About 5,000 Cuyahoga County residents are at risk of losing federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits in the next year, including some by the end of the month.
Changes in the federal budget revised SNAP鈥檚 work requirement guidelines for who is considered an 鈥淎ble-Bodied Adult,鈥� requiring more people to work jobs in order to receive the benefits.
鈥淭he concern overall is food insecurity is going to increase, and this may have a compounding effect beyond the simple benefits,鈥� said Kevin Gowan, director of Cuyahoga Job and Family Services.
The work requirement was previously applied to able-bodied people ages 18-54 and is now required for adults up to 64 years old, as well as parents whose children are 14 and older.
About 1,300 people in Cuyahoga County were notified May 1 that they鈥檒l lose SNAP benefits May 31. About 4,000 more people will receive the same notification in the next six to 12 months, Gowan said.
The county initially had more than 20,000 people at risk of losing SNAP benefits due to the changes, but Gowan said his office found about 75% of those people were eligible for an exemption to the new rules.
As more people are notified of lost benefits, Gowan recommends they reach out to job and family services with exemption notes from a medical professional.
鈥淭here鈥檚 some case notes indicating that they are physically unable to work and we have documentation on file. We're able to exempt them,鈥� Gowan said. 鈥淲e just need a document telling us that from a medical professional.鈥�
The work requirement change to SNAP is in addition to changes to SNAP benefits for refugees and a nationwide pause on SNAP last fall during the federal government shutdown.
Altogether, the changes have added to the workload of community resources organizations, such as the Untied Way of Greater Cleveland and its 211 support hotline, which helps connect people to hot meal programs and food pantries. Chiara Cameron-Wood, a United Way senior director, said the added workload has been manageable.
鈥淚 think there's confusion, uncertainty and sometimes frustration. We're really here to kind of help them where they're at in that moment. Let's navigate through that. Let's figure out what we can do,鈥� Cameron-Wood said
The Greater Cleveland Food Bank has done work to spread word to residents about changes to SNAP while also encouraging them to lean on its food resource services.
鈥淲e are certainly here to help our community. We have a very generous community, but food banks don't have the resources to step in as a replacement for SNAP,鈥� said Jessica Semachko, the food bank鈥檚 director of advocacy and public education.
According to the food bank, for every one meal it can provide, SNAP can provide nine.
