Resource Library

By providing benefits to purchase food, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) is vital to supporting the nutrition, health, and well-being of young adults who are exiting foster care. Even so, too many of these eligible young adults miss out on SNAP. On September 1, new temporary SNAP time limit exemptions went into effect including for young adults, 18 to 24 years of age, who have left foster care, pursuant to the 2023 Fiscal Responsibility Act (FRA).1 Ensuring that the new time limit exemption for young people with experience in foster care is implemented effectively is an important strategy to improve their access to SNAP. Learn more in FRAC’s new fact sheet.

By providing benefits to purchase food, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) is vital to supporting the nutrition, health, and well-being of military veterans. New temporary SNAP time limit exemptions went into effect September 1, including for veterans (e.g., people with military experience regardless of the conditions of their discharge or release) pursuant to the 2023 Fiscal Responsibility Act. Ensuring that the time limit exemptions for the newly exempt are implemented effectively is an important strategy to improve veterans’ access to SNAP.

This brief examines recent standards-setting initiatives within the healthcare sector regarding screening for food insecurity and other health-related social needs. It offers recommendations for anti-hunger advocates to leverage screening efforts to improve the nutrition, health, and well-being of people struggling to put food on the table.

There are two pathways for children to be deemed eligible to receive benefits through the Summer EBT Program, which is set to begin in summer 2024. The first is through automatic issuance, and the second is via a Summer EBT application. This resource outlines these pathways as well as frequently asked questions.

The 2021 expanded Child Tax Credit (CTC) showed a clear path to dramatically cutting hunger and poverty — the central
root cause of hunger — among households with children. These essential benefits for children and their families were
lost when the CTC expired in December 2021. This brief provides key information anti-hunger and nutrition stakeholders
need to know about the 2021 expanded CTC, its impact on households with children related to hunger, food spending,
and poverty — including new state-level data — and opportunities to take action to make permanent an expanded and
more inclusive CTC at the federal and state level.

A significant number of children missed out on nutritious suppers and snacks offered by the Afterschool Nutrition Programs, according to FRAC’s latest report, Afterschool Suppers: A Snapshot of Participation – October 2021 and October 2022.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has released the fiscal year 2024 cost-ofliving adjustments (COLA) for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), including updates to maximum allotments, deductions, and income eligibility thresholds, which are effective October 1, 2023. Learn more in FRAC’s new research brief. 

The Hot Foods Act (H.R. 3519/S. 2258), championed by Rep. Grace Meng (D-NY) and Sen. Michael Bennet (D-CO), would allow Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits to be used at grocery retailers to purchase hot foods products that are ready for immediate consumption. Learn more in FRAC’s new fact sheet. 

The Thrifty Food Plan (TFP), which offers the lowest of the four major food plans the federal government uses, sets the maximum amount of food dollars Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) participants can receive. Despite a long overdue update of the TFP in 2021, the plan still leaves SNAP participants short of the benefit amounts sufficient for food for the entire month. This research brief explains why SNAP should switch from the TFP model to the more equitable Low-Cost Food Plan to equip participants with fuller plates and improved health and well-being.

The Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2023 created a permanent nationwide Summer Electronic Benefit Transfer (Summer EBT) Program. Beginning in 2024, states, territories, and Indian Tribal Organizations will be required to cover 50 percent of the Summer EBT administrative expenses from nonfederal sources. Careful planning and preparation by states and territories, and technical assistance by the U.S. Department of Agriculture Food and Nutrition Service (USDA FNS), are critical to ensure full implementation of Summer EBT in 2024. Learn more in FRAC’s new one-pager. 

Millions of people who rely on support from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) have seen their benefits drop – in many cases, dramatically. As of March 1, 2023, all Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) participants have suffered cuts to their benefits each month as the temporary, pandemic-era SNAP boosts known as Emergency Allotments have come to an end. Combined with soaring food prices and skyrocketing heating, transportation, and housing costs, our nation is facing a hunger cliff. Find out how the hunger cliff has affected people in your state using FRAC’s state Hunger Cliff fact sheets.

Time limits in SNAP harm women, LGBTQIA+ people, and their families. Taking away nutrition assistance will not help women and LGBTQIA+ people find jobs any faster; it will just increase hunger. As a nation, we should fight hunger by helping families struggling to make ends meet put food on the table. Congress should increase SNAP benefits so fewer families have to choose between food and shelter or other necessities and reduce inequities in SNAP that prevent many women, LGBTQIA+ people, and their families from accessing this critical program. SNAP needs to be protected and strengthened.

The Stop Child Hunger Act of 2023 (H.R. 4379), introduced by Reps. Mike Levin (D-CA) and Jahana Hayes (D-CT) would expand the Summer Electronic Benefit Transfer (Summer EBT) Program, which provides families whose children are eligible for free or reducedprice school meals with an EBT card to purchase food.

FRAC’s new research brief explains the SNAP time limit provisions and discusses priorities for outreach, proper screening for time limit exemptions, and use of discretionary exemptions and waivers for areas that have 10 percent or higher unemployment or other indicators of insufficient jobs. Finally, it underscores the urgency of passing legislation to end SNAP time limits entirely.

The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), which the U.S. Department of Agriculture administers, is the nation’s first line of defense against hunger. Without SNAP, hunger in this country would be far worse. Find the reasons why we need to urge policymakers to protect and strengthen this effective program in FRAC’s new fact sheet.