Crow Wing County officials say they are doing their best to help those who rely on government assistance to feed their families, despite the longest federal government shutdown in history.
The Minnesota Department of Human Services is monitoring the shutdown. Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, also known as SNAP, benefits are affected by the federal shutdown.
"It's been reported to me that we are getting a number of calls, particularly lately. Folks are hearing that their neighbor got their benefits, but they haven't got theirs yet," said Sheila Skogen, community services operations manager.
SNAP, formerly known as "food stamps," offers nutrition assistance to millions of eligible, low-income individuals and families.
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"By completing an application and being within the income guidelines for their family household size, we then complete an interview with them and determine eligibility for that program," said Tammy Mulroy, a county income maintenance supervisor.
President Donald Trump and Democrats have been at an impasse for more than a month over his demand for funding to build a border wall he claims will deter those attempting to illegally enter the United States from Mexico. Bills that fund much of the federal government expired because of the dispute. The president said he would not sign bills without border funding. As of Friday, the president announced he agreed to reopening the government temporarily for three weeks, although indicated the border wall funding would remain a sticking point.
"People are concerned and anxious that they're not going to get their February benefits. What we're telling them is-to the best of our knowledge-benefits will be issued. They're not going to all be issued at the same time, but they will be issued," Skogen said.
SNAP benefits can be used to buy foods, such as breads and cereals; fruits and vegetables; meats, fish and poultry; and dairy products-and even seeds and plants, which produce food.
"At this time, the only people that would be negatively impacted are the few folks who did not turn in their paperwork timely; for the folks who did turn in their paperwork on time, we have already processed February's benefits, as directed by the state," Skogen said. "Folks will get their February benefits between now and the end of January. Hopefully, they will budget their early benefits appropriately to cover them to the end of February."
The Minnesota Department of Human Services was recently notified there are enough funds to cover all SNAP benefits issued for February, according to Skogen.
"I have no idea what is in store for March benefits, and that will be a result of when the shutdown ends and/or if more money is appropriated for the USDA (U.S. Department of Agriculture) to extend SNAP benefits longer past February," Skogen said. "We also have a number of resources in our community that we refer people to: food shelf, Ruby's Pantry, Sharing Bread Soup Kitchen. We do that routinely anyway, because this is a supplemental program."
The U.S. Department of Agriculture stated new SNAP benefits can be issued in February as long as reserve funds are available. The federal government has not said how long they expect those funds to last.
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"Many of them will get their benefits for February early, which means they should get them in January, and we're just trying to remind them to be cautious," Skogen said of SNAP beneficiaries. "This is a supplemental program, and it's intended for the full value of food for the month, and they need to be cautious about budgeting for that month of February because they're going to get them early in January."
Supervisors were advised during a Jan. 11 telephone conference to get all February SNAP work processed by Jan. 15.
"Staff worked all weekend, days and evenings through Tuesday to get the work completed. There were approximately 1,000 cases-very few were left undone due to incomplete paperwork/proofs," Skogen said.
State human services officials asked the USDA what will happen in March but have not received information, according to the DHS website.
"Our staff is working very hard to get all of the approvals done they can, so that county residents receive their food support as timely as they can, so they can feed their families and take care of themselves nutritionally," said Tina Ebertowski, a county income maintenance supervisor. "I am very proud of our staff and how they've come together and really put forth a great effort to get that done."
