Families feel the pangs of SNAP cuts, By Lolly Bowean, Juan Perez Jr. and Vikki Ortiz Healy, November 10, 2013, Chicago Tribune: “It wasn’t until years after Amy Jezler lost her job at the Salvation Army and her family lost their south suburban home to foreclosure that money got so tight she had to resort to signing up for food stamps. And even then, it was difficult to visit the Family Community Resource Center in Blue Island and ask for help, Jezler said. ‘I was always taught to do it on your own,’ the Park Forest resident said. ‘I was getting to the point where it was harder and harder. (I had) to make the decision: Do I pay bills this month, or do I eat?’ For a year and a half, Jezler has collected $193 a month from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, to help feed her husband, who has been in and out of work, and her 10-year-old daughter, she said. But on Thursday, she learned her food stamp benefits had been slashed by $30…”
Should Oregon pay $1.5 million to put photos on food stamps, welfare cards? Lawmakers consider fraud reduction options, By Yuxing Zheng, November 14, 2013, The Oregonian: “It would cost Oregon at least $1.5 million in the first year and about $930,000 annually after that to put photographs of cardholders on the Oregon Trail cards used by food stamps and welfare recipients. That’s the estimate recently heard by lawmakers on an interim legislative work group considering methods of reducing public assistance fraud. A May audit from the Secretary of State’s office found that hundreds of Oregonians who were deceased, incarcerated, or won the lottery benefited from one of three public assistance programs intended for low-income individuals…”
Cut in food stamps forces hard choices on poor, By Kim Severson and Winnie Hu, November 7, 2013, New York Times: “For many, a $10 or $20 cut in the monthly food budget would be absorbed with little notice. But for millions of poor Americans who rely on food stamps, reductions that began this month present awful choices. One gallon of milk for the kids instead of two. No fresh broccoli for dinner or snacks to take to school. Weeks of grits and margarine for breakfast. And for many, it will mean turning to a food pantry or a soup kitchen by the middle of the month…”
Deep cuts to food stamp program started Friday, By Devon Merling, November 7, 2013, Deseret News: “As of last Friday, Nov. 1, 48 million Americans who receive money to buy vouchers under the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, commonly known as ‘food stamps,’ will see a cut to their monthly benefits…”
Food stamp reductions: N.J. recipients finding it harder to feed families, By Jason Grant, November 5, 2013, Star-Ledger: “The lines are growing deeper across New Jersey at soup kitchens, some volunteers say, in the wake of recent cuts to the federal food stamp program. At grocery stores, such as the C-Town supermarket in Newark, anxious words are filling the air: The cuts that came down Friday — the result of a rollback to increased benefits under President Obama’s 2008 economic stimulus bill — are what many customers are talking about, a cashier says…”
Cuts to food stamps will mean increased demand at area food pantries, By Jamie Munks, November 6, 2013, Glens Falls Post-Star: “Cuts to the federal food stamp program that took effect Friday have caused anxiety among local people who receive the benefits and those who run food pantries. The cuts to the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, widely known as food stamps, began last week with the sunset of higher benefits that were part of the 2009 federal stimulus package meant to help Americans through the recession…”
Food stamp delay causes increase in food pantry visits, By Molly Parker, September 9, 2013, Star News: “There’s been an uptick in people seeking food at area pantries because of statewide delays in food stamp benefit delivery, say those who feed the hungry locally. The delays have been caused by glitches in the Department of Health and Human Services’ implementation of a new statewide computer system, called NC FAST. It’s meant to streamline delivery of services but has taken off in fits and starts…”
DSS workers continue to offer food bank referrals, By Meghann Evans, September 5, 2013, Winston-Salem Journal: “Forsyth County Department of Social Services workers have referred more than 300 families to local food banks over the past month and are continuing to provide the referrals as they catch up with the case backlog from the NC FAST system…”
