ASHLAND — Ashland County officials are taking a wait-and-see approach when it comes to handling a looming disruption to federal food benefits.
The U.S. Dept. of Agriculture, which oversees the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, has said the ongoing federal government shutdown means the benefits will be halted on Nov. 1.
Peter Stefaniuk, director of Ashland County’s Job & Family Services, acknowledged the reality Thursday as he addressed county commissioners.
The disruption, Stefaniuk said, is expected to impact 4,839 people in Ashland County who, as of Thursday, receive SNAP benefits. Of those people, roughly 2,000 are children.
And of those children, 650 are disabled, he said.
Stefaniuk — and commissioners — encouraged residents to turn to local food pantries and other organizations who have stepped up to fill the need, rather than to depend on the government to subsidize temporary fixes.
“It’s pretty inspiring that we have so many organizations in our community … that are helping in this time of need,” Stefaniuk said.
Stefaniuk said the only way SNAP benefits will continue to be funded is through a resolution from Congress. He’s hopeful that will soon happen.
And when that happens, “the federal government has informed us that they intend to issue these (SNAP) benefits immediately,” he said.
‘There’s no way’
Meanwhile, Democrats in the state legislature have called on Gov. Mike DeWine to take emergency action and pushed a bill that would allocate money from the state’s rainy-day fund.Â
Summit County Council passed emergency legislation earlier this week that authorizes a $250,000 grant for the Akron-Canton Regional Foodbank to offer food assistance to affected residents.
Ashland County Commissioner Jim Justice said any financial allocation to bridge the gap would be a “drop in the bucket” to the county’s $2.2 million per month federal program.Â
Commissioner Denny Bittle said “there’s no way” the county budget could be dipped into to help stave the blow.
“The $2.2 million (monthly cost of SNAP) makes it a very difficult thing for me to comprehend for the county budget to be able to assist in that really in any way. That’s just a huge number,” Bittle said.
Stefaniuk said the county’s JFS agency remains open despite of the federal government’s closure. He said other federally-funded programs administered through his office — Medicaid, Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), childcare subsidies — remain functional.
Unspent SNAP money can be used in November
He also said SNAP recipients are able to use unspent benefits in November.
“If they have any unspent balances on their EBT cards, so like, from October — they can use those in November,” he said.
He encouraged people affected by SNAP’s halt to call 1-844-640-6466 for assistance and to visit the agency’s website to learn about food resources locally.