Food stamp benefits increase for many

New provisions to the Food, Conservation and Energy Act of 2008 will take place, which could see the minimum food stamp benefits for one- or two-person families rise from $10 to $14 a month.
The changes went into effect on Wednesday, October 1, and will allow caring for the elderly, children and other dependents to be included when calculating food stamps.
Currently, undocumented immigrants are ineligible for most state federal public benefits, but not food stamps that can be accessible to their citizen children.
However, there is a lot of fear from many undocumented immigrants that their immigration status will be at a risk if they apply for these benefits. In fact, the law states that city agencies are not allowed to ask about or disclose immigration status.
Public Advocate Betsy Gotbaum saw the provisions as a positive step towards helping many families in the city.
“These new federal regulations should help low-income families put food on their tables,” Gotbaum said, “but we still have a lot of work to do fighting hunger in the city and helping immigrant families and their children.”
Lucy Cabrera, the President and CEO of the Food Bank for New York City anticipated the needed provisions that would be put into affect.
“With significant changes to the food stamp program only days away, the need for effective community-based outreach has never been greater. We look forward to working with the Public Advocate to ensure there are sufficient resources for food stamp outreach during this time of increasing need,” Cabrera said.
In May 2007, the Fiscal Policy Institute reported that more than 1 million New York City residents received food stamps. Even though that is a large portion of the city’s population that receives assistance, Leslie T. Annexstein, Director of the Homelessness Outreach and Prevention Project at the Urban Justice Center, signaled out that there are still residents that are not aware of this program.
As many as 83,000 immigrants living in the city are eligible for food stamps but are just not getting them, Annexstein pointed out. In Queens alone, there are nearly 200,000 families that are eligible for food stamps but are currently not receiving them.
“Our recent report, Nourishing NYC: Increasing Food Stamps Access in Immigrant Communities,” said Annexstein “found that outreach and application assistance helped immigrants overcome language barriers, immigration status concerns, and confusing eligibility requirements that have plagued immigrant food stamps participation in New York City.”
The act will also reap benefits to various public schools. The Richard B. Russell Lunch Act will help bring fresh fruits and vegetables to schools across the country, with special attention to schools with a big share of low-income students. New York alone will be receiving $4.2 million from the Lunch Act. By 2017, it will have received $53 million.