SNAP Emergency Allotments
When HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra renewed the Public Health Emergency on July 15th, this also extended states' abilities to offer SNAP Emergency Allotments. These Emergency Allotments have increased available benefits, on average nearly twice the pre-pandemic levels.
You can follow the details of Emergency Allotments and Vermont's waivers from this USDA site.
Although the extension is linked to the COVID-19 public health emergency, it is also helping respond to inflation and related food insecurity. As Katy Davis of Hunger Free Vermont discussed in our Hunger Vital Sign Explainer series, the USDA's baseline methods of measuring and responding to food insecurity prioritize stability - they measure trends not fluctuations, they have a reliable system for making benefits available to anyone who is eligible. In times of significant disruption, we need to bring in more nimble tools for measuring real-time impacts and responding before they become a long-term trend. Another COVID-19 related measure by USDA to address real-time disruption was P-EBT for school children.
The Food Research and Action Center (FRAC) posted about the PHE extension’s impact on preventing hunger here. FRAC has also released a report on the impact of pandemic-related waivers on preventing hunger in children. The flip side of temporary measures’ ability to prevent food insecurity during major economic disruptions is the potential of a “cliff” effect when those benefits go away. This issue is closely track by Children’s HealthWatch and was another application of Hunger Vital Sign data discussed in the toolkit interviews. For a recent report on the impact of removing temporary benefit expansions, see this June issue brief on the Child Tax Credit during COVID-19.
3SquaresVT, Vermont's name for SNAP, is an important tool for food access — both with the types of emergency waivers discussed above and as a foundational program supporting food security. It is federally funded, bringing $17 million into Vermont every month (monthly reports are posted here). Other food programs can build from that foundation either indirectly, by meeting needs or serving individuals not covered in SNAP, or directly, with programs like Crop Cash that enhance 3SVT spending at Farmers Markets. It is flexible, allowing participants to incorporate the benefit into their normal routines - and also it is the foundation for some programs to support changes in those routines towards healthier eating, such as the Food & Nutrition Education Program at UVM Extension or SNAP-Ed grants.
The State of Vermont administers federally-funded outreach funds for 3SVT enrollment, creating materials and enrollment assistance that any organization can use. Visit VermontFoodHelp.com for more information including: