13,000-plus in Marion County could lose food stamps

More than 13,000 Marion County residents run the risk of losing their food stamp benefits unless they start meeting newly reinstated federal work and job training requirements.

The loss of benefits under the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program is expected as the state re-establishes requirements for able-bodied adult Hoosiers who do not have dependents. Those requirements kicked in July 1, and the earliest that SNAP recipients could lose benefits if they fail to work a certain number of hours or participate in a training program is November, according to an official with the Indiana Association of United Ways.

The state received relief from the requirements beginning in 2009 as the recession took hold and unemployment rates rose nationwide. But since then, Indiana’s unemployment rate has improved, falling to 4.7 percent in July. With the expectation that Indiana would no longer qualify for a waiver, state officials notified the federal government in August 2014 that the state would bring back the requirements this year.

The United Way is concerned about the impact on the nonprofit community that stands to serve people losing their benefits, said Lucinda Nord, vice president of public policy for the organization.

United Way estimates as many as 42,000 SNAP recipients could lose their benefits statewide if Indiana experiences trends seen in other states that have brought back the requirements. The average participant received about $125 in July.

“We are hearing that food pantry demand has not declined, and to have such a high number of folks losing their SNAP all at once could have a big demand on the food pantries, the community centers and the churches that offer that kind of assistance,” Nord said.

Under the requirements, able-bodied SNAP recipients ages 18 to 49 without dependents would need to work on average 20 hours per week, participate in an approved employment and job training program or meet other requirements, according to the Indiana Family and Social Services Administration. If the requirements aren’t met, a recipient would be limited to three months of benefits in a 36-month period.

Gleaners Food Bank of Indiana expects an uptick in the number of people served because of the reinstated requirements, said Kathy Hahn Keiner, chief programs and agency relations officer for the Indianapolis-based food bank.

“We don’t think it’s going to be significant, though,” Hahn Keiner said.

To prepare for the demand, the organization has pantry partners across the Indianapolis area open different parts of the day, she said.

Knowing the exact number of SNAP recipients who will lose benefits is hard to predict. In states implementing the change before Indiana, only about 12 percent of recipients have attended job appointments to preserve benefits. But in Indiana, about 23 percent of recipients are attending those appointments. That means potentially fewer SNAP recipients, or about 36,000 people, could lose benefits, Nord said.

Indiana was notified by the federal government in May 2014 that it could suspend the requirements only through this September, according to the FSSA. The state made the decision to begin engaging participants in job programs this summer.

Lance Rhodes, then-director of the agency’s Division of Family Resources, told the federal government last year that Indiana had applied for a waiver from the requirements because of fears that the “economic and job environment would not be able to offer meaningful, steady employment” for SNAP recipients.

But Rhodes said in a letter that “Indiana has always intended to fully re-establish work requirements for its SNAP able-bodied adult clients.”

In general, a state — or a region in a state — could still qualify for a waiver if an unemployment rate hits a certain mark, such as 20 percent above the national average for a two-year period, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

However, Indiana has opted for a statewide approach in moving forward with the requirements.

“We view the establishment of the time limits as an opportunity to help improve the skills of Hoosiers in all parts of the state and advance their prospects for meaningful employment, while at the same time establishing a pool of better prepared candidates for the Indiana workforce,” the agency said in a statement Tuesday.

Journal and Courier reporter Dylan Peers McCoy contributed to this story.

Call Star reporter Chelsea Schneider at (317) 444-6077. Follow her on Twitter: @indystarchelsea.