Increasing SNAP Benefit Levels, and Removing Barriers for Immigrant and Refugee Communities, Would Improve Equity in Kentuckians’ Access to Healthy Foods

KyPolicy submitted the following comments on August 13, 2021, in response to the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Request for Information titled “Identifying Barriers in USDA Programs and Services: Advancing Racial Equity and Support for Underserved Communities,” USDA Docket ID: FSA-2021-0006.

The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) has proven to be one of the most effective anti-hunger and anti-poverty initiatives in the U.S. and helps over 603,000 Kentuckians put food on the table.¹ During the ongoing pandemic and the resulting economic downturn, the safety net including SNAP has been a critical support for families. In fact, safety net programs cut poverty in Kentucky by two-thirds this year and nationally a projected 7,945,000 Americans will be removed from poverty through the SNAP program in 2021.²

Despite the SNAP program’s success in helping people out of poverty, current SNAP benefits are simply not enough to provide families with low incomes enough food, and many Kentuckians face barriers to getting the benefits they are eligible to receive. Black Kentuckians, and Kentuckians of color in general, have higher rates of poverty and food insecurity because of historical and systematic barriers to educational and economic opportunities. These in turn worsen the disparities in health and well-being, which have only been exacerbated by the disproportionate impact the pandemic has had on these families.³ In order to ensure all Kentuckians have access to adequate food the USDA should increase the SNAP benefit amounts, improve communications and remove barriers for immigrant and refugee communities.

Nearly half of all SNAP participants remain food insecure.⁴ One factor contributing to continued food insecurity is that current benefit levels aren’t enough for Kentuckians to afford consistent access to healthy, culturally-appropriate and available foods. Significant research shows that SNAP benefits, which averaged $1.40 per person per meal when SNAP benefits were prorated based on income before the pandemic, are too low for SNAP households to afford enough healthy food.⁵ An estimated 88% of SNAP participants face barriers to getting a healthy diet and 61% cite cost as a key barrier to accessing adequate healthy foods.⁶

Evidence shows that increasing SNAP benefits would have a significant impact on food security, particularly for those with the lowest incomes and for families with dietary restrictions or different nutritional needs – all of which are more prevalent in  Black households and households of color.⁷ When asked directly, people who experience food insecurity estimate they need between $10-$20 per person per week in additional benefits.⁸ Meanwhile, some research indicates single-person households would need an additional $107 more each week to compensate for the time cost for one person to purchase and prepare meals.⁹ Another study estimated food-insecure Black households participating in SNAP reported needing an average of $49 more per week to become food secure, substantially more than the $38 reported by white households.¹⁰ The amount of benefit increase needed has been projected by researchers to show that increasing SNAP benefits by 20% would result in an estimated decrease in food insecurity by 46%, while a 42% increase in SNAP benefits would roughly result in a 62% decrease in food insecurity.¹¹

Increasing SNAP benefits is an urgent need. Temporary supports in response to the pandemic — such as the 15% increase in SNAP benefits established in the American Rescue Plan and Emergency Allotments which increase monthly benefits levels to the maximum amount for a SNAP household’s size, rather than being based on income like they are normally — have resulted in an estimated average of $210 per month in SNAP benefits for Kentucky families compared to an average of $123 per month in 2019.¹² These supports have been successful in providing additional grocery money to families during the pandemic and its economic downturn and Kentuckians participating in SNAP have said it has made a real difference.¹³ However, the 15% increase in SNAP ends Sep. 30, 2021, and when the pandemic is no longer declared a public health emergency, Emergency Allotments will end and benefit levels will return to their inadequate pre-pandemic levels.

In addition to the inadequate amount of SNAP benefits, not everyone is able to easily access the benefits they are eligible to receive. The public charge rule created a chilling effect that scared families from applying to public benefit programs they were eligible for and resulted in one in seven adults in immigrant families avoiding participating in multiple public assistance programs in 2018 and 2019.¹⁴ Despite the ending of the public charge rule, its chilling effect remains for immigrant and refugee communities.¹⁵

Two recommendations to combat the residual impact of the public charge rule are to improve and target communications and to remove both immigrant-specific and general barriers to the application and recertification processes. The USDA should improve and target communications by training staff to provide culturally and linguistically relevant enrollment and recertification services and increasing outreach to immigrant communities with culturally relevant messaging. Also, the USDA should remove barriers to the application and recertification processes by removing immigrant status or social security requirements from all forms, simplifying forms for people with low literacy and providing forms in various languages. Improving communications and removing barriers will ensure more Kentuckians are able to access the help with groceries they are eligible to receive.

Federal nutrition assistance programs, like SNAP, play a vital role in reducing food insecurity, improving health and stimulating local economies particularly during an economic downturn.¹⁶ SNAP has a history of providing a wide range of Kentuckians with the ability to get much needed help with groceries. In order to ensure all Kentuckians get adequate food assistance, the USDA should increase SNAP benefit levels and improve access to SNAP for immigrant and refugee families.