Hunger Solutions New York Blog

USDA Announces Latest Actions to Combat Fraud and Enhance SNAP Program Integrity

2012-02-08T12:16:00.000-05:00

The USDA recently announced its latest efforts to combat fraud by SNAP vendors and enhanc program integrity..The press release states that USDA staff took final actions to:

Sanction, through fines or temporary disqualifications, more than 225 stores found violating program rules; and
Permanently disqualify over 350 stores for trafficking in SNAP benefits (i.e. exchanging SNAP benefits for cash).

These enforcement actions are part of the Obama Administration's ongoing Campaign to Cut Waste and root out fraud and abuse in federal programs, including SNAP. While fraud is a relatively limited problem in SNAP – the violating stores represent less than ½ of one percent of more than 230,000 food stores authorized to redeem benefits – no level of fraud is tolerated. USDA's Food and Nutrition Service conducts ongoing surveillance and investigation, to find bad actors and remove them from the program. In fiscal year 2011, FNS reviewed over 15,000 stores, and permanently disqualified over 1,200 for program violations.


Click here to learn more.

Resource Limit Increase for Newly Applying Families That Include a Senior/Disabled Member

2012-01-26T16:50:00.015-05:00

A new Food Stamp Policy Update is now available from Hunger Solutions New York concerning an increase in the resource limit for families with senior and disabled members.

NYS has released GIS 12TA/DC001 informing food stamp offices across the state that the resource limit for food stamp families with an elderly or disabled member has increased starting October 1, 20011. The limit is now set at $3,250 up from the previous limit of $3,000.

This new increase in the resource limit only affects families with a senior or disabled member who:

are NOT categorically eligible for the food stamp program and,
are currently applying for food stamp benefits, or
applied between October 1, 2011 and January 3, 2012.

Most families in NYS which include a senior or disabled member no longer need to meet a resource limit because of the expansion of Categorical Eligibility back in 2007.

Webinar: New Healthier School Meal Standards: What You Need to Know

2012-01-25T16:40:00.004-05:00

From the Food Research and Action Center:

NewHealthier School Meal Standards: What You Need to Know
February 2, 1:00 p.m. EST
Registerhere.

Now that the school meal standards are out, learn what you need to know aboutthe new rule, implementation timeline, and process.

Join FRAC and USDA for a webinar to learn moreabout this important opportunity for our nation’s children and how you can playa part in making the new standards a success.

New Standards for School Meals Released

2012-01-25T12:11:00.000-05:00

From the USDA:

USDA UnveilsHistoric Improvements to Meals Served in America’s Schools

New Standards Will Improve the Health and Wellbeingof 32 Million Kids Nationwide

First LadyMichelle Obama and Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack today unveiled new standards for school mealsthat will result in healthier meals for kids across the nation. The new mealrequirements will raise standards for the first time in more than fifteen yearsand improve the health and nutrition of nearly 32 million kids that participatein school meal programs every school day. The healthier meal requirements are akey component of the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act, which was championed by theFirst Lady as part of her Let’s Move! campaign and signed into law by PresidentObama.

Read more from the USDA press release

Read a preview of the Federal Register's Final Rule

Learn more on at our Child Nutrition Center/Related Tools and Resources page

Food stamps a necessary lifeline

2012-01-20T18:10:00.006-05:00

By Stacy Dean, Special to CNN
updated 1:28 PM EST, Thu January 19, 2012

Editor's note: Stacy Dean is the vice president for food assistance policy at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, a think tank that focuses on fiscal policy and public programs that affect low- and moderate-income people.

CNN) -- In their attacks on the food stamp program, some Republican presidential candidates are leaving a deeply misleading impression of the nation's leading anti-hunger program. No one aspires to enroll, but for those who must, it is an essential lifeline that addresses one of the harshest impacts of poverty and unemployment -- hunger.

The food stamp program, now officially known as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), provides about 46 million Americans in about 22 million low-income households with debit cards to buy food each month. Participants include families with adults who work in low-wage jobs, unemployed workers and people on fixed incomes, such as Social Security. About three-fourths of SNAP recipients live in households with children; more than one-quarter live in households with seniors or people with disabilities.

SNAP reduces poverty while providing people with much-needed help to buy food. The program kept more than 5 million people out of poverty in 2010 and lessened the severity of poverty for millions of others, under a measure of poverty that counts SNAP benefits as income.

SNAP is also highly efficient, with one of the most rigorous quality control systems of any public benefit program. In 2010, only 3 percent of payments went to ineligible households or to eligible households in excessive amounts. Payment accuracy has been improving in the past few years, despite a large increase in SNAP enrollment.

While some have attributed that enrollment increase to Obama administration policies -- Newt Gingrich has termed President Barack Obama the "food stamp president" -- in reality it has two main causes that have little to do with this administration.

read rest of article

Polling Data Find Broad Support for SNAP Among Voters

2012-01-19T15:44:00.001-05:00

From the Food Research and Action Center (FRAC):

FRAC released today new data from a poll conducted for FRAC by Hart ResearchAssociates over the last few days showing: overwhelming concern by voters abouthunger as a serious problem; overwhelming support for the food stamp program(the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP); and overwhelmingopposition to food stamp cuts.

These findings are true among Democrats, Independents, and Republicans. FRAC’spress release summarizes the findings, including:

Seventy-seven percent of voters say cutting food stamps is the wrong way to reduce spending and only 15 percent favor cutting such assistance.
The opposition to cutting food stamps crossed party lines: 92 percent of Democrats, 74 percent of Independents, and 63 percent of Republicans say this is the wrong way to reduce spending.
Only nine percent of those polled said they would be more likely to support a candidate who favors cutting funds for the food stamp program; half said they would be less likely.
Opposition to food stamp cuts is even more overwhelming than in polling data FRAC released in November 2010, when 71 percent said it was the wrong way to cut spending.
Voters are broadly concerned about the nation’s hunger problem: 81 percent say that low-income families and children not being able to afford enough food to eat is a serious problem.

The pressrelease, Hart Research memo summarizing the results, and poll results can befound on FRAC’s website.

Hunger Solutions New York Applauds Governor Cuomo for Food Stamp Program Initiative in State Budget Proposal

2012-01-17T16:18:00.003-05:00

Albany, NY -- Governor Andrew Cuomo stated his commitment to make sure that no child in New York goes to bed hungry in his annual State of the State address earlier this month. In addition, he made a commitment to increase participation in the Food Stamp Program. Today, he followed through on this commitment by increasing the state's investment in food stamp outreach in his FY 2012-2013 budget proposal.

"We commend Governor Cuomo for his increased investment in food stamp outreach and we are eager to work with him to achieve his goal," said Linda Phelan Bopp. Bopp is executive director of Hunger Solutions New York, a statewide organization that manages the state and federally-funded Nutrition Outreach and Education Program (NOEP). NOEP funding was increased by $1 million in the governor's budget which will enable the food stamp outreach program to nearly double its efforts across New York State.

Click here to read our full press release.

Click here to learn more about governor Cuomo's budget proposal.

Job Opportunity at Hunger Solutions New York

2012-01-09T16:09:00.001-05:00

Communications Specialist

Statewide anti-hunger organization seeks new media andcommunications specialist for Albany-based position. The communications specialist will assist infood stamp benefit outreach and applicant assistance efforts in Nassau andSuffolk counties as part of a collaborative project. Join a team dedicated tohelping hungry New Yorkers enroll in the Food Stamp Program. Our organizationneeds someone who can work independently but collaborate well as part of ateam. The ideal candidate will be good at multi-tasking and be able to workwell under tight deadlines.

Main JobTasks and Responsibilities

Develop and implement new/social mediastrategy to raise awareness of the Food Stamp Program on Long Island.
Develop content and implement web-basedadvertising strategies.
Develop messaging to raise awareness ofnutrition assistance programs.
Staff bi-lingual "Help Line"fielding calls from Long Islanders seeking assistance applying for food stamps.

Education and Skills

Associates degree with 2 years communications or marketingexperience
Excellent written and communications skills
Excellent phone manners
Extensive experience with Microsoft Office
Experience and use of social media platformssuch as facebook, twitter and google+
Familiarity with working with multiple mediaincluding print, radio and advertising
General marketing experience
Familiarity with poverty issues
Familiarity of project's target populations ofnewly unemployed, older adults, immigrants, and single heads of householdsworking poor families.

Candidates who havethe following experience are strongly encouraged to apply:

extensive social media campaign experience
experience with Constant Contact emailmarketing, Abobe Creative Suite or Concrete 5 web editing
English-Spanish bilingual

Reports to: Director,Advocacy and Communications

Salary:

$30,000 + Fully paid company benefits, including health, dental,life, short and long-term disability. Company matched retirement plan isavailable after 6 months of employment. Other options available.

To beconsidered for this position, please email your resume, two writing samples and 3 professional references to jobs@HungerSolutionsNY.org no later than January 27, 2012.

Governor Cuomo Promises to Expand Food Stamp Outreach, End Child Hunger in New York State

2012-01-04T15:23:00.003-05:00

In Governor Andrew Cuomo's annual State of the State address today, he made particular note of child hunger across the state, expanding food stamp outreach and ending finger imaging requirements for applicants. Here is the quote directly from his statement made to more than 2,000 people in Albany:

No Child Should Go to Bed Hungry in New York

For all of our progress, there are still basic wrongs to right.
There is never an excuse for letting any child in New York go
to bed hungry. Statewide, 1 in 6 children live in homes
without enough food on the table. Yet 30 percent of New
Yorkers eligible for food stamps — over 1.4 million people —
do not receive them, leaving over $1 billion in federal funds
unclaimed every year. We must increase participation in the
food stamp program, remove barriers to participation, and
eliminate the stigma associated with this program. And we
must stop fingerprinting for food. No child should go hungry
in the great State of New York and we will do all that we can
to prevent it.

Hunger Solutions New York manages on of the country's largest food stamp outreach programs in the nation. The state and federally funded Nutrition Outreach and Education Program (NOEP), present in only 36 counties, helps 25,000 households enroll in the Food Stamp Program annually. We look forward to working with Governor Cuomo on his goal of expanding enrollment in the Food Stamp Program to all who are eligible.

Read the full address here.

New York Times Joins Chorus Calling for End to Finger Imaging for Food Stamp Benefits

2012-01-03T17:25:00.001-05:00

This week, The New York Times published an excellent editorial denouncing New York City's policy of requiring finger imaging of food stamp applicants.

Stigmatizing Food Stamps
Published: January 1, 2012

Five years ago, New York State stopped requiring that all applicants for food stamps be electronically fingerprinted. Recently, California and Texas ended their requirement, leaving New York City and Arizona the only jurisdictions to continue the stigmatizing requirement.

Click here to read more...

USDA: Online WIC Pre-screening Tool

2011-12-27T14:20:00.000-05:00

Launched online this fall from the USDA:

WIC provides supplemental foods, healthcare referrals, nutrition education, and breastfeeding promotion and support to low-income pregnant, breastfeeding, and postpartum women, and to infants and children up to age five who are found to be at nutritional risk.

The WIC Prescreening Tool can be used to determine if you may be eligible for WIC benefits. This Prescreening Tool is not an application for WIC. To apply for WIC benefits, you must make an appointment at your WIC local agency.

This Prescreening Tool might ask you to enter the amounts of your household’s earned (wages, tips, etc.) and unearned income (child support, unemployment benefits, SSI, etc.). Before you begin, you may want to gather this information.

The WIC Prescreening Tool usually takes less than 15 minutes to complete.

AASA's New Webpage About 4 School Districts + Breakfast in the Classroom

2011-12-27T14:16:00.001-05:00

Superintendent Leadership to Enhance and Expand the School Breakfast Program in Urban Districts

AASA has received a grant from the Walmart Foundation to significantly increase the participation of needy children in the national school breakfast program using alternative breakfast strategies, as well as to increase interest, commitment and involvement of school system leaders in the program. The grant allows AASA to work with four urban school districts to enhance school breakfast programming.

Through a competitive process, AASA chose four districts to work with on the project. They are:

Brentwood Union Free School District; Brentwood, N.Y.

Cincinnati Public Schools; Cincinnati, Ohio

Riverside Unified School District; Riverside, Calif.

Syracuse City School District; Syracuse, N. Y.

Read more about each school district's breakfast in the classroom efforts on the AASA website.

Impact of COLA Increase for Food Stamp Recipients with Social Security Income

2011-12-22T13:28:00.002-05:00

On January 1, 2012 the Social Security Administration (SSA) will adjusts the federal Supplemental Security Income (SSI), regular Social Security (SS) income and Social Security Disability Income (SSD) to reflect the increase in the cost of living (COLA). In January 2010 and 2011 there was no COLA adjustment.

Hunger Solutions New York has a new policy update that highlights the impact of this COLA adjustment for seniors and disabled people who receive food stamp benefits or who are currently NYSNIP recipients. The update also includes information on Medicare Part B premium changes which are also impacted by the SSI COLA change.

To veiw the memo and attachments click here.

Center for American Progress Study: Hunger is Suffering We All Pay For

2011-12-12T12:14:00.000-05:00

From the Center for American Progress:

"Research in this paper shows that hunger costs our nation at least $167.5 billion due to the combination of lost economic productivity per year, more expensive public education because of the rising costs of poor education outcomes, avoidable health care costs, and the cost of charity to keep families fed. This $167.5 billion does not include the cost of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program and the other key federal nutrition programs, which run at about $94 billion a year.

We call this $167.5 billion America’s hunger bill. In 2010 it cost every citizen $542 due to the far-reaching consequences of hunger in our nation. At the household level the hunger bill came to at least $1,410 in 2010. And because our $167.5 billion estimate is based on a cautious methodology, the actual cost of hunger and food insecurity to our nation is probably higher."

According to the report, New York State had a hunger bill of $9.28 billion in 2010, a 30% increase from 2007.

Access the full report online.

Preventing Hunger and Protecting Taxpayers: Our Renewed Efforts to Combat SNAP Fraud

2011-12-09T12:50:00.004-05:00

From USDA Blog Posted by Kevin Concannon, USDA Under Secretary for Food, Nutrition and Consumer Services, on December 6, 2011 at 1:00 PM

In recent years, Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) – formerly known as food stamps – has demonstrated an exceptional record in program integrity and stewardship of taxpayer dollars. The program currently serves as a bridge to success for over 46 million Americans who are at risk of being hungry when they face challenging economic times. More than half of those who rely on the program are children, elderly or the disabled, and many participants are newly unemployed and never thought they would be living in poverty. The program has never been more important and neither has the need to be a good steward of its dollars. In this vein, President Obama and Vice President Biden launched the Administration’s new Campaign to Cut Waste in government spending in June to eliminate misspent tax dollars and USDA strongly supports this effort.

Today we are reinforcing this commitment, strengthening our resolve to ensure program integrity and working on behalf of American taxpayers to protect the federal investment in SNAP and make sure the program is targeted towards those families who need it the most. While we recognize that fraud occurs relatively infrequently in SNAP, it has great potential to undermine public confidence in government and jeopardize the ability of the program to serve the millions of struggling families who rely on benefits each month.

Thankfully, the vast majority of SNAP recipients are honest people who spend their benefits to meet basic nutritional needs and to put food on the table. Data shows that illegal activity – such as selling benefits to others for cash – only affects roughly one cent on the dollar. Still, we cannot tolerate even the smallest abuse of taxpayer resources. That’s why we have implemented aggressive strategies to continue to improve SNAP integrity.

We actively investigate illegal activity so that we can remove any violators from the program. In fiscal year 2010 investigations of individuals and retailers resulted in over 44,000 persons being disqualified from SNAP and 931 retailers being permanently barred from accepting benefits. Going forward, we’re seeking to increase sanctions and penalties for retailers who engage in fraudulent activity and we’re using the regulatory process to fight the practice of buying and discarding food just to get money-back deposits.

By using state-of-the-art technology, our data-mining and analysis strategies are successfully identifying suspicious patterns in SNAP transactions. We’re already working on our next-generation system which will be even more effective. We’re aware that social media monitoring is also important to our efforts to prevent abuse in the program. For example, we recently updated our policies to make it very clear that advertising the sale of benefits through social media is illegal.

Again, cases of abuse in SNAP are relatively rare. But it’s important that we work to combat any amount of fraud. That means being aggressive in our investigations and working with our State partners who administer the program to remain vigilant and ensure that program benefits are used as intended. I’m proud to say that USDA takes protecting taxpayer dollars very seriously and we are on the job 24 hours a day to make sure others do too.

To veiw the USDA blog

USDA Press Release Annoucing New Tactics to Combat Fraud

New Report from NYC Coalition Against Hunger: Child Hunger On the Rise

2011-12-08T11:26:00.001-05:00

From the New York City Coalition Against Hunger (NYCCAH):

"New analysis of recent U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) data, conducted by the New York City Coalition Against Hunger and released today in their annual citywide hunger report, found that nearly 500,000 city children, or one in four, live in families that cannot afford an adequate supply of food – what the government calls “food insecure.” The Coalition’s calculations also showed that one in six New York City residents, 1.47 million New Yorkers, live in food insecurity, struggling against hunger.

A separate survey of New York City soup kitchens and food pantries, also included in the Coalition’s report, found that even as demand at city food pantries and soup kitchens grew by 12 percent this year – on top of a seven percent increase in 2010 and a 21 increase in 2009. In 2011, nearly fifty of these strapped emergency feeding programs closed their doors due, in part, to government cut-backs and decreases in private donations."

Read the citywide press release here.

Download the entire report, "Not Too Big to Fail: As NYC Hunger Soars, Feeding Programs Close Due to Government Cuts" here.

FRAC: Spending on Food by Tens of Millions of Americans Drops to Unhealthy Level

2011-12-08T10:42:00.001-05:00

From the Food Research and Action Center (FRAC):

"A new analysis of federal data by the Food Research and Action Center (FRAC) finds that more and more Americans have been losing the struggle to afford an adequate and healthy diet. Food spending by the average household fell dramatically over the past decade, with particularly dramatic drops in 2000-2002 and 2006-2010.

FRAC analyzed U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) annual reports that compare the amount of households’ median spending on food to the amount of the Thrifty Food Plan – the level the government defines as needed for a bare bones diet on an emergency basis, albeit a level that many experts consider to be inadequate for most families to obtain a healthy diet. The FRAC analysis found that:

Spending on food by the median household fell from 1.36 times the Thrifty Food Plan level in 2000 to 1.19 times that level in 2010.

By 2010 median spending on food by Black households and Hispanic households had fallen to the point where it was only a tiny bit above (101 percent for Black households) or was actually below (96 percent for Hispanic households) the bare bones Thrifty level.

Spending by households with incomes less than 185 percent of the poverty level fell from 106 percent of the thrifty level in 2000 to 95 percent in 2010.

This dramatically reduced spending on food would not be so problematic if households were still spending amounts adequate to obtain a healthy diet. FRAC’s analysis shows that they are not: indeed, the median spending of all households has fallen below the amount of the government’s Low-Cost Food Plan, which is a much more realistic measure of spending to support health and well-being."

Read the FRAC press release here.

Access the full report online.

Opinion Piece: Food for thought

2011-12-06T11:56:00.001-05:00

Here's a great opinion piece posted on the Albany Times Union blog, The Observation Deck. the post highlights the rising need for food assistance in the Capital Region and how the Farm Bill can help.

Food for thought

December 4, 2011 at 6:00 am by TU Editorial Board

Our opinion: The needy and the hungry are more dependent than ever on others’ help. Food pantries are only a short-term solution.

This is what it’s like in the trenches of the battle to spare the hardest-hit victims of a horrible economy from outright misery. This is a story of trying to feed people.

In Schenectady, the word comes from a food pantry that the reality of the need that arises in an era of stubbornly high unemployment, mortgage foreclosures, escalating consumer debt and, yes, soaring food prices goes beyond the emergency provisions that charities can provide.

“Food pantries have become a fabric of our emergency safety net, and we deal with people who have chronic emergencies,” says the Rev. Phillip Grigsby, director of the Schenectady Inner City Ministry. “People don’t have enough money to live on.”

So he and his colleagues at similar entities employ the logical remedies. They are increasing, yet again, the number of times people can come to receive emergency food allotments designed to last all of three days. It used to be four times a year. Come January, it will be once a month.

Such anecdotes and examples reverberate across the Capital Region. So what can be done to help people who literally lack enough to eat, let alone maintain a healthy diet?

The availability of emergency provisions, funded statewide to the tune of $29 million a year, is at once essential yet incomplete.

There is a solution. Congress will be taking up the farm bill next year. Legislation that’s renewed just once every five years is an opportunity to reduce hunger and improve public health.

About 70 percent of what’s tentatively budgeted at $98.1 billion goes toward the food stamp program. The increased frequency of visits to food pantries is ample evidence that even $70 billion isn’t enough.

Upcoming Webinars: It's Not Too Early to Think About Summer Food

2011-12-05T14:54:00.001-05:00

USDASummer Webinar Series: USDA is hosting a series of introductorywebinars on the Summer Food Service Program (SFSP) beginning in December andrunning through February. The webinar gives an overview of SFSP, offersresources for getting started, and discusses outreach practices to grow theprogram. Clickhere for details.

FRACSummer Meals Matter Conference Call Series: “Summer OutreachPlans and Resources” is the topic for a FRAC conference call on January 10th at1:00 pm eastern time. Learn about successful outreach strategies that canincrease participation in your summer program. FRAC, USDA and Hunger FreeColorado will share strategies and resources to help you plan for your SummerProgram. Clickhere for details.

New Grant Aims to Convince More Syracuse Students to Eat Breakfast at School

2011-12-05T14:47:00.001-05:00

From the Syracuse Post-Standard, 11/30/2011:

"Syracuse is one of four school districts in the country to land a roughly $400,000 grant to entice more kids to eat the free breakfasts offered to them at school.

High school students soon will be able to use their identification swipe cards to get a bagged breakfast from a vending machine instead of partaking of the hot meals served in the cafeteria. And elementary students will be able to eat their breakfast in their classroom instead of the cafeteria."

Read the full article here.

Federal Budget Update, FY2012 Agriculture Appropriations

2011-11-30T10:57:00.002-05:00

On November 18th, President Obama signed HR 2112 into law, which provides funding to the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) and essential nutrition assistance programs.

The bill provides a total of $136.6 billion in funding for nutrition programs and efforts related to SNAP/Food Stamp Program, school meals, Summer Food Service Program, WIC, emergency food, farm to school, and more.

Regarding school nutrition, the bill limits the USDA's authority on the final rule regarding school meal improvement, modifying and/or limiting various recommendations from the Institute of Medicine.

Read more from the Food Research and Action Center, including a summary of funding levels for each program and a budget analysis.

NY Times: Line Grows Long for Free Meals at U.S. Schools

2011-11-30T09:10:00.001-05:00

From the New York Times:

"Millions of American schoolchildren are receiving free or low-cost meals for the first time as their parents, many once solidly middle class, have lost jobs or homes during the economic crisis, qualifying their families for the decades-old safety-net program."

"In New York, the Gates Chili school district west of Rochester has lost 700 students since 2007-8, as many families have fled the area after mass layoffs. But over those same four years, the subsidized lunch program has added 125 mouths, many of them belonging to the children of Kodak and Xerox managers and technicians who once assumed they had a lifetime job, said Debbi Beauvais, district supervisor of the meals program.

“Parents signing up children say, ‘I never thought a program like this would apply to me and my kids,’ ” Ms. Beauvais said."

Read the full article here.

Rise in Veterans and Military Families Seeking Food Assistance

2011-11-20T11:13:00.004-05:00

Coming off of Veterans Day, two reports have come out highlighting the rising struggles of our veterans and military families. Stars and Stripes reports that food stamp use at military commissaries is up sharply from four years ago. Nearly $88 million worth of groceries were purchased using food stamps at military commissaries in 2011, more than double the amount spent in 2008, according to the Defense Commissary Agency.

Additionally, the Food Bank for New York City reports on a similar rise in need among veterans. According to their report, From the Front Lines to the Bread Lines: Food Poverty Among Veterans, veterans’ households are making a range of sacrifices in order to make ends meet: more than 1 in 10 are unable to buy food because of rent or utilities; many more are reducing the quantity and quality of food they are purchasing. Further, the data show more than one third of veteran households would not be able to afford food for their families within three months of losing their household income.

Connect struggling veterans and military families to their local Nutrition Outreach and Education Program.

2011 Food Stamp Prescreening Guide Now Available

2011-11-16T11:50:00.012-05:00

The October 2011 version of "FOOD STAMPS IN NYS: An Elgibility Prescreening Guide" is now available on our website. This year's web version includes new tools for navigating the document and many links to additional resources.

This guide is designed for community based organizations, advocates and volunteers who are working with low-income families. The guide will help you determine if a family/individual may be eligible to recieve food stamp benefits. It is a great tool for those helping families/individuals in applying for the Food Stamp Program. The guide also provides detailed information on how to calculate an estimated food stamp benefit allotment for a family/individual.

Due to financial restraints we cannot provide printed copies of this guide, as we have in past years.

For questions concerning information in the guide please contact Dawn Secor, Food Stamp Specialist at dawn.secor@hungersolutionsny.org or by calling 518-436-8757 x 112.

USDA Warning about Phony SNAP Application Assistance

2011-11-15T17:49:00.002-05:00

Urgent Notice From USDA
SCAM Alert:
SCAMMERS OFFER PHONY SNAP APPLICATION ASSISTANCE

There have been reports of individuals placing ads on the internet, sometimes located on the side of legitimate articles, offering assistance for filling out SNAP applications.

The links will take you to another website where you may be asked to provide personal information, including credit card information. Do NOT provide this information. It can be used to allow other individuals to make unauthorized purchases on your credit card, or gain access to your bank accounts.

If you see any ad on the internet offering SNAP application assistance with a corresponding link, don’t click on it. Never provide any personal information, including credit card information on an unsecure Web Site. SNAP employees or service providers will never ask you for credit card information or for anything not on your State Agency application.

If you have already fallen victim to this or a similar scam, contact your credit card company immediately. You may also choose to file a police report. For more information on identity theft, please visit: http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/edu/microsites/idtheft/ .