FRAC - Report: "Advocate’s Guide to the Disaster Food Stamp Program"

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE	CONTACT: Ellen Vollinger
THURSDAY, JULY 21, 2005	PHONE: 202-986-2200 x3016

FOOD STAMP PROGRAM PROVIDES MAJOR RELIEF
IN WAKE OF DISASTERS

NEW FRAC GUIDE RECOMMENDS WAYS TO MAXIMIZE NUTRITION ASSISTANCE TO LOW-INCOME PEOPLE AND THEIR COMMUNITIES IN EVENT OF DISASTER

Read the report: "Advocate’s Guide to the Disaster Food Stamp Program"

One main strength of the Food Stamp Program is its ability to respond to changes in need in a timely fashion, whether those changes are precipitated by economic downturns or disaster situations. FRAC’s new “Advocate’s Guide to the Disaster Food Stamp Program” outlines the ways that federal, state, and local officials, local non-profits and others concerned about the aftermath of disasters can maximize nutrition assistance for needy families.

While other relief efforts often get more attention, the Disaster Food Stamp Program (DFSP) can provide significant relief to disaster victims and their communities. For example, the DFSP provided more than $229 million in assistance in over seven weeks in Florida after Hurricanes Ivan, Frances, Charley and Jeanne in 2004; $78 million total in Maryland, District of Columbia, Virginia and North Carolina after Hurricane Isabel in 2003; and nearly $14 million after an ice storm in Oklahoma in 2001. Other recent uses of the program after floods, forest fires, the 9/11 attack in New York and other disasters are described in the FRAC Guide.

The infusion of federal disaster food stamp benefits helps people meet their most urgent needs and can assist local economies rebounding from disasters. Each dollar in federal food stamp spending generates nearly twice that amount in economic activity.

The FRAC Guide reviews the policy options available under federal law, analyzes recent disaster responses, and recommends best practices for disaster planning. By becoming familiar beforehand with DFSP rules and policy options, developing positive working relationships with food stamp officials, and acting quickly when a disaster strikes, officials and advocates can help ensure that low-income people receive the food assistance they need at such precarious times.

The FRAC Guide was authored by Shawn Powers, FRAC’s Congressional Hunger Center Emerson Fellow.

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FRAC ( www.frac.org) is the leading national organization working for more effective public and private policies to eradicate domestic hunger and undernutrition.