New SNAP rules come as NH struggles to reach thousands eligible but not getting help
About 1,000 older Granite Staters are at risk of losing food assistance under the debt ceiling deal signed into law Saturday, according to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities.
That’s a new worry for anti-hunger advocates in the state as they focus on another potentially more significant concern: Only half the adults and children in the state eligible for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) are enrolled.
Laura Milliken, executive director of NH Hunger Solutions, said Tuesday that based on March enrollment data from the state Department of Health and Human Services, nearly 30,390 children and 145,461 adults in the state who are eligible for SNAP are not signed up.
In an analysis of 2021 enrollment data, the organization said 50 percent of those eligible for benefits were not receiving them. The percentage was higher in Rockingham County, at 64 percent, and significantly less in Coos County, at about 38 percent.
The under-enrollment has been attributed in part to the state’s lack of a SNAP outreach plan since 2017. In January, NH Hunger Solutions received $250,000 in federal money to initiate an outreach and awareness campaign.
As NH Hunger Solutions launches its outreach effort, it is watching for the impacts of the federal deficit deal, which will expand work requirements to people ages 50 to 54, who are currently exempt from them, but also make new populations eligible for food assistance without having to meet work requirements.
The state Department of Health and Human Services said last week that it’s too early to predict how changes to SNAP rules will affect New Hampshire.
Currently, 39,461 households are receiving SNAP benefits, said Karen Hebert, director of the Division of Economic Stability at the Department of Health and Human Services. According to the New Hampshire Fiscal Policy Institute, the average monthly benefit prior to the pandemic was $186, and the average household size was just under two people.
In a 2020 analysis, the New Hampshire Fiscal Policy Institute said increased SNAP benefits would not only reduce hunger but boost the economy. Quoting a 2019 report from the U.S Department of Agriculture, it said every dollar invested in new SNAP benefits would generate about $1.50 in economic activity when the economy is weak.
Under the existing rules, people between 18 and 49 who don’t live with a child under 18 and are “fit to work” must work, volunteer, or be in an approved work training program for at least 20 hours a week. People who are pregnant, participating regularly in drug or alcohol treatment, or have a mental and physical condition that prevents them from working are also exempt.
Nearly 8,750 Granite State SNAP recipients are participating in work requirements, Hebert said. It’s difficult to know how many qualify for an exemption, she said, because the federal public health emergency set aside work requirements until the end of the month.
Hebert said the department is monitoring developments and awaiting guidance from federal agencies that administer the program.
The debt limit deal expands work requirements in the first year of the budget to adults between 50 and 52 who do not live with dependent children. The age limit would increase to 54 beginning in the second year.
Meanwhile, more people, such as veterans, youth aging out of foster care, and homeless people, would be exempt from work requirements, which could make it easier for them to receive assistance over a longer period of time.
Together, those changes increase overall federal SNAP spending by $2.1 billion over the next 10 years, according to the Congressional Budget Office. Extending the work requirements to older Americans would save $6.5 billion in that time, it said, but exempting more people from the work requirements would increase spending by $6.8 billion.
The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities has estimated that as many as 1,000 Granite Staters between 50 and 54 could lose their SNAP benefits under the new rules if they don’t qualify for a work exemption.
Milliken, from NH Hunger Solutions, opposes the expanded work requirements. She said research has shown that most SNAP participants who can work for pay already do. “Evidence shows that work requirements take assistance needed to afford food away from people while having no impact on employment outcomes,” she said.
This story was originally published by New Hampshire Bulletin.
This article originally appeared on Portsmouth Herald: NH struggles to reach those eligible but not receiving SNAP benefits
