residents, roughly double its daily distribution before the crisis hit, and Quintero said food insecurity now impacts one in six adults and one in every three children in the region.
“Those are really shocking numbers,” she said. “We [would] absolutely see an increase of those in need” if the work requirements are restarted.
Second Harvest and its national association of food banks, Feeding America, are lobbying lawmakers to increase SNAP benefits by 15% during economic downturns. Many seniors, for instance, though spared the work requirement, receive only the minimum benefit of $16 a month.
Cindy Huddleston, a senior policy analyst for the Florida Policy Institute — an independent research nonprofit — said she was told in a phone conversation with a DCF official that the work requirement was being reinstated. But she hopes the state will reconsider.
Not only is the requirement itself unrealistic given the current economy, she said, but, as the state’s unemployment benefits web portal fiasco demonstrated, just filing the documents required can be an insurmountable hurdle.
“It’s very scary,” she said. “What ends up happening is that a lot of people lose their benefits for reasons that have nothing to do with eligibility. It’s especially a challenge for families who are not able to use a computer to file their applications or who don’t have internet access, which a lot of low-income residents don’t. They rely on their cell phones.”