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SNAP: Do The Hungry Get More Policy Than Nutrition?

Hunger and poverty are universal challenges, but in the U.S., for more than 50 years, support programs like SNAP, or Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, have provided help to those in need. On this Us & Them, host Trey Kay talks with three West Virginians — a retiree, a mom and a lawmaker — who all say that nutritional support has made a difference in their lives.

More than 12 percent of Americans, or 42 million people, need help getting enough food to eat.

In West Virginia, that number is about 18 percent. That help comes from a federal program called SNAP — the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, formerly called food stamps. The Mountain State is one of the top recipients of SNAP benefits — nearly 45 percent are older adults or families with someone who’s disabled, while nearly 60 percent are families with children.

The government’s food support program actually has its roots in McDowell County, West Virginia where it began as a pilot project in the 1960s. Since then the program has reduced poverty and hunger across the nation. Today, SNAP gets caught up in political debates and election cycles.

On this Us & Them episode, host Trey Kay talks with three people, a retiree, a mom and a lawmaker who all say that nutritional support has made a difference in their lives.

This episode of Us & Them is presented with support from the West Virginia Humanities Council, and the CRC Foundation.

Subscribe to Us & Them on Apple Podcasts, NPR One, RadioPublic, Spotify, Stitcher and beyond.

Reenie Kittle, who’s 74, from Harding, W.Va., is a widow and retired with a physical disability. She does what she can to get by on a meager fixed income.

“How do I live on a fixed income? Very scarcely,” Kittle told *Us & Them* host Trey Kay as they sat in the living room of her converted double-wide home. “So I have to buy pellets for my wood stoves in the winter months. I have to pay the water bill… all my bills. I don’t go out very much ‘cause I can’t afford the gas. With my income and my bills of $1,300 a month, I am lucky if I have $200, maybe $250 left over to try to find food. My neighbor sometimes will bring me supper, and that’s been a blessing to me. They try to help me food-wise as much as they can. For SNAP, I qualify for $23 a month. It is nothing. They just tell me that they’ve reviewed my case and that’s as much as they can do. They have no extra money to give and that’s it.”

*Credit: Trey Kay/West Virginia Public Broadcasting*

Each month, Reenie Kittle heads to the grocery store in Elkins, W.Va. with $23 from the federal government’s SNAP program. SNAP stands for Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program — it used to be called “Food Stamps.”

Reenie beelines past the produce section, beyond the tower of packaged strawberries, the cold case full of carrots and greens. She’s not here to buy what she *wants* to eat. She’s here to stretch the money she is allotted to the very last penny.

*Credit: Trey Kay/West Virginia Public Broadcasting*

Roughly 18 percent of West Virginia residents use SNAP benefits. Nationally, that number is more like twelve percent, which means that 42 million people across America need help getting enough to eat.

Seth DiStefano, with the West Virginia Center on Budget & Policy, lobbies to support programs like SNAP — which became a centerpiece of the social reform programs in President Lyndon Johnson’s “Great Society” initiative. DiStefano says SNAP has its roots in West Virginia. This goes back to when President John F. Kennedy started the original “Food Stamp” program in McDowell County.

“It truly is one of the most effective anti-poverty programs in the history of the United States,” DiStefano said.

*Credit: West Virginia Center on Budget & Policy*

Mary Kathryn Molitor, 34, lives in St. Albans, W.Va. with her three daughters and an old dog named Brenda. Mary Kathryn works full-time at a local credit union, making about $13 an hour. When the *Us & Them* team first spoke with her, she wasn’t sure she wanted to talk on the record about her relationship with SNAP saying it was her “dirty little secret.”

“I don’t tell people that I use SNAP benefits because I know what that person looks like and that person doesn’t look like me,” Molitor explains while pulling one of her wriggling twin daughters up onto her hip. “That person doesn’t have a college education. That person doesn’t have a full-time job. That person isn’t who I am. I find it embarrassing. I don’t want to admit that I need help.”

*Credit: Trey Kay/West Virginia Public Broadcasting*

To supplement her family’s food supply, Mary Kathryn Molitor often goes to the Capital Market in Charleston and checks to see if they have wilted vegetable plants that are about to be discarded. She takes them home to plant in her garden.

“Those are pumpkins right there? Volunteers. All those tomatoes? Volunteers. Sunflowers? Volunteers,” Molitor said while showing *Us & Them* host Trey Kay the plants around her home. “After Halloween – I threw my pumpkins into a couple of different areas and they rotted, seeded and they are giants now! They grow on their own. They volunteer! If anybody needs a free pumpkin this year, just come to my house!”

*Credit: Trey Kay/West Virginia Public Broadcasting*

Del. Jonathan Pinson represents the 17th District of West Virginia’s House of Delegates, on the western border of the state including parts of Mason and Jackson counties. Pinson, a Republican and a Baptist pastor, was first elected in 2020.

“I cannot say that I have issues with [SNAP] in general,” Pinson told *Us & Them* host Trey Kay when they met in Point Pleasant, W.Va. “One of the reasons that I can’t say that I’m opposed to that is because I think back prior to my adoption… at 15 years old… I go back to Saturday mornings sitting in a line at the armory in Florida, picking up corn flakes and powdered milk and five pound jugs of peanut butter. And I can tell you that there were many, many meals that I wouldn’t have had, had my parents not been on food stamps — and at the time, ‘commodities,’ that’s what it was called. So I can’t say that I’m opposed to the government helping when help is warranted.”

*Credit: West Virginia Legislature*

DHHR Warns Of SNAP Scams

The U.S. Department of Agriculture and the DHHR have received recent reports of card skimming, phishing, or cloning scams targeting the SNAP using Electronic Benefit Transfer (EBT) card fraud and stolen benefits.

The West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources is warning recipients of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) to stay vigilant against scams.

Janie Cole, the DHHR’s Commissioner for the Bureau of Family Assistance, said SNAP benefit theft victimizes low-income individuals who rely on those benefits to care for their families.

“Card skimming can happen to anyone who uses a credit, debit, or EBT card, including SNAP participants,” Cole said. “SNAP benefit theft victimizes low-income individuals who rely on these benefits to feed their families, and it will not be tolerated.”

Theft of SNAP benefits is punishable by federal and state law and can include imprisonment and financial penalties. If a recipient of SNAP benefits is convicted of benefit theft, penalties may include being banned from participating in the SNAP program.

DHHR can replace stolen EBT benefits lost due to card skimming, cloning, or phishing, retroactively to October 1, 2022, and through September 30, 2024.

West Virginia residents who receive SNAP benefits and believe benefits have been stolen, should contact their local DHHR office or contact the DHHR Customer Service Center at 1-877-716-1212 to file a claim.

Arriving At The New Normal

As the world steps into the actuality of the “new normal,” how do the end of these designations affect West Virginians?

The End Of The COVID-19 Public Health Emergency Brings Changes To Benefits

Thursday, May 11, the U.S. officially canceled the designation of COVID-19 as a public health emergency in the country.

Also this week, the World Health Organization (WHO) removed its designation for COVID-19 as a “global health emergency.”

For the first time in more than three years, the general public and health providers will live in a post-COVID-19 world, at least on paper.

As the world steps into the actuality of the “new normal,” how do the end of these designations affect West Virginians?

The Virus

While COVID-19 is no longer a health emergency, it is still an infectious illness that is a significant cause of acute illness and can cause long-term health complications all over the body known as long COVID. In special populations, COVID-19 is still life-threatening.

According to Clay Marsh, West Virginia’s COVID-19 czar, current research shows that staying current with recommended vaccination reduces the risk of long COVID, as does taking the oral anti-viral paxlovid or the drug metformin, if one tests positive for COVID-19.

“We have learned a lot about COVID-19, and to further ensure our health, we need to continue to practice what we learn,” Marsh said. “COVID-19 will remain an infectious disease that will cause illness, hospitalization and death, but by staying smart and following the guidance of our healthcare providers, we can keep each other safe and stop more preventive deaths from COVID-19.”

The Food and Drug Administration and the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) have recommended another booster for those over 65 years old and are four months or more from the last Omicron COVID-19 shot. Those who are immunocompromised will benefit from another shot as soon as two months after the last, according to the CDC.

The West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources (DHHR) recommends West Virginians check the state’s vaccine calculator to see if they are due for a booster shot.

In West Virginia, 8,125 deaths have been attributed to COVID-19, as of May 10, 2023.

Pandemic-Era Healthcare Benefits

During the Public Health Emergency, Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program (WVCHIP) suspended eligibility redetermination processes, allowing coverage to continue regardless of changes in circumstances.

However, Medicaid and WVCHIP continuous eligibility provision was separated from the Public Health declaration in December 2022. This signaled the beginning of the unrolling of beneficiaries from these programs.

“For the past three years, the Medicaid program has been growing,” said Rhonda Rogombe, health and safety net policy analyist for the West Virginia Center on Budget and Policy. “One because people were not losing coverage. And two, the pandemic triggered an economic downturn that like made a lot more people eligible for the program.”

When the upcoming unrolling of benefits was announced, advocates worried beneficiaries would lose their coverage because they may have moved over the pandemic.

“Most of the denials that we’re seeing on the national level, are for procedural reasons, which means that somebody didn’t determine their paperwork or fill it out correctly,” Rogombe said. “We don’t have specific state numbers yet. We still see them by the end of the month. But West Virginia follows natural trends when most people who are losing coverage are losing it because they didn’t complete and return that paperwork on time.”

Jaqueline Hale is the Virginia State Network Director at Unite Us. Unite Us West Virginia is a network of health and social service providers. The network is supported by an West Virginia-based Unite Us team focused on community engagement, network health and optimization and customer success. Hale also covers portions of southern West Virginia.

“The fact that people haven’t had to do this for three years, so one, that could be out of practice,” Hale said. “I know, I’m always struggling to find, you know, where’s the shot record? Where’s that last pay stub? Right? How do I download it from wherever if you even have that capacity to have access to an online payroll. So it’s just a heavy administrative burden and recognizing that a lot of our families, a lot of our individuals are dealing with multiple complex issues.”

Those who may have lost their benefits or health insurance coverage during the unrolling process can submit the required renewal forms for coverage redetermination through West Virginia People’s Access To Help (WVPATH).

For those who no longer qualify, West Virginia Navigator is a free, non-profit program that offers enrollment assistance for the Health Insurance Marketplace and is available to any West Virginia resident.

SNAP and Food Banks

According to advocates for food security, charitable programs are unable to support those facing hunger fully. A combination of charity and government assistance programs are necessary to help bridge the meal gap, especially in a post-COVID economy with record-breaking inflation rates.

Cyndi Kirkhart is the CEO of Facing Hunger Food Bank, based in Huntington. It is one of only two food banks in West Virginia. The other is Mountaineer Food Bank, based in Gassaway.

Food insecurity will only increase along with inflation costs. Kirkhart said she budgeted $2.5 million to purchase food for the Facing Hunger Food Bank in 2022. The bank actually expended $4 million to feed its community.

Along with other changes to beneficiary requirements, on July 1, the work requirements for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) for “able bodied adults without dependents” resumes, statewide.

Since April 2020, the West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources has issued SNAP emergency allotments, increasing each household’s monthly benefit.

Now, those monthly SNAP benefits have returned to the pre-COVID-19 Public Health Emergency level based on the household’s income, assets, household size, and other non-financial factors. About 170,000 households have been affected.

SNAP is a program of the U.S. Department of Agriculture administered by DHHR’s Bureau for Family Assistance.

The “able-bodied adults without dependents” work requirement reinstatement will impact SNAP recipients ages 18 to 49 without children or other qualifying dependents, and who lack an identified condition that would prevent them from participating in a qualifying work, volunteer, or education activity.

“The stigma associated with the word ‘able bodied’ insinuates that they are unable to ascertain work and that’s not entirely the case,” Devon Lopez, associate director of customer and community success at Unite Us West Virginia, said. “However, our platform really is designed to empower organizations to help connect individuals in need for services. And so really taking the stigma associated with what asking for help might look like for individuals in the community, and really empowering organizations to help be the advocate for them and connect them to those resources.”

According to the DHHR, all potentially affected individuals will receive a letter in mid-May with more information.

“We know that someone’s overall health is adversely affected by their ability to be able to access food and proper nutrition,” Lopez said. “So in the past three years, they’ve been able to access, you know, these benefits that have been providing them with food boxes and meals. However, as they no longer qualify on this public health emergency ends, and they’re, they’ll have to re enroll for these or just not qualify for them at all anymore, we’re going to see a severe increase in those with those food needs.”

Kirkhart said work requirements are more complicated for those living in rural areas.

“You know, obviously folks focus on some of the expectations that there’s work associated with getting benefits and those type of things,” Kirkhart said. “The narrative never changes about that, because we serve very rural and remote communities where there is no public transportation. There are few if any jobs are volunteer opportunities to complete hours.”

Kirkhart also said her food bank and its mobile units are already seeing an increase in need in the community from the beginning of this year’s unrolling of beneficiaries. She expects to see more families in need after their stores of food run out.

“We’re kind of seeing the increases that I kind of expected would occur,” Kirkhart said. “So right now we’re about 25 percent (of spent funding), over the previous like 23 percent. Our mobile pantries in this last month have really started to grow. So I expect statistically, after review of this month, we’ll probably see more than 35 percent because sometimes people had food resources, and you know, they had kind of stocked up in anticipation.”

Officials Report ‘Positive Momentum’ In Restructuring

During a briefing, Dr. Jeff Coben, interim secretary of the DHHR, was asked multiple questions about the progress of the restructuring process of the agency.

Officials said in a Justice administrative briefing they have “positive momentum” toward restructuring the Department of Health and Human Resources (DHHR).

Legislation passed earlier this year directed the DHHR to separate after years of turmoil within the agency. House Bill 2006 terminates the DHHR beginning Jan. 1, 2024 and creates three departments: the Department of Human Services, the Department of Health and the Department of Health Facilities. The bill was signed into law on March 4.

During the briefing, Dr. Jeff Coben, interim secretary of the DHHR, was asked multiple questions about the progress of the restructuring process.

“The legislation that’s been introduced is important, but equally, if not more important, is it’s building on our programs, getting the workforce in place that we need, strengthening that workforce, strengthening the families, and making it so that people are through the economic work that’s been done through the gut by the governor and the legislature, through creating jobs and opportunities for people,” Coben said.

Coben said the DHHR hired 40 new Child Protective Service (CPS) workers since January. The department is currently 72 percent staffed according to the Child Welfare Dashboard.

Coben also noted that the structure of the agency has been in place for about 35 years and said it is important to communicate with federal partners as the restructuring progresses.

“We’ve got a nine-month timeframe to prepare for the three new departments that will be in place,” he said. “We have to work very closely with our federal agencies, and federal partners, because so much of the funding that supports the programs of DHHR, and the future programs of the three new departments is done in collaboration with our federal partners.”

The DHHR reported a $7,674,467,799 budget for the fiscal year 2024 during January’s Interim legislative session. Tara Buckner, chief financial officer of the DHHR testified at that hearing that 75 percent of the DHHR’s budget is made up of federal funding.

These federal funds provide for programs like Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP).

“Our goal from the beginning has been to really focus and strengthen our child protective services agencies, our foster care system, and really at our most vulnerable citizens across the state,” Coben said. “And I think that we’ve we’ve really had some strong positive momentum and continue to build on that momentum.”

Unite Us W.Va. Provides Assistance During Rollback Of Pandemic Benefits

Now that the state public health emergency has ended, monthly SNAP benefits have returned to the pre-COVID-19 public health emergency level based on the household’s income, assets, household size, and other non-financial factors.

When the COVID-19 pandemic began, the federal government sought to help families through temporary emergency increases to benefit programs including Medicaid, Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), and Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP).

Since April 2020, the West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources (DHHR) has issued SNAP, CHIP, and Medicaid emergency allotments, increasing each household’s monthly benefits.

According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), 37.3 percent of West Virginia households receiving SNAP benefits have children. About 170,000 households have been affected in the state.

Devon Lopez is the community engagement manager for Unite Us, West Virginia. She said these changes not only create a hunger cliff, but in rural communities, the rolling back of benefits could create food deserts. A food desert is an area that has limited access to affordable and nutritious food.

“So this kind of becomes a larger issue than an individual just not receiving enough, you know, benefits to receive food. This is being experienced across all social wellness, but obviously, SNAP is the latest to be hit with this,” Lopez said. “And so what we’re seeing in West Virginia, is that we know one in six West Virginians actually receive SNAP benefits. And beyond that, what we do know is that a lot of those folks who receive SNAP benefits are in our rural communities.”

Lopez said the rolling back of pandemic-era benefits often has negative effects on organizations that provide assistance, like food banks.

Cyndi Kirkhart is the CEO of Facing Hunger Food Bank, based in Huntington. It is one of only two food banks in West Virginia. The other is Mountaineer Food Bank, based in Gassaway.

Food insecurity will only increase along with inflation costs, Kirkhart said. She budgeted $2.5 million to purchase food for the Facing Hunger Food Bank in 2022. The bank actually expended $4 million to feed its community.

“It is going to provide a lot of, you know, negative effects on the organizations or entities that may be providing those assistance over time and we’re gonna see those you know, pull back as well,” Lopez said.

Unite Us, West Virginia aims to mitigate the fallout from unrolling benefits by providing an electronic platform for people and organizations to find assistance.

“We enable cross-sector collaboration between community-based organizations, government entities, health systems, nonprofits, really bringing all of those folks together on one single platform or infrastructure electronically,” Lopez said. “I call it the three C’s. It allows these organizations to all collaborate, communicate and coordinate for an individual’s care together beyond their four walls.”

Lopez said Unite Us is able to bring everyone together at one single table to meet the individual in need, where they’re at, and provide care and assistance.

“We’re so community-driven, because there’s multiple of me across the country that live and work in the communities working to build trust,” Lopez said. “And we’re not just an entity that comes in and says we’re going to help you like a lot of times we see in West Virginia. I’m from here, I believe in this and I’m doing the work on the ground.”

Unite Us is a unique program, according to Lopez, because they provide a team that’s ready to support people and organizations every step of the way.

“And I think one of the most unique things about the work that we do is the fact that our platform is absolutely at no cost for our community-based organizations so they can leverage this technology, the platform for referrals for free at no cost,” Lopez said.

Officials Remind Recipients Of Public Assistance To Check Their Benefits Status

During a Justice administration briefing, Ret. Maj. Gen. Jim Hoyer, director of the Joint Interagency COVID-19 Task Force, reminded West Virginians who receive state assistance to check the status of their benefits in light of the ending of the National Public Health Emergency.

“This does not mean that COVID is over,” Hoyer said. “But what this does mean is a change in certain policies and funding in response to the pandemic that may have an impact on certain people in the state of West Virginia. Particularly those related to Medicaid, CHIP and SNAP.”

Since April 2020, the West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources (DHHR) has issued SNAP emergency allotments, increasing each household’s monthly benefit.

Now, those monthly SNAP benefits have returned to the pre-COVID-19 public health emergency level based on the household’s income, assets, household size, and other non-financial factors. About 170,000 households will be affected.

With the emergency set to end on May 11th, those affected individuals can go to www.wvpath.org or call 1-800-642-8589 to check their benefit status.

“The joint interagency task force has been assigned to work with the governor’s deputy chief of staff, to work with the Department of Homeland Security and Emergency Management, FEMA, and the threat preparedness folks within the Department of Health and Human Resources and other agencies to make sure that close out is done correctly and in an expeditious manner,” Hoyer said. “So far facilities that have participated in these audits have received strong applause for their excellent record keeping and effective distribution of benefits. West Virginia is moving along just fine in those initial audits.”

Hoyer also noted the anniversary of the state’s vaccine calculator, noting that nearly one million calculations have been done using the online tool.

“It was the first of its kind in the nation and ours has become the national template,” Hoyer said. “And I believe we demonstrated that with this calculator, it is important that folks continue to pay attention and check the calculator.”

Hoyer also asked the public to keep up to date with their COVID-19 vaccinations, noting that 400 Americans still die each day due to COVID-19-related illness.