SNAP benefits to expand to 44,000 additional state residents

An additional 44,000 Connecticut residents will soon be eligible for food assistance under new eligibility rules, Gov. Ned Lamont announced this week.

Beginning Oct. 1, residents will qualify for the state’s Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program if their monthly income is at or below 200 percent of the federal poverty line, equating to about $2,265 for a single person or $4,625 for a four-person household. Previously, families qualified for SNAP only if their monthly income was at or below 185 percent of the poverty line.

Additionally, an annual costof-living increase will result in a 12.5 percent increase in benefits for current SNAP enrollees, the state announced.

“Expanding the eligibility levels will enable a greater number of individuals and families to qualify for this program and ensure increased access to quality, nutritious food at Connecticut supermarkets, grocery stores, and farmers markets,” Lamont said in a statement. “By continuing our partnership with the federal government, actions like this will help in our efforts to combat hunger and food insecurity.”

This increase in SNAP eligibility comes as one recent survey from the New Haven-based nonprofit DataHaven found that 17 percent of Connecticut adults have been unable to afford food at some point in the past 12 months, the highest total in the five years DataHaven has conducted its annual survey.

Jason Jakubowski, president and CEO of Connecticut Foodshare, said the rise in food insecurity is evident at food banks, where demand has increased amid inflation and the expiration of the expanded child tax credit and other federal benefits.

“[Those benefits were] a lifeline for a lot of families, especially a lot of working families,” Jakubowski said. “We could tell when any one of those benefits expired because we would see an uptick in our lines out at the food trucks or at one of our 600 pantries across the state.”

The federally funded SNAP program serves more than 222,600 households in Connecticut, including 138,800 children, according to state data.

H. John Voorhees III / Hearst Connecticut Media Volunteer C.J. Thomas, of Ridgefield, packs bags of fruit and vegetables last year at St. Andrew’s Church.