HHS sounds alarm over potential food benefit pause

Minnesota Prairie County Alliance (MNPrairie) issued nearly $900,000 in food assistance benefits in September to recipients across Dodge, Waseca, and Steele County.
If the federal government shutdown continues, 5,868 clients, 2,324 of whom are children, will be at risk of losing the support they receive from those programs.
MNPrairie and other health and human services agencies are bracing for that reality to hit within a few weeks.
On its website, the state Department of Children, Youth, and Families announced it has “received notice from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Food and Nutrition Services that if the federal government shutdown continues into November, there will not be enough funds to pay November Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits.”
MNPrairie Executive Director Tara Reich said the agency has begun to receive calls about food benefits. She expects the calls to “increase as more people learn how the federal shutdown may affect November benefits.”
“To help ensure individuals with pending applications can access their benefits, MNPrairie has authorized staff overtime to process as many pending SNAP and MFIP (Minnesota Family Investment Program) applications as possible before the end of October,” Reich wrote in an email. “We encourage applicants to promptly submit any requested verifications so their applications can be processed in time.”
She added: “MNPrairie continues to accept and process applications for all programs. We will also update our website to include a link to the state’s site for the most current information and are developing a one-page information sheet highlighting local community resources. Our goal is to keep residents informed of program changes that may affect them.”
Reich noted that members of the public are “encouraged to contact their congressional representatives, who ultimately have the authority to end the shutdown.”
“If November food benefits are delayed or not issued, it will place additional strain on local resources such as food shelves and community assistance programs,” Reich wrote.
She also expects that the loss of benefits will have an impact on the local economy.
“If individuals are unable to access these benefits, it will directly affect our local economy, as those dollars would otherwise be spent at grocery stores and other food retailers in our communities,” she wrote.
For up-to-date information, visit dcyf.mn.gov/federal-shutdown.