[Our public policy director Carol Wood takes a look at Congress' mixed bag for social services].

The Good News:  On Tuesday, the House of Representatives voted in support of the federal bill to fund FMAP (Federal Medical Assistance Percentage) after they were called back from their August recess by Speaker Nancy Pelosi.  This House action mirrored that taken by the Senate on August 5.

The bill extends the increased FMAP for a 6 month period beyond the current December 31, 2010 termination date (to June 30, 2011) as well as creates a $10 billion education jobs fund in an effort to save 140,000 educator jobs, keep class sizes down and ensure students have access to librarians, nurses and afterschool programs.

As part of last year’s Recovery Act, states received federal assistance through an increase in federal matching dollars on state Medicaid spending.  This aid has helped our state weather the impacts of the national recession by preventing damaging cuts to health care services and saving jobs in the public sector.

The bill would mean $338 million additional federal dollars for Washington Medicaid.

Passage of the bill comes at a critical time.  Washington along with many other states had built in receipt of this enhanced Medicaid in their current year budget.  Given declines in the state’s revenue forecast and in recent revenue collections reports, this amount would likely be enough to barely balance the current state budget — obviating an immediate need for a special session or Governor-ordered across-the-board cuts.

The state has already cut over $4 billion in response to the effects of the recession and faces an additional shortfall in maintaining essential services in the coming biennium.  Without the funding, the state would have faced an even bigger budget challenge in preserving priorities like education, health care and environmental protection.

The bill would also include an additional $200 million to prevent teacher layoffs at a critical time.

Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimates released Tuesday night show the revised bill would pay for itself, even reducing future deficits by $1.37 billion over the next decade.

The not so good news: In seeking ways to support priority legislation like FMAP and Children’s Nutrition Reauthorization (CNR) and make them “pay as you go” programs, Congress and the Administration have cut future monthly enhanced benefit amounts in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, SNAP (formerly Food Stamps), beginning in 2013.

More than 40 million vulnerable Americans depend on SNAP. They have very low-incomes and nearly half of all SNAP recipients are children. Nearly one in ten is age 60 or over.

Traditionally, SNAP benefit levels have not been adequate to provide a minimum healthy diet throughout the month, but the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) boosted benefit levels for these vulnerable people. Even with the ARRA boosts, SNAP benefits average less than $4.50 per person per day. While the cost of food may not have risen at the rate anticipated (one of the reasons given for making the cuts), reverting to previous benefits levels could return millions of families to the situation where their SNAP/ benefits typically run out well before the end of the month.

[Fire roasted tomato and bleu cheese soup with a bacon apple and caramelized onion grilled cheese panini]

Candi Wilvang participated in the United Way Hunger Challenge with her family of three – Mom, Dad and ten year old son (with some help from her 20 year old son). Read about their experience below.

The challenge was an awesome experience for our family to take. I am the mother of two son’s ages 20 and 10. My oldest son Shattuck lives in his own apartment so we took the challenge as mom, dad, and 10 year old son, MacKenna. At first I thought $18 was pretty reasonable because I do not think we spend that much as it is. We utilize our neighborhood food banks. I was quickly reminded by dad that we can’t use anything we already have. He looked frightened after we hid all our food, condiments, spices etc… I, on the other hand, was very excited about learning from this.

We decided we wanted to price compare at 5 different grocery stores and so we would spend $18 a day, for 5 days, at 5 different stores. We spent $15.63 at QFC the first day of shopping. We went there on Sunday and we decided we would just get the basics.

By Monday we realized we had no dinner items and no coffee! “That’s ok, we will spend our next $18 tonight on dinner and a few missed luxury items” I tried to reassure dad. That night we went to Whole Foods loaded with coupons. Mondays dinner was creative, chicken breast with spinach and melted white cheddar on maple waffles and a side of fresh Mango and steamed broccoli.

Tuesday we went to Safeway and spent $17.13 Tuesdays dinner was Feta, pineapple, broccoli manicotti with fresh spinach pesto cheese sauce.

My oldest son works at Seattle Art Museum, Taste Restaurant, and wanted to come with me on Wednesday and buy ingredients so he could cook homemade fire roasted tomato and bleu cheese soup with a bacon apple and caramelized onion grilled cheese panini for us. Somebody suggested we try Grocery Outlet this time and we walked out with almost everything we needed for the amount of $17.04. My son was missing some important ingredients but it turned out fantastic!

With 4 shopping sprees behind us, I realized Thursday was our last chance to buy food. It meant we had to make the food last through to Fridays dinner. The soup went a long way for leftovers. I also used it as flavoring in Fridays “Cheeseburger Cupcakes”. Trader Joes was our final destination and we did our shopping for $19.31 It was the first time we went over budget, but still under budget over all! We deserved that ice-cream sandwich!

I was able to share this experience on Facebook and Flickr which made it all the more inspiring to make creative dishes and photograph it! I think I will continue to post recipes and cook with my children more often. Thank you for this great opportunity. It was empowering.

Though  this is the same level of funding as last year, securing it was a challenge.  Since the EFSP received an additional $100 million  in 2009 via the American Response and Recovery Act (ARRA – stimulus bill), the Administration proposed reducing funding  to $100 million for 2010. 

United Way of King County manages the Local EFSP Board which allocates funds each year to nonprofit agencies throughout King County.  In 2009, the Local Board allocated $1,040,346 and $508,064 in ARRA-stimulus funds to 50 food banks, 34 meal programs and more than 80 programs that provided emergency shelter, motel vouchers, eviction prevention, and first month’s rent.  These critical funds provide a safety net to the 384,927 individuals in King County living at 200% below the federal poverty level struggling to keep food on the table and a roof over head.   

We’re awaiting news from National on how much of the $200 million King County will be awarded during Phase 28 – the next funding cycle.  Federal awards are based on national and county unemployment rates, number of people below the poverty level within the county, and the total county population.

Visit EFSP to find out more about the program or to learn more about economic conditions impacting the lives of people in our community, visit our website.

(Click for a full-size view)

I am a sucker for infographics and boy does GOOD Magazine produce solid infographics.  They consistently take data and make it look awesome.

They recently graphed out the number of people who are using food stamps with interesting results.

(Aside: “Food Stamps” is a colloquialism. Nationally, the program is called SNAP and in Washington it’s known as Basic Food.  For the sake of simplicity, I’ll be calling it Food Stamps)

Why More People Are Signing Up…

The data shows that people have been signing up for food stamps at record-setting rates.  And while the weakened economy has a lot to do with it, there are other factors in play.

For one, states have broadened their income rules, making more people eligible for the program.  In Washington, the income limit increased from 130% federal poverty level to 200% federal poverty level.

Second, the stimulus package increased the amount of benefits people receive which made the program more appealing to folks.

…And Why It’s A Good Thing

All the news articles talking about food stamp increases frame the issue around how it’s a sign of how bad our economy is.  Yes, there is some truth to that angle.  However, by  focusing on that, they end up disparaging a great program.  I love the food stamp program!

I love it because it helps families and individuals during tough times.  They aren’t forced to choose between paying rent and eating a meal.

Plus, the program acts as a tremendous local stimulus.  People are able to go to their grocery stores and buy food they normally wouldn’t be able to.  In turn, the grocery stores become busier and can hire more staff.  And this isn’t just theoretical either; here’s a quote from a recent CBS article:

“The Department of Agriculture estimates that every $5 of food stamp spending results in $9.20 worth of economic activity.

That’s why the food stamp boost is also helping this in New York City, where one supermarket manager says his sales are up 10 percent since the stimulus program started.

“We’re actually thinking of hiring more people,” said Jose Almonte, the manager of an Associated Supermarket.”

We Want Participation Rates Up

Food stamps help those in need and also help local economy.  That’s why we launched our Bridge to Basics program to get more people enrolled.  In King County, about 33% of those who can get food stamps aren’t even signed up!  While getting more people in the program will made the graph bars grow longer and the news stories continue, it’s worth it because families will have food on their tables.

Washington's Food Stamp (Basic Food) Card

As I pretty much just mentioned, lots of people are getting hit by the weak economy.  Whether it’s losing their jobs, having their hours cut, or finding lower paying jobs, many of these people are not making enough to support themselves.  What’s worse, many don’t know where to turn for help.

One of the most useful programs available to low-income families and individuals is the food stamp program (it’s called “Basic Food” in Washington and “SNAP” in the federal level).

While it’s difficult to live off of food stamps alone (as our Food Stamp Challenge showed), it is still tremendously useful for those who need a little help feeding themselves and their families while going through tough times.

The trouble is that many people have misconceptions about the program and shy away from applying.  So today, we’re going to attack some of those food stamp myths:

Food Stamps still come in stamp form
Stigma is one of the biggest reasons people don’t apply for Basic Food.  Many still believe that benefits come in the form of paper and feel they would be too embarrassed to use them at a grocery store.

The fact of the matter is that, for years, Basic Food benefits have been coming in through EBT cards – cards that look and work exactly like a debit card.  It’s inconspicuous and all you do is slide the card and enter your pin number.  That makes using food stamps much easier and less stigmatizing.

If you receive food stamps, some one else will not be able to get it
Food stamps are not like a big pie.  If you get a piece of it, that does not mean some one else won’t be able to get a piece.

Instead, if you need food assistance, you’ll receive how much is allotted to you.  If someone else needs food assistance, they’ll also receive how much is allotted to them.  You won’t be hurting anyone by receiving Basic Food benefits.  In fact, you’ll be doing your local economy a favor! (see the next point)

Food Stamps cost taxpayers too much money
The fact is that the food stamp program is one of the most cost-effective programs out there. Paying for the program takes about 1 cent of every federal budget dollar.  Further, the USDA has concluded that every dollar spent on food stamps puts $1.82 into the local economy.  Food stamps really get a bang out of every buck used.

You can’t get food stamps if…

… you have a job
Basic Food is available to anyone who is low-income.  Many people who are in poverty are the working poor – those who have jobs yet still earn poverty wages and can’t afford to pay their rent, other bills, as well as food.  Having a job does not disqualify you from receiving food stamps.

… you have a car, a house, or savings
Completely not true.  There is no asset test for Basic Food.  You can own a home, have a reliable car, and have money in checking, savings, or a retirement plan and still be eligible for Basic Food.

A lot of people don’t realize that they may be eligible for Basic Food.  This program can really help them out if they’re in a tough spot.  In fact, the income requirements were recently lowered, allowing more people to receive food benefits.

You can check to see if you’re eligible for the Washington Basic Food by using their website here.