Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program Enrollment – Montana

Requests for food aid up 50% in past 2 years, By Susan Olp, September 10, 2010, Billings Gazette: “As if additional proof was needed of the sagging economy’s effect, more people than ever are seeking help to supplement their food budget. That’s true for the nation as a whole, as well as in the state and locally. The number of people enrolled in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) — formerly the Food Stamp program — has steadily increased in the past two years. ‘There is more usage of this subsidy program than there has been in history,’ said Linda Snedigar, administrator for the Human and Community Services Division of the Montana Department of Public Health and Human Services. She recently attended a conference titled ‘SNAP Makes History,’ underlining that fact. As unemployment has steadily increased, so has the number of people enrolling in the federally funded SNAP program, Snedigar said. ‘Over the last two years we’ve seen almost a 50 percent increase in the number of people receiving SNAP in Montana,’ she said. That’s about one person for every eight in the state, Snedigar said. In August 2006, the number of recipients in Montana receiving benefits through SNAP totaled 81,717. That number dipped to 81,240 in 2008 and then climbed to 118,958 in 2010…”