No SNAP Judgements
by Kristin Pederson, FSNYC VISTA Member
Sunday’s New York Times carried a story stating that food stamp enrollment is at an all time high and increasing, helping to feed 1 in 8 Americans and 1 in 4 children. It is wonderful that food stamps, now actually called the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), are having such an important impact in the aggregate. But I have learned through my own experience that each individual’s journey to receiving assistance is idiosyncratic in spite of the bureaucracy surrounding the process.
Parts of that bureaucracy can be dehumanizing. Arriving mid-morning at the Williamsburg, Brooklyn Food Stamp Center, I joined an outdoor line reaching down the block. As the line inside was processed, we moved through the doors in groups of five or so, strictly managed by security guards who stood watch every few feet against line jumping and disorder. Once indoors, it was possible to hear the shouted announcement, made every few minutes, that the building was literally at its capacity, so anyone without business there had to leave. This meant no friends to look after babies as mothers filled in forms, and elderly wives unaccompanied by their husbands.
Fortunately, I had been pre-screened by AmeriCorps volunteers working for the New York City Coalition Against Hunger, and had already done my interview by phone. Therefore, I was in need only of finger imaging and a benefit card. Even so, I received a green form that allowed me to travel to the 4th floor and wait for my number to be called, at which point things were written on my form and I was sent back to the first floor to be finger imaged. With no line there, I was quickly photographed and scanned, and more things were written on my form to take back to the 4th floor. Here I got a new form, with another tiny form stapled to it, which told me the two locations I could visit to received my benefit card. This was a separate trip another day, which also involved several different windows and numbers. It was possible to travel to Manhattan to obtain the card after working hours, but the Williamsburg Center where I was finger imaged was open only until 5. My boss was enthusiastic when I told him about my need to leave work to get food stamps (and about the farmer's market Health Bucks I received while there), but many others might not be so lucky.
This was not my first experience with the food stamp process. Last year I was serving in a different AmeriCorps program in Little Rock, Arkansas. In Little Rock, about ten of my coworkers also applied for food stamps. We were all making approximately the same amount (slightly less than the Federal Poverty Level), but a couple got turned down, some were approved for minimal benefits of $14/month (soon increased to $16 with stimulus funds) and others were approved for the maximum individuals could receive -- $180/month (increased to $200/month after stimulus funding). Of those approved, one received expedited food stamps, where the applicant must wait only five days instead of 30 to receive aid, since her situation was perceived as dire.
We figured out that those who received full benefits had not had their stipends counted as income, versus having the full amount counted by those who received minimal benefits. I was among those who received minimal benefits at first, but our State AmeriCorps director intervened and all of us who had been initially approved received a windfall of backdated benefits. Those initially rejected were eventually approved, though without the backdated benefits
As it turns out, that increase I got probably should not have happened. Nationally, most AmeriCorps stipends are supposed to be counted in the assessment of income. The specific AmeriCorps branch that is VISTA, however, does have an exception to this rule. VISTAs who were receiving food stamps before they began their term of service (as I was) do not have their stipends counted as income. VISTAs who apply for food stamps after they become VISTAs do. It is not a particularly fair rule, nor is it clearly implemented. Many VISTAs who apply for benefits after their service begins also receive the exception for their stipends. But because this is not how the law is written, they are being overpaid, and could have to pay back the difference out of future food stamp benefits or even in cash. We receive warnings of this from helpful VISTAs over our list serve, and are told during training the food stamps are not a benefit of being a VISTA, but the distinction often still gets lost through the application process.
That application process is surprisingly varied. For example, each state develops its own application form. Some have worked to reduce the complexity of their forms, including Arkansas and New York, but the forms are still filled with bureaucratic terminology and potential stumbling blocks.
According to my fellow Just Food VISTA Jenny Lue, working for the Lenox Hill Neighborhood House, the terminology of applying is one of the most confusing thing for people attempting the process. She helps applicants sort through things like “categoric eligibility” and “resource tests.” She is working to move more people from the screening process (finding out they are eligible) to actually applying by setting up a Food Stamp Assistance Clinic with open hours and trained volunteers. They take each client through the process and end up with a finished application the Clinic can submit. They help the clients over other hurdles as well, including making sure they have all the necessary documents. This can be an effort, as it requires a lease, bank statement, income records, forms of I.D., etc. Jenny has noticed that “when clients find out they'll need letters from their children's schools or documents where they might have to let other people know they're applying for food stamps, a lot of people tend to balk. It is really a matter of pride. Explaining that the food stamps come on an EBT (Electronic Benefits Transaction) card that no one can tell is different from a debit card actually does a world of good. With seniors, especially, they feel much better when I tell them that--also they like hearing that it is an entitlement program, so the fact that they're on food stamps doesn't take it away from anyone else.”
While the administrative details and national opinion of food stamps may change over time, the individual's experience of them comes down to a few human interactions. And those interactions can give a person or family the dignity and stability that comes from having enough to eat. People may even get the independence to make their own futures more food secure, as seeds and starts can also be purchased with food stamps.
