Statewide food stamp recipients to see reduction in benefits

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) -- The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program tasked with issuing food stamps to families in need is facing significant funding cutbacks.

The recently passed federal spending bill will end extra emergency pandemic funding for SNAP and other assistance programs in March. SNAP recipients across the state are expected to see a decline of about $90 per month.

“On average, it will be a $90 per-person, per-household benefit reduction, so a family of four will actually have a reduction of about $360 a month,” said Karla Maraccini, the division director for food and energy assistance programs at the Colorado Department of Human Services.

SNAP benefits are traditionally based on a number of factors, including income, employment and family size. However, SNAP emergency allotments, implemented during the pandemic, changed the process. Any households who participated in the food stamps program received the maximum amount according to their size, instead of the other factors. If a household already received the maximum amount, another $95 was added to their account. These additional funds end March 1 — a loss of a total of $55 million per month for the state.

“This is a huge cut to the Colorado economy,” Maracini said. “This is going to equal about $55 million per-month less that won't be spent at grocery stores and therefore will not be supporting our producers and ranchers quite as much.”

The funding cuts further complicate the eight-week backlog El Paso County residents have experienced with application renewals for the last six months.

“Because of COVID, we've seen an increase of people applying for benefits or people needing benefits,” said Karen Logan, the economic assistance director with the El Paso County Department of Human Services. “We're actually seeing about a 30% increase year over year.”

In fact, El Paso County Department of Human Services has seen a historic number of new applicants. Since 2020, the money the county has issued for SNAP has more than doubled from $9.6 million to $20.6 million in 2022.

Ashley Palmer, a single mother of two daughters, is part of the growing number of El Paso County residents who receive SNAP benefits. She is also one of the many recipients that hasn’t had her renewal application approved in six weeks.

“I would just like to see this resolved,” Palmer said. “I know several women in my same situation that are just waiting for food stamps. We have a vehicle, some people don't. It's a big deal.”

Palmer only has about $3 left on her SNAP card, forcing her to rely on local pantries to feed her family.

“We're blessed,” she said. “We're provided for. But the mental stresses are definitely there.”

DHS is working to resolve the backlog by waiving interviews required in the renewal and application process. The elimination of interviews will cut approval time in half.

“We're quickly moving to start to shrink those timelines up and hopefully by the end of February we'll be able to get those back in line where we're right on target with what we need to do,” Logan said.

However, just as the county department hopes to limit the backlog by February, the million dollars of federal cuts to the food assistance program go into effect.

The Department of Human Services for both the state and the county plan to notify SNAP recipients about the upcoming cuts before the end of January.