USDA Chief Admits “Mistakes” With Food Shortages; Will USDA Commit to Speeding Up SNAP?
The USDA Chief shamefully admitted “mistakes” in awarding a contract to a single distributor to supply food aid programs, resulting in food shortages and delays for tribes and low-income seniors all across the country. USDA Food and Nutrition Service now acknowledges, in an interview with POLITICO, that “senior staff should have been involved earlier” in this debacle.
There’s growing outrage on Capitol Hill, with lawmakers like Rep. Tom Cole demanding that the USDA address the backlogs, reportedly calling it “gross negligence.”
Meanwhile, the Center for Accountability, Modernization, and Innovation has been sounding this alarm for years — this isn’t a one-off problem with tribal populations and low-income seniors.
New, unreleased USDA data shows significant worsening of SNAP food delays
Food delays are plaguing America’s most vulnerable people all across the country. People who need food stamps to put food on the table are unable to get help. New data, shown below, reveals that only two states are processing SNAP applications on time, based on USDA standards, meaning families are forced to wait ludicrously long amounts of time, months on end, to receive food stamps.
USDA urged “staffing to support” SNAP application processing; why not allow states to hire contractors to speed things up?
In February, USDA issued a letter to 47 governors to state that the department is “deeply concerned” about the consequences that delayed and/or inaccurate SNAP benefits can have on families in need.
USDA urged states to consider options available to them to streamline and simplify processes and invest in “systems and staffing to support modern business models and delivery systems.” Currently, states cannot hire outside contractors for additional staffing support, even though the use of contractors is already allowed in nearly every other state-operated assistance program for low-income residents and citizens.
The SNAP Staffing Flexibility Act, contained in the House Ag Committee Farm Bill, would give states the option to hire outside contractors to alleviate the workload of their employees. USDA can evaluate next steps the department can take and call on Congress to take action. The bipartisan group, American Public Human Services Association, which represents state leaders who operate SNAP, has even issued a strong and clear statement of support for staff flexibility as a priority in the Farm Bill.
USDA needs to give SNAP processing times immediate attention
The media has been covering the problem with food shortages for tribal populations and low-income seniors, but there’s a persisting, more pervasive problem USDA needs to sound the alarm on again.
Americans aren’t getting food when they need it because states are not allowed flexibility in hiring a workforce to help process SNAP applications efficiently and effectively.
This is an even bigger problem that impacts more Americans. SNAP serves, on average, 42.1 million people a month. That is 12.6% of the US population. Why won’t the USDA Chief do everything possible to improve it?
CAMI knows that many states share this concern and encourages state SNAP directors to speak up.
The answer to commodities is more contractors. It’s the same answer to fix SNAP.
