JACKSONVILLE, Fla — COVID-19 related benefits are gone for SNAP benefits in Florida. SNAP stands for the supplemental nutrition assistance program, formerly known as food stamps.
People are reporting to First Coast News that they are now only receiving $20. That is the bare minimum you might get for SNAP benefits before you get kicked off of benefits, according to our expert, senior policy analyst Cindy Huddleston.
”It’s hard to buy food," said mom Kari Natal. "I just basically get the baby what he needs, and I basically, like I said, went from 200 to 20 bucks.”
Kari Natal is the mom of 11-month-old Angelo. She says her SNAP benefits went down to the bare minimum in December.
“Something needs to change because it’s not right," Natal said. "I have an infant here who is starting to eat more and more and more, and I can’t afford to get him what he needs.”
Huddleston is with the Florida Policy Institute. She says there were two major changes to SNAP benefits at the end of 2021.
“A lot of people are really feeling a hit this year in their SNAP benefits, and that’s because in August of last year folks who have been receiving SNAP during COVID no longer were able to get what was called an emergency allotment," Huddleston explains.
She says that was at least $95 in benefits families no longer have.
Huddleston explains that the state had to have an emergency health declaration in order for the federal government to provide those benefits. Florida no longer did by August.
In September 2021, she says there was another 15% deducted. It was previously a pandemic benefit, now gone.
In October 2021 however, the USDA increased benefits nationwide, but that only makes up $12 to $16.
“What do you need right now?” I asked Natal.
“Food. We are scraping by," she said.
Huddleston says make sure you are including all of your medical expenses when applying for SNAP benefits. That means medications, transportation to doctors offices and more.
By accurately reporting, it could help you gain back some of what you lost. Huddleston says she's seen people's benefits double because of it.
Also, she says any increase in Social Security benefits will cause your SNAP benefits to go down.