Food Stamp Outreach

Resource Center

States can help get food to needy people by conducting food stamp outreach campaigns. In the current economic recession, states may want to specifically target information about food stamps to laid-off workers who are struggling to pay bills. Matching funds from the federal government will pay half the costs of outreach. And, because food stamp coupons are funded entirely with federal dollars, each household enrolled in the program will provide a direct economic stimulus to the state. The average food stamp household receives $158 in benefits per month. By enrolling 1000 new households in the food stamp program, a state can bring $158,000 federal dollars into its economy per month or $1,896,000 in a year. And these dollars have a "multiplier effect" that really doubles the impact on local economic activity.

There are many food stamp eligible people who are not currently participating in the program. This often occurs because people do not know they are eligible. According to USDA, only 57% of food stamp eligible individuals participated in the program in FY 1999, this is down from 74% in 1996. A report by Mathematica Inc. identified a lack of client information as a barrier to participation by eligible persons: among non-participating people eligible for food stamps, nearly three-quarters were not aware they were eligible.

Effective outreach could include public education campaigns, where information is delivered through flyers, posters, public service announcements, and an information hotline is used to answer questions. State agencies can also partner with community organizations such as food banks, agencies on aging, and schools who can provide information or application assistance. Some states and localities also enlist TANF recipients to serve as food stamp outreach workers.

States can also target food stamp outreach to recently unemployed people by providing informational materials or out-stationing food stamp eligibility workers at places where displaced workers go such as the unemployment compensation offices, job placement services, or bill payment counseling offices.

States may also want to target their outreach efforts to populations with low food stamp participation rates (the percent of food stamp eligible people who actually participate in the program). According to USDA, only 43% of households with earnings, 32% of the elderly, and 48% of non-citizens eligible for food stamps participated in the program in FY 1999.

FRAC INFORMATION:

Resources for Outreach on Legal Immigrant Food Stamp Restorations

  Good Choices in Hard Times: Fifteen Ways to Reduce Hunger and Stimulate the Economy

  FRAC's Food Stamps for Legal Immigrants Resource Center

  FRAC's Food Stamps for the Elderly Resource Center

  FRAC's Guide To Food Stamp Outreach

USDA LINKS:

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