Benefit cliffs describe incremental increases in income that result in major, destabilizing losses to critical benefits. The cliffs are a major impediment to families successfully participating in Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) Employment and Training (E&T) services and transitioning from assistance into family-sustaining wages. Depending on the state and wage, the new job may come with the loss of other benefits like Medicaid or Temporary Assistance for Needy Families as well. This American Public Human Services Assocation brief explores the challenges SNAP E&T participants face during the critical first months after they have obtained unsubsidized employment.

Read part one here.

In the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), young adults and adults, ages 18-49, who do not have dependents and are not pregnant, are considered Able-Bodied Adults Without Dependents (ABAWDs). ABAWDs cannot receive SNAP benefits for more than 3 months within a 3-year period unless they meet the ABAWD work requirement or are exempt. This Administration for Children and Families letter provides information and resources on new exceptions for the ABAWD time limits and work requirements in SNAP. The information can assist youth and young adults experiencing homelessness and transitioning out of foster care who are eligible for SNAP benefits.

Lack of access to food is a major concern when natural disasters strike. This blogpost outlines how the Disaster Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (D-SNAP) and other federal nutrition programs play a critical role in mitigating spikes in food insecurity during such challenging times. The discussion identifies how D-SNAP provides replacement benefits for SNAP households that lose food and extends benefits to many other households that would not ordinarily be eligible for SNAP. It also covers how SNAP waivers can be used to allow SNAP recipients to obtain replacement benefits, and identifies approaches to allow states to release commodity foods — used in the National School Lunch Program, The Emergency Food Assistance Program, and other federal programs — for mass feeding sites. Further, it notes how the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) can play a crucial role in low-income communities with WIC food package and redemption flexibilities, benefit replacement, and simplified income eligibility.

Since 1996, many childless adults between the ages of 18 and 50 can only get Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits for three months in a 36-month period unless they are exempt or are able to document sufficient work hours. This vulnerable population includes veterans, youth aging out of foster care, individuals reentering the workforce after incarceration, and the chronically unhoused. Many of the people subject to time limits either cannot find jobs or get too few hours of work in the jobs they do have. This Food Research and Action Center’s research brief explains the SNAP time limit provisions and discusses priorities for outreach, proper screening for time limit exemptions, and use of discretionary exemptions and waivers for areas that have 10 percent or higher unemployment or other indicators of insufficient jobs.

A work-based learning quagmire has arisen related to SNAP. Benefit recipients enrolled in subsidized work-based learning programs offered through their SNAP Employment and Training (E&T) are paid a reasonable wage in these transitional jobs; as a result, they are no longer eligible for SNAP and are forced off their training program. This sudden and unexpected decrease in or loss of government benefits that often occurs with an increase in wages is referred to as a benefit cliff. This American Public Human Services Association brief explains work-based learning and how it differs from unsubsidized employment, as well as possible solutions to benefit cliffs.

Team-based case management is an innovative approach that removes redundancies and emphasizes coordination across the multiple organizations that may be serving the same participant. This guide describes how team-based case management can benefit SNAP E&T participants and provides an implementation checklist and resources for State agencies considering this approach. It highlights innovative approaches from Kentucky, Vermont, and Washington, highlighting how each State adopted team-based case management during the 2014 Farm Bill E&T pilot projects.

Research shows that economic supports are critical to family well-being and prevention; programs including child support, SNAP, Medicaid, and TANF play a pivotal role. These programs intersect in complex ways impacting the lives of children and families. In 2022, the American Public Human Services Association partnered with the National Child Support Engagement Association and the National Council of Child Support Directors to establish a forum for TANF administrators and child support directors to improve collaborative ties across programs. Since the initial creation, this forum has expanded to a Technical Working Group of administrators in child support, TANF, SNAP, and child welfare, parents, and other national partners to identify foundational principles for coordination and collaboration in economic supports inclusive of child support programs. This publication highlights key practices and policy levers that can better support the families they serve.

On June 3, 2023, the Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2023 was signed into law, a legislative package previously agreed upon by the White House and House Speaker to suspend the national debt ceiling limit through January 1, 2025 in exchange for a package of spending cuts and policy changes, including changes to work requirements in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program and TANF. The American Public Human Services Association has developed a summary of relevant human services provisions and the corresponding effective dates.

When schools closed in March 2020 in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, 30 million children lost access to the free and reduced-price school meals that help reduce hunger, support health, and ease the pressure on household food budgets. Congress created the Pandemic EBT Program to replace the school breakfasts and lunches families lost when schools closed. The program provides an EBT card with grocery benefits to families whose children are eligible for free or reduced-price school meals. This report by the Food Research & Action Center explains the impact of providing grocery benefits to families when their children lose access to free or reduced-price school meals and the experience families had in accessing benefits.

The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) National Hunger Clearinghouse aids low-income individuals or communities by providing food assistance and other nutrition and social services information. The clearinghouse is accessible by phone and text.