Alyn Carroll’s emotions nearly overcame her when she learned that her Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program or SNAP benefits will shortly be significantly reduced.
Carroll, a resident of Baltimore, has been using SNAP for around seven years and claims that as a diabetic, it is an essential component of her grocery budget.
However, the last of the COVID-19 emergency SNAP allotments are about to expire, and Carroll’s monthly SNAP check would drop from $283 to only $56.
Black and Latino communities might fall below the poverty line without the support of the emergency allotments, which were temporarily extended during a time of financial and economic hardship from the pandemic, even though nearly 30 million Americans could see reduced payments when the expanded SNAP benefits expire.
According to research released in August 2022 by the Urban Institute, the SNAP program’s benefits have kept 4.2 million people out of poverty since the fourth quarter of 2021, with Black and Hispanic persons experiencing the greatest poverty decrease.
The study found that in their states, emergency allotments reduced child poverty by 14% and overall poverty by 10%.
The additional SNAP payments have already been discontinued in 18 states, affecting almost 12 million Individuals. On Wednesday, the remaining 32 states as well as the U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam, and Washington, D.C.
The FRAC promotes pushing ambitious and equitable policy solutions, collaborations, and advocacy to improve the nutrition, health, and well-being of people in the US who are battling poverty-related hunger.
Food insufficiency, often not having enough to eat, continues to be more than twice as common among Black and Latino adults as it is among white adults, according to data from the US Census Household Pulse Survey.
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SNAP Benefits’ End Is Detrimental to Black Community
The federal program that had temporarily increased SNAP benefits for low-income families ended around three years ago, leaving millions of people across the country with less money to buy food. Children’s poverty researchers found that Black households benefited more from the program.
The COVID-19 outbreak prompted the interim emergency allotments, which gave SNAP participants in participating states the maximum monthly amount allowed for their family size.
A period when suffering families are coping with low incomes, inflation, and increased food expenses coincides with the expiration of emergency allotments.
The additional funds were always intended to be short-term. Experts advised us to keep in mind that the cost of food has increased by 10.1% since last year. According to the US. Department of Labor Statistics, butter prices rose by 31%. Bread and breakfast cereal prices increased by 15%.
By accessing the Your Texas Benefits website, signing into the Your Texas Benefits mobile app, or dialing 211 and choosing option 2, SNAP beneficiaries can learn how much their new monthly benefit will be.
Call 211 and choose option 1 to learn more about social resources like food pantries, housing, child care, rent help, and more. The 211 Texas website and the 211 chat portal both offer information online.
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