Largest deployment ever

Officials with the Florida Department of Children and Families say Hurricane Irma produced the largest distribution of emergency food aid in the nation’s history.

The program is mostly funded by the federal government, but the state runs it.

The Disaster Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or D-SNAP, provides food assistance to people who have sustained losses in a disaster but don’t normally get food stamps. The average household received $862 through the program, according to DCF.

The federal government handed out nearly twice as much in emergency food stamps to Floridians affected by Hurricane Irma than it did for Hurricane Harvey, according to statistics compiled by DCF. The total for Irma was five times higher than the amount given out for Hurricane Katrina.

DCF Secretary Mike Carroll told state lawmakers that while some people probably did abuse the program, he thinks the overwhelming majority of applicants needed the assistance and were truthful. He attributed the huge turnout to the vast swath of Florida affected by the hurricane — from the Keys to Jacksonville.

As signups wrapped up in South Florida this week, Carroll said adjustments need to be made at the federal level to streamline the process.

“We think we can work with the feds to get as many folks served as we got served, but do it in a better way that doesn’t come with all the logistical nightmares,” Carroll said.

Federal guidelines require 500 applications to be reviewed for fraud after the program concludes, along with all applications submitted by state employees. A New Jersey review after Hurricane Irene in 2011 found about 1 in 5 households that received the benefit were ineligible.

Those who were ineligible can be forced to pay back their benefits and charged with a felony if it’s shown they committed fraud.

Craig Gundersen, a professor at the University of Illinois and expert on the food stamp program, said he thinks the large turnout shows how successful the program has been in helping working families get back on their feet.

He doesn’t think additional verifications are needed, and he sees the crowds as an indication of how many people live on the edge of financial disaster in Florida. He said most studies have shown fraud is rare in the food stamp program nationwide.

“If somebody is waiting in line that long, they clearly need the benefits,” Gundersen said. “Most people aren’t going to wait that long for benefits if they don’t really need it.”

Eligibility for the program is determined by taking a family’s monthly income plus cash on hand and subtracting storm-related expenses, which can include evacuation costs, property protection expenses and food loss. The monthly income is based on earnings during the time of the hurricane and can account for lost wages because of storm closures.

For a family of four, this monthly disaster income — which accounts for stormrelated expenses and savings in the bank — must be less than $2,710 to qualify, according to federal guidance.