By JAN McLAUGHLIN
BG Independent News
With time ticking away for federal SNAP food benefits, Ohio’s governor and Republican legislators today approved a stopgap measure for feeding the state’s poorest residents.
While it offers some help, the executive order is a pittance compared to the need.
Here’s the math:
- Gov. Mike DeWine’s executive order would direct the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services to allocate $7 million to regional food banks using Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) funds and up to $18 million in emergency relief benefits to more than 63,000 Ohioans – including more than 57,000 children – who are at or below 50% of the federal poverty level.
- Approximately 1.4 million Ohioans receive SNAP benefits, averaging $190 a month per person.
- That adds up to a total of $264 million in food benefits from SNAP each month in Ohio.
“It’s not big enough,” Director Wood County Job and Family Services Director Dave Wigent said late Thursday afternoon as the news broke from the governor’s office.
SNAP benefits cut off
Dave Wigent, at the local Job and Family Services Department, has little hope of a real solution from the state before the federally imposed Nov. 1 cut off.
“I have no information that the state is coming to the rescue,” he said Thursday morning. “There will be no new issuances next month.”
That creates a few primary concerns – families going hungry, food pantries being depleted, and security issues for JFS staff.
“I think you’re going to see a run on the food banks, and we’re going to be seeing some very angry clients,” Wigent said. Consequently, security at the Wood County JFS building in Bowling Green will be beefed up while the program goes without funding, he said.
As of Saturday, Nov. 1, approximately 7,315 Wood County residents who receive help through the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program will lose that aid. The amount issued in Wood County last month through the local SNAP program was $1,154,630.
“We would be losing $1 million a month,” Wigent said last week. That would be impossible for the county to make up. “It’s not going to be replaced” and families will face hunger, he said.
While Wigent heard the SNAP issue was the topic of much discussion in Columbus last week, no real solutions were agreed upon.
“I’m not hearing there’s a political will to do this,” he said, especially since the federal government likely won’t reimburse states that take over SNAP funding.
Wigent’s office has, however, received word that staff must continue accepting SNAP applications, even though those who quality won’t get any assistance. That will become a hardship for JFS offices since they are scheduled to run out of administrative funding by mid-November, he said.
Keeping students nourished
With a large portion of Bowling Green City School District students being served by SNAP, the loss of that program is concerning to school officials.
“We’re always concerned about our students coming to school hungry,” BG Superintendent Ted Haselman said Thursday.
But the school district will remain a steady source of nutrition for those students whose families lose SNAP funds, he assured.
“Any student who qualified for SNAP will continue to get free meals for the entire school year,” Haselman said. “We don’t turn anybody away. If they are hungry, we don’t turn anyone away.”
Tabitha Hiler-Young, food services director for Bowling Green City Schools, said the free and reduced meals will still be available through funding from the Ohio Department of Education’s Office of Nutrition.
As of Thursday, 38.91% of BG City Schools students qualified – that’s about 1,000 who get free or reduced breakfasts or lunches based on their families’ incomes, Hiler-Young said.
“They can apply at any time,” either online or at any of the district’s school buildings, she said.
In cases where students have little to eat over the weekends or in the summer, the school district works with the Children’s Hunger Alliance to send home boxes of food to fill the gaps, Haselman and Hiler-Young stressed.
Families in the district are also made aware of other resources in their communities, with information dispersed by the schools:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/15eTg516HBdfTpbQ19vourCDHvT_Y-VZY/edit
Hunger on BGSU campus
With the SNAP cuts looming, Dr. Shannon Orr, director of the Falcon Food Pantry at Bowling Green State University, has been approached by students worried about their ability to stay in school.
The pantry serves about 1,300 students a month.
“We are seeing a record number of students and a record number of new students,” Orr said Thursday afternoon. “We know we are breaking records.”
When the federal shutdown began, Orr realized demands on food banks would likely grow.
“We started preparing for this three weeks ago,” she said. “Right now we are in a pretty good place – after stockpiling.”
While the vast majority of pantry consumers are students, some staff and faculty also come to the program for food.
“We’re open to anyone on campus,” Orr said.
Orr is trying to spread the word that the facility in Central Hall is available to those in need. The food pantry operates on donations from alumni, faculty and staff, and occasional food drives.
“We’re cautiously optimistic we can ride this out and support our students,” she said.
Orr also stressed that those picking up food should feel no shame or worry about taking food from others with greater needs. The pantry is for all in need, she said. All BGSU students, faculty and staff are welcome to come once a week to pick up a bag of food.
Monetary donations can be made at: https://www.givecampus.com/campaigns/48174/donations/new (search for food insecurity fund)
Needs across communities
The loss of funding for food is expected to put more demands on local food pantries, churches and community organizations that are already stretched thin.
“Our numbers have been going up. People are concerned,” Peg Holland of the Brown Bag Food Project in Bowling Green, said last week.
And with Thanksgiving approaching, higher demands are already expected.
At the same time, Brown Bag is getting less and less from the area food banks, since those programs rely on food from the U.S.D.A.
“They are cutting those funds,” Amy Jo Holland said.
The federal government has been shut down since Oct. 1, and the U.S. Department of Agriculture said in a letter there “will be insufficient funds to pay full November SNAP benefits for approximately 42 million individuals across the nation” if the shutdown continues.
The federal SNAP cuts could potentially mean 580,000 Ohio children, 200,000 senior citizens, and 45,000 veterans will lose benefits for basic access to food. To qualify, a family of four must have an income below $32,150 a year.
On Wednesday, Ohio Senate Democrats proposed amending a bill to authorize the state of Ohio to use its nearly $4 billion “rainy day” or Budget Stabilization Fund to continue funding SNAP benefits in Ohio in the event of a federal lapse.
The amendment was voted down by the Senate along party lines, 23-to-9. Democrats put up a similar proposal in the House, which was also shot down by the controlling Republican supermajority.
