Food Assistance News feed http://www.cbpp.org/topic/?fa=topic&id=31 en-us Copyright 2008 Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. All rights reserved. Wed, 21 Oct 2009 16:00:02 GMT http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss Overview In enacting the Child Nutrition and WIC Reauthorization Act of 2004, Congress made several changes in the eligibility determination process for free and reduced-price school meals.[1] (The eligibility determination process has two parts: “certification,” in which children are approved to receive meal benefits, and “verification,” in which school districts obtain documentation of eligibility for a small sample of certified children.) The … http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/CBPP-FoodAssistance/~3/fV_W-KmBaR4/ http://www.cbpp.org/cms/?fa=view&id=1389 Tue, 06 Oct 2009 11:45:37 -0400 http://www.cbpp.org/cms/?fa=view&id=1389 Director of the Center’s Welfare Reform and Income Support Division, Dr. LaDonna Pavetti, testifies on the safety net's response to the recession before the U.S. House of Representative's Ways and Means Subcommittee on Income Security and Family. Duration: 10:55 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/CBPP-FoodAssistance/~3/BwRHrSvwF8k/ http://www.cbpp.org/cms/?fa=view&id=2946 Thu, 08 Oct 2009 17:51:05 -0400 http://www.cbpp.org/cms/?fa=view&id=2946 Thank you for the opportunity to testify today. My testimony will focus on four points: With recent Census data showing increases in poverty and declines in incomes even before Americans began experiencing the worst effects of the recession — and with further deterioration expected in both areas — policymakers face a serious challenge in helping low-income populations cope with the downturn. The recovery act passed in February has kept this serious recession from being … http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/CBPP-FoodAssistance/~3/5p584f1UWYU/ http://www.cbpp.org/cms/?fa=view&id=2945 Thu, 08 Oct 2009 09:56:00 -0400 http://www.cbpp.org/cms/?fa=view&id=2945 The Medicare Part D Low-Income Drug Subsidy (LIS), Medicare Savings Programs (MSPs), and Food Stamps[1] can play important roles in improving the health and well-being of low-income seniors and people with disabilities. Together, these programs can provide several thousand dollars a year in benefits and can significantly increase a low-income Medicare beneficiary’s ability to make ends meet. Unfortunately, all three programs suffer from very low participation rates among … http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/CBPP-FoodAssistance/~3/skVq95KeHck/ http://www.cbpp.org/cms/?fa=view&id=2909 Wed, 09 Sep 2009 00:00:00 -0400 http://www.cbpp.org/cms/?fa=view&id=2909 The Agriculture Department recently published a rigorous study of error in the school lunch and breakfast programs. The results show a troubling degree of error in the programs. As USDA notes, changes to reduce program errors should improve accuracy without impeding program access or increasing paperwork. Moreover, the study could easily be misunderstood by those who don’t read all 350 pages of the report. As policymakers consider the study it is important to keep … http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/CBPP-FoodAssistance/~3/Ux1bRkv0zl0/ http://www.cbpp.org/cms/?fa=view&id=1019 Thu, 31 Jan 2008 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.cbpp.org/cms/?fa=view&id=1019 The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 is designed to boost employment and the economy. It contains a number of spending and tax measures crafted to inject more aggregate demand into the sagging economy. This paper provides state-by-state estimates for a number of the major spending and tax provisions that will affect low- and moderate-income Americans (some provisions cannot be allocated on a state-by-state basis). The provisions providing relief to low- and moderate-income … http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/CBPP-FoodAssistance/~3/GykroT6-ids/ http://www.cbpp.org/cms/?fa=view&id=2355 Thu, 22 Jan 2009 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.cbpp.org/cms/?fa=view&id=2355 Many Americans do not realize that millions of seniors in our country live in poverty and cannot always afford an adequate diet. This is a complex problem requiring several responses, such as strengthening federal food assistance programs for seniors, improving Supplemental Security Income (SSI) benefits, and removing disincentives for low-income families to save for retirement. The Food Stamp Program, in particular, can do much more to assist seniors in need. Far too many seniors who are … http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/CBPP-FoodAssistance/~3/zZBFTBruU_U/ http://www.cbpp.org/cms/?fa=view&id=127 Wed, 05 Mar 2008 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.cbpp.org/cms/?fa=view&id=127 The 2008 Farm Bill makes numerous improvements in domestic food assistance programs to help low-income Americans put food on the table in the face of rising food and fuel prices. The nutrition title includes more than $10 billion over ten years in increases in these programs — including $7.8 billion for the Food Stamp Program, $1.26 billion for the Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP), and $1 billion for the free fresh fruit and vegetable snack program, which is targeted to … http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/CBPP-FoodAssistance/~3/92daHJS3nHM/ http://www.cbpp.org/cms/?fa=view&id=358 Thu, 08 May 2008 00:00:00 -0400 http://www.cbpp.org/cms/?fa=view&id=358 The Food Stamp Program has made severe hunger rare in America. These fact sheets outline how the Food Stamp Program helps people in each state. Alabama Kentucky North Dakota Alaska Louisiana Ohio Arizona Maine … http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/CBPP-FoodAssistance/~3/gODjYF1Vz-U/ http://www.cbpp.org/cms/?fa=view&id=1275 Mon, 12 May 2008 00:00:00 -0400 http://www.cbpp.org/cms/?fa=view&id=1275 The Food, Conservation and Energy Act of 2008,[1] otherwise known as the “Farm Bill,” includes a significant nutrition title that makes numerous improvements to the Food Stamp Program. Of the more than $10 billion over ten years in increases in domestic nutrition programs, $7.8 billion is for the Food Stamp Program (soon to be renamed the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP)). This document provides a quick summary of each of the food stamp provisions in the farm bill. … http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/CBPP-FoodAssistance/~3/pyRTx-fLX5E/ http://www.cbpp.org/cms/?fa=view&id=310 Fri, 23 May 2008 00:00:00 -0400 http://www.cbpp.org/cms/?fa=view&id=310 The 2008 Farm Bill makes numerous improvements to the Food Stamp Program that will help low-income Americans put food on the table in the face of rising food and fuel prices.[1] Over the 2009-2017 period, the Farm Bill will add $7.8 billion in new resources for the program, according to the Congressional Budget Office (CBO). The major food stamp provisions will: End years of erosion in the purchasing power of food stamps by raising and indexing for inflation the … http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/CBPP-FoodAssistance/~3/JZ6N8vzZvJc/ http://www.cbpp.org/cms/?fa=view&id=473 Tue, 01 Jul 2008 00:00:00 -0400 http://www.cbpp.org/cms/?fa=view&id=473 The current economic slowdown has coincided with a sharp increase in food prices, which has exacerbated hardship for many low-income families who also face high gas prices (and will face high home heating bills this fall and winter). Food stamp benefit levels are supposed to be sufficient to enable households to afford the “Thrifty Food Plan,” a low-cost but nutritionally adequate diet established by USDA.[1] Since 1996, however, when Congress cut food stamp benefits, … http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/CBPP-FoodAssistance/~3/IACssMSjZMQ/ http://www.cbpp.org/cms/?fa=view&id=521 Tue, 22 Jul 2008 00:00:00 -0400 http://www.cbpp.org/cms/?fa=view&id=521 Congress is properly focused on designing an appropriate measure to address very serious problems in the financial markets, which many experts persuasively argue is essential to help avert a meltdown in the financial markets and a potentially severe recession. The problems in the financial sector, however, are not the only ones the economy faces. And addressing the problems in the financial sector does not obviate the need for additional stimulus legislation that could inject more demand into … http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/CBPP-FoodAssistance/~3/AOs5vlqbAoY/ http://www.cbpp.org/cms/?fa=view&id=688 Fri, 26 Sep 2008 00:00:00 -0400 http://www.cbpp.org/cms/?fa=view&id=688 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/CBPP-FoodAssistance/~3/Dl5ZhNtOZqg/ http://www.cbpp.org/cms/?fa=view&id=2688 Wed, 15 Oct 2008 00:00:00 -0400 http://www.cbpp.org/cms/?fa=view&id=2688 Even before the current economic downturn, some 13 million households, containing 36.2 million people, lacked access to adequate food at some point in 2007 because they didn’t have enough money for groceries, according to the USDA report on hunger. http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/CBPP-FoodAssistance/~3/aNqMGgDrKFQ/ http://www.cbpp.org/cms/?fa=view&id=1268 Mon, 17 Nov 2008 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.cbpp.org/cms/?fa=view&id=1268 Most families and individuals who meet the program’s income guidelines are eligible for food stamps. The size of a family’s food stamp benefit is based on its income and certain expenses. This paper provides a short summary of eligibility and benefit calculation rules. http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/CBPP-FoodAssistance/~3/BPIrIOsmlUc/ http://www.cbpp.org/cms/?fa=view&id=1269 Tue, 18 Nov 2008 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.cbpp.org/cms/?fa=view&id=1269 What Is the Food Stamp Program? The Food Stamp Program, the nation’s most important anti-hunger program, helped more than 31 million low-income Americans at the end of fiscal year 2009 to afford a nutritionally adequate diet. (Effective October 1, 2008, the 2007 farm bill renamed the Food Stamp Program the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP.) More than 75 percent of all food stamp participants are in families with children; nearly one-third of participants are elderly … http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/CBPP-FoodAssistance/~3/At7mZxYV4-w/ http://www.cbpp.org/cms/?fa=view&id=2226 Wed, 17 Dec 2008 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.cbpp.org/cms/?fa=view&id=2226 Thank you for the opportunity to speak with you today about the current recession, its impacts on poverty and families, and the recovery package. The current recession already has pushed up the unemployment rate from 4.9 percent in December 2007 to 7.6 percent in January 2008. Alternative measures of the labor market paint a bleaker picture. Almost one in seven workers — some 13.9 percent of all workers — are unemployed, involuntarily working part time, or are jobless … http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/CBPP-FoodAssistance/~3/NGStS9c72DA/ http://www.cbpp.org/cms/?fa=view&id=2544 Thu, 12 Feb 2009 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.cbpp.org/cms/?fa=view&id=2544 Over the past three years, school districts and the state agencies that run the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, formerly the Food Stamp Program) have been implementing a federal requirement designed to provide food assistance to needy children who are eligible for it and eliminate unnecessary paperwork for families and schools. Under the requirement, known as “direct certification,” states and school districts now work together to ensure that the 9 million … http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/CBPP-FoodAssistance/~3/OFoAAYrnsIU/ http://www.cbpp.org/cms/?fa=view&id=2701 Tue, 03 Mar 2009 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.cbpp.org/cms/?fa=view&id=2701