The Weekly Food Research and Action Center News Digest highlights what's new on hunger, nutrition and poverty issues at FRAC, at the U.S. Department of Agriculture, around the network of national, state and local anti-poverty and anti-hunger organizations, and in the media. The Digest will alert you to trends, reports, news items and resources and, when available, link you directly to them.

1. D.C. Slow to Implement Changes to SNAP/Food Stamp Eligibility Limit
(DCfoodforall blog, January 12, 2010)

Washington, D.C. passed legislation last year raising the SNAP/Food Stamp eligibility limit from 130 percent of the federal poverty level to 200 percent, which will make many more residents eligible for the benefit. However, the Department of Human Service’s (DHS) computer system has not been changed accordingly. It was supposed to put the new percentage in effect October 1, then was delayed to January; further delays are onhand, writes Stacy Braverman, the Sutherland Law Fellow at Bread for the City. “In the meantime, many of our neighbors are in great need of this additional assistance.” She calls on the Income Maintenance Administration, the SNAP/Food Stamp administering agency within DHS, to make the change as soon as possible, “or at the very least let the public know what, exactly, is causing the delays.” This change would help residents struggling with high costs. For example, one woman who was previously turned down lives on fixed Social Security Disability Insurance and has multiple sclerosis, which makes cooking difficult. She didn’t have much left for food after paying rent and utilities in this expensive city, but her income is over the 130 percent threshold. “These households may have extremely low – or no – income left after those bills are paid,” notes Braverman, “yet they haven’t been able to access a program described in a recent New York Times article as a ‘vital safety net.’”

2. Recession, Law Change Raises SNAP/Food Stamp Participation in Pennsylvania
(Allentown Morning Call, January 4, 2010; GoErie.com, January 17, 2010)

Pennsylvania’s increased participation in the SNAP/Food Stamp program isn’t entirely bad news, noted Stacey Witalec of the state’s Department of Public Welfare. The state raised the eligibility ceiling in July 2009, which made 74,136 people eligible for the benefit. “It just makes families healthier,” said Witalec, as the expanded eligibility means more children can get the food they need to succeed in school. In September, the average monthly benefit was $264 per household. The recession has also boosted participation; in Erie County, participation spiked 30 percent from November 2007 to November 2009, with SNAP/Food Stamps going to 49,000 residents, 17.5 percent of the county’s population (the highest in history, according to county officials). “Without food stamps, we wouldn’t be able to make it,” said Erie resident Roberta Snyder, a 45-year-old nurses’ aide who has been out of work since May. Her husband, an unemployed window installer, suffers from epilepsy. Six million people in the U.S. report that SNAP/Food Stamps are their only income, according to a recent New York Times poll. One in eight Americans, and one in four children, now receive SNAP/Food Stamps.

3. SNAP/Food Stamp Privatization Problems in Texas Cost the State
(Dallas Morning News, January 12, 2010)

U.S. Agriculture Undersecretary Kevin Concannon met in Austin recently with Texas Health and Human Services (HHS) executive commissioner Tom Suchs and leaders running 300 local welfare offices to discuss the state’s privatized SNAP/Food Stamp system – which has, according the undersecretary, punished middle-class Texans who have lost their jobs and have tried to sign up for the benefit, by creating long wait times for them to find out if they’re eligible. Although Concannon said there have been some improvements, “we’re not about to award any gold ribbons at this point,” he added, referring to a threat last fall to cut $173 million from the state’s SNAP/Food Stamp administration budget if the state doesn’t speed up applications. He noted that the state hired 700 more field staff employees, and applicants in big-city offices no longer have to wait two months for interviews. But he was critical of the state’s plan to continue fingerprinting applicants, and mentioned that four years ago, the state waived that requirement after Hurricane Katrina victims fled to Texas. Concannon feels the state’s faulty privatization system, coupled with the recession, created a hurricane-like disaster. “I’m very frustrated,” he said. “I grew up as a child being taught that the federal law applied to all of us, not just some parts of the U.S. Texans ought to be able to expect that they would be treated in the very same way that people up in Washington state [or] Florida [or] Maryland or any other state who come forward and apply…And currently, it can’t be said that they are.” Texas, which had in the 1990s one of the quickest and most accurate SNAP/Food Stamp processing systems, would add 650,000 people a month to the SNAP/Food Stamp Program – “half of whom are children,” said Concannon – if the state would raise its participation to the national rate of 67 percent; currently, SNAP/Food Stamps only go to 55 percent of those eligible. The addition would provide the state’s economy with $1 billion in additional federal funding. “We have proof, both here in Texas and in Indiana and Colorado and some other states, where over-dependence on privatization has been a failure,” he said. He also noted that the state’s WIC program, run by the Department of State Health Services, is much stronger than the SNAP/Food Stamp Program.

4. SNAP/Food Stamp Participation Increases in Vermont, Still More Can Benefit
(Burlington Free Press, January 10, 2010)

One in eight Vermonters – 73 percent of residents - now benefit from the 3SquaresVT Program (the state’s name for SNAP/Food Stamps), an 80 percent increase over the last four years. In November it was the only income for 1 in 12 (7,139) residents, according to the state’s Department of Children and Families. However, according to one USDA report, one quarter of those eligible for the program have not applied, although another USDA study found that 14,000 Vermont households are experiencing severe food shortages. Another study shows that Vermont had the highest increase – up 15.5 percent from last year – in the number of children (15,000) eating free school breakfast. “3SquaresVT is the most responsive safety net program helping people in this recession,” said Angela Smith-Dieng, a policy specialist with the Vermont Campaign to End Childhood Hunger.

5. Ex-Felons in New Jersey Allowed SNAP/Food Stamps
(NJ.com, January 18, 2010)

Legislation signed by Governor Jon Corzine will allow ex-offenders in New Jersey to receive SNAP/Food Stamps. The law change is part of three bills making it easier for ex-felons to re-enter life outside prison, and mandates that job training programs be available for all ex-prisoners.

6. Connecticut’s 211 SNAP/Food Stamp Referrals Skyrocketed in Number Last Year
(Hartford Courant, January 14, 2010)

Connecticut’s 211 phone line, run by the United Way, made more than 14,000 referrals for SNAP/Food Stamps in 2009, almost double the number made in 2008. In addition, more than 40 percent of those seeking SNAP/Food Stamp information were making their first 211 call. The unemployed made up nearly a quarter of SNAP/Food Stamp calls. Also in 2009, 41 percent of all referrals were for basic needs services; assistance seekers wanted help paying for utilities, finding housing, and were searching for financial assistance, food resources and public assistance programs. The phone line fielded more than 360,000 calls in 2009 (8 percent more than in 2008), and made nearly 500,000 referrals (6 percent more than 2008); the Web site received 525,000 visits, an increase of 46 percent over the previous year. United Way’s 211 line in Connecticut has been serving the state for over 30 years.

7. Vanderbilt Medical Students Take SNAP/Food Stamp Challenge
(The Tennessean, January 13, 2010)

Vanderbilt School of Medicine’s entire second-year class recently spent five days on the SNAP/Food Stamp Challenge, eating on $16.97, a SNAP/Food Stamp recipient’s average five-day grocery budget. The participants tried to spend $1 per meal while eating “three square meals a day,” in order to gain insight into the challenges their patients may be facing every day. “Any time you can get into the shoes of your patient, it’s valuable,” said Challenge participant David Marcovitz. “It’s so important for doctors who want to focus on more than just fixing the problem in front of them.” One in six Tennesseans, more than a million total, receive SNAP/Food Stamps. “A clinic that sees 3,500 people a day, of that number probably 600 patients will be on food stamps,” said professor Lynn Webb, who organized the challenge. The 105 students in the class struggled. “I was trying to eat the kinds of things I ate before – breakfast was cereal, milk and blueberries – but I couldn’t do it,” said Marcovitz. “You can get in all your fruits and vegetables but end up eating about 1,200 calories,” said Megan Culler, “or you can get in more calories.” Culler opted for the healthier strategy, which often left her hungry. One student noted “For the first time, I am realizing how it feels to be hungry.”

8. FRAC Resources Can Assist 2015 End Childhood Hunger Goal
(PAChurchesAdvocacy.org, January 12, 2010)

Resources from the Food Research and Action Center can help connect the SNAP/Food Stamp Challenge to the 2015 goal of ending childhood hunger. The Food Stamp Challenge Toolkit (pdf) has examples of past Challenges that promoted program improvements. The FRAC Web site has more information about the SNAP/Food Stamp Challenge. Additional resources include FRAC’s comprehensive 2015 policy recommendations and the organization’s 2015 blog; advocates can order “End Childhood Hunger 2015” buttons on the FRAC Web site.

9. All Houston ISD Elementary and Middle Schools Now Serve In-Classroom Breakfast
(Houston Chronicle, January 14, 2010)

Forty elementary and middle schools in Houston, Texas’s Independent School District (HISD) already serve breakfast in the classroom; starting this month, ten campuses a week will be added to the program. The program offers free breakfast to any student during the first 20 minutes of the school day. HISD schools serving breakfast in the classroom report an 80 percent participation rate, compared with the 30 percent eating breakfast before class in the district’s other schools. Michael Walker, principal of Fondren Elementary School, sees the program as an investment. The school’s student body is nearly 100 percent low-income children, who would probably not receive the morning meal without the school’s help. “You’re losing instructional time when they’re hungry and acting out,” said Walker. Fondren began serving in-classroom breakfast after having to turn away many hungry students who arrived too late for breakfast in the cafeteria.

10. School Lunch Improvement Helps Improve School Financially
(Berkeley Daily Planet, January 14, 2010)

California’s Berkeley Unified School District (BUSD) serves school lunches that are “freshly made or assembled, locally grown or produced, and as organic as possible,” writes Beebo Turman, Project Director of the Berkeley Community Gardening Cooperative, in this commentary. The improvements started in 2005, when Ann Cooper was hired as Director of Nutrition Services with support from the Chez Panisse Foundation. Cooper made dramatic changes: “She hired and trained staff, found ways to cook fresh meals, researched and bought produce from new vendors, and bought better milk for our children.” In the past, $310,000 from the district’s general fund was needed to support Nutrition Services, but this year “Nutrition Services is selling enough meals to make money at every school.” Students like the food so much they either purchase it or sign up for free and reduced price lunch.

11. 6 in 10 Texas Schoolchildren are from Low-Income Families
(MySanantonio.com, January 2, 2010)

A state report shows that six in 10 public school children in Texas are from low-income families; last year, poor children comprised 57 percent of the state’s school enrollment, an increase from 48 percent in the 1998-99 school year. This increase, noted in a study by the Texas Education Agency, coincides with a spike in the number of Hispanic students. Children were identified as poor if they received free or reduced-price school lunch. A family of four eligible for that benefit would have an annual income of $40,793. The average household income in Texas will drop in the coming years, forecasts Steve Murdock, previous director of the U.S. Census Bureau and the former state demographer. Scott McCown, executive director of the Austin-based Center for Public Policy Priorities, said the state should do whatever it takes to train the youth population into a skilled workforce. “But we are just not doing that,” he said. “We are not supporting public education in a way that we need to really prepare this emerging demographic.”

12. Many U.S.-Born Children of Undocumented Immigrants Miss Out on Benefits in Arizona
(Arizona Republic, January 1, 2010)

Many U.S.-born children of undocumented immigrants are eligible for SNAP/Food Stamps, health services and other assistance, but are not getting the aid, as their undocumented parents are afraid to apply and risk deportation. A new Arizona law requires that state welfare workers report undocumented immigrants to federal authorities; workers face a misdemeanor charge if they don’t report suspected undocumented immigrants. This has slowed the number of undocumented immigrants coming into Arizona, but it’s also “a de facto denial of benefits for children who are eligible,” said Daniel Ortega, a Phoenix lawyer and immigrant advocate. “Unfortunately they are caught in a tough place,” said State Rep. Nancy Barto (R-Phoenix), who backed the law and chairs the House Health and Human Services Committee. “I just think they will have to depend on friends and family and the private sector (for assistance). There are other resources they can take advantage of that don’t involve the taxpayer.” Barto thinks that one of the goals of the new law is to make undocumented parents afraid to apply for their children’s benefits. Stephen Meissner of the Department of Economic Security said that the law states workers must only ask applicants of their legal status if they are applying for benefits for themselves, not their children. An information bulletin from DES states “Only when they declare that they are in the United States illegally or the agency receives documentation from (U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services) that they are in violation of immigration law, must a referral be sent to (the Office of Special Investigations).” Ortega said that numerous undocumented parents told him they were questioned about their status when they tried to apply for their children’s benefits; immigrant advocates are advising undocumented parents not to answer questions about their status. Still, Tara McCollum Plese, director of government and media relations for the Arizona Association of Community Health Centers, notes “I am hearing from a lot of our health clinics that they have seen a real precipitous drop in the demand for services.” She thinks that people are staying away because they fear being reported. Consequently, she fears that children may be missing out on swine-flu vaccines because of the fear. DES workers reported the names of 772 people seeking public benefits and believed to be undocumented immigrants, in the first three weeks after the law took effect. Recent data shows that rate has decreased significantly.

13. HHS Releases LIHEAP Funds to States
(Congress Daily, January 13, 2010)

HHS released $1.2 billion in Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) funds to states in order to help low-income families pay their energy bills. The program was allocated at $5.1 billion for FY 2010; this release was the second installment of funds. According to Reuters, HHS will likely release additional emergency funds in the next few weeks. Because of the cold weather and the recession, a group of 48 Senators led by Senators Jack Reed (D-RI) and Olympia Snowe (R-ME) have urged the Obama Administration to release emergency funding as soon as possible. (Full article available by subscription.)

14. Poverty Has Negative Effect on Lifespan
(Business Week, January 4, 2010)

A study by researchers at Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health found that people with earnings in the bottom third of the U.S. population – or up to twice the federal poverty level – lost 8.2 years of “perfect health.” Perfect health is a measure that includes health and life expectancy. Smokers lost 6.6 years, and obesity was linked to 4.2 lost years; high school dropouts lost 5.1 years. The study, in the December issue of the American Journal of Public Health, analyzed data from previous national studies measuring health and life expectancy. “While public health policy needs to continue its focus on risky health behaviors and obesity, it should redouble its efforts on non-medical factors, such as high school graduation and poverty-reduction programs,” said lead study author Dr. Peter Muennig, assistant professor of health policy and management at the Mailman School.

15. Detroit’s Out-of-Work Nears 50 Percent
(The Detroit News, December 16, 2010)

The number of Detroit residents affected by the recession and out-of-work is close to 45 percent of its labor force, if the numbers include those who work part-time but want full-time work, those who have given up their search, and the unemployed who have gone back to school. The official rate for the city in October was 27 percent. The unemployment rate for Michigan was 12.6 percent last September, according to estimates from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Adding in workers negatively affected by the recession, as in Detroit, and the state unemployment rate rises to 20.9 percent, 66 percent higher than the official rate.