New Policy Could Change Food Stamp Eligibility

Following a 50 percent increase of Pennsylvania residents eligible for food stamp assistance over the past five years, the state Department of Public Welfare may make eligibility tougher for some families, according to an article by the PA Independent.

Under the new plan, the Public Welfare Department will distribute food stamps so that benefits go only to those households in the greatest need. This returns Pennsylvania to a policy abandoned in 2008. 

In Philadelphia, more than 460,000 residents use food stamps, according to the Coalition Against Hunger. Though that figure represents about one quarter of the city's population, the nonprofit says there are more than 180,000 residents who qualify for these benefits but do not receive them.

To combat that, the Coalition Against Hunger screens nearly 7,000 residents annually for benefits.

According to the article, a new asset test will disqualify households with more than $2,000 in “countable resources” from receiving food stamps—potentially affecting 2 percent of the 1.8 million Pennsylvanians receiving food stamps.

But opponents warn that the policy will hurt some needy families and could force more individuals to seek private food donations, which are stretched thin. 

“With state and federal funding being so tight right now, we want to make sure that those who have the absolute most need are receiving benefits,” Public Welfare Department spokeswoman Anne Bale told the Independent.

Currently, families of four with a monthly income of less than $3,000 are eligible for up to $668 per month. 

Since 2006—as a result of the economic downturn and the lack of the asset test, Bale said—food stamp usage in Pennsylvania has increased by more than 50 percent, from 1.12 million eligible households to more than 1.72 million, according to the Public Welfare Department. Nationally, there has been a similar trend. 

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