Lorain County nonprofits brace for hit to food stamps under new USDA rule

Local nonprofits expect to see more hungry people among Lorain County's poorest residents when stricter rules for food stamps go into effect in April. "Taking food away from people who are struggling to get by, struggling to find work is never the answer," said Julie Chase-Morefield, president and CEO of Second Harvest Food Bank in Lorain. Her organization, which spans several counties, serves 56,000 people in Lorain County who seek help each year, she said. There already were significant increases in demand at food pantries during the second half of 2019, Chase-Morefield said. Now she and others are bracing for another hit. Nearly 700,000 people across the nation are expected to lose access to nutrition benefits under a crackdown by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The agency is renewing work requirements for what it considers "able-bodied adults" with no children. Food stamps — the informal name for Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program debit cards — will now be cut off for someone who doesn't work 80 hours a month for three months in a three-year window. There are exceptions. States like Ohio can provide waivers to certain areas, but under the new USDA rules those waivers will be much harder to obtain. Lorain County will lose its waiver. "Government can be a powerful force for good, but government dependency has never been the American dream. We need to encourage people by giving them a helping hand but not allowing it to become an indefinitely giving hand," said U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue, announcing the changes late last year. "Now, in the midst of the strongest economy in a generation, we need everyone who can work, to work. This rule lays the groundwork for the expectation that able-bodied Americans re-enter the workforce where there are currently more job openings than people to fill them." That's a simple answer to a nuanced problem, said Kathy Burns of Oberlin Community Services, which helps residents in the southern half of the county. When she started working there in 2006, putting food in the hands of 25 hungry people was considered a busy day. "Now we don't even bat an eye at 70 people coming through," she said. Burns sees at least 300 families each week who need help putting food on the table. "We do see a lot of people who work, trying to manage with their job, what they have, and who come here to supplement what little they have with other items," she said. But many food pantry patrons don't work for plenty of reasons the USDA might not take into account, Burns said. Some have criminal records that make it nearly impossible to get jobs. Transportation is another huge issue — Burns said it doesn't matter how much you want to work if you can't afford a car in a county where public transportation is scarce. Mental illness is another factor. "It's easy to sit back and say they should be able to get a job, but until you talk to that person you have no idea what might be holding them back," she said. Losing the SNAP work waiver will be tough on Lorain County, both inside and outside its largest cities, Chase-Morefield said. The county has had the waiver off and on. It just got it back in 2018 when a study found Ohio's waivers mostly were going to predominantly white and rural communities, she said. "Now, going off again, it's going to be a challenge. Especially in Lorain County because of significant transportation issues," she said. A household needs to make $15 per hour to afford a car, she said. And for most people here, no car means no job. The larger problem is that most people going to food pantries are employed, Chase-Morefield said. They're the working poor, stopping at Second Harvest on the way home in uniforms, Chase-Morefield said. According to Policy Matters Ohio, a nonprofit research institute, five of the most common jobs in the Greater Cleveland area don't pay enough for people to afford food without getting help from either the government or food pantries. Those jobs are retail sales, custodial work, food service, servers and cashiers. Chase-Morefield said the policy doesn't target those workers. Rather, it targets the image that "was crafted as this person who was taking advantage of the system. But that doesn't exist. It's not what we see. No one wants to stand in line at a food pantry," she said. The USDA, however, cites more than 798,000 fraud investigations in fiscal year 2011, the statistics featured on the USDA web site. Those investigations resulted in more than 46,000 people being kicked off food stamps and over $72 million in collections from claims. In the past decade, more than 8,300 retail stores have been permanently disqualified from taking part in the SNAP program for allegedly abusing it. The USDA says that a booming economy with the lowest unemployment rate in 50 years should mean fewer mouths to feed. The latest U.S. Department of Labor figures show the unemployment rate at 3.6 percent with 7 million job openings. Announcing the changes in December, the USDA quoted former President Bill Clinton: "First and foremost, it should be about moving people from welfare to work. It should impose time limits on welfare... (Work) gives structure, meaning and dignity to most of our lives," Clinton said in 1996, when he signed a welfare reform bill. Chase-Morefield said unemployment statistics don't represent everyone, just those actively looking for jobs. Many have given up, encountering problems because they are older, lack of a vehicle or face other obstacles. Second Harvest has petitioned legislators, arguing the clamp-down on food stamps shouldn't be allowed. It's not alone. Fourteen states are suing the government to block the new rules from taking effect in April. New York City and the District of Columbia also have filed lawsuits. Contact Jason Hawk at (440) 329-7122 or news@lcnewspapers.com.