The New Mexico Human Services Department filed its first-ever application for a SNAP outreach program with the U.S. Department of Agriculture in October 2023. Oversight of SNAP, along with many other health care responsibilities, was later transferred to the Health Care Authority. (Photo by Shaun Griswold/Source New Mexico)
Advocates are asking New Mexico lawmakers to ensure the state always has the opportunity to tap federal assistance to cover the costs of education and support for people applying for public food assistance.
The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) isn’t the only solution to food insecurity, but it is the most effective tool we have to ensure families have enough to eat, said Cody Jeff, poverty and public services attorney at the New Mexico Center on Law and Poverty.
“We do that by getting as many eligible New Mexicans enrolled as possible, especially families with children,” Jeff said.
In February, New Mexico was one of 32 states and two territories designated by the federal government as too late in processing benefit applications.
U.S. Department of Agriculture guidelines require 95 percent of claims to be processed within 30 days. New Mexico completed applications on time only 72 percent of the time, says USDA Secretary Thomas Vilsack wrote to Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham.
That means some New Mexico residents who received SNAP, which includes food assistance for families, children, the elderly and the disabled, missed out on those benefits.
And in some cases, they had to go hungry or not pay other bills, Jeff said.
According to Jeff, benefits are being delayed in part because the New Mexico Health Care Authority is taking time to process applications due to staffing issues.
Jeff and two Roadrunner Food Bank officials on Tuesday asked the Legislative Health and Human Services Committee to introduce a bill during the upcoming regular session in January that would require the Health Care Authority to submit a SNAP outreach plan to the U.S. Department of Agriculture each year.
Making the outreach program permanent and expanding it would allow more outreach workers to educate the public about what SNAP entails, pre-screen people for eligibility and follow along with them as their applications are processed, Jeff said.
“This program could work for the Health Care Authority by relieving some of that burden, by allowing New Mexico residents to enroll at institutions like Roadrunner, and by helping potential applicants there apply for SNAP,” Jeff said.
They also asked for $150,000 to be added to the New Mexico Health Care Authority’s budget so they can hire a dedicated employee to manage SNAP outreach and create an application portal so providers can track people’s progress toward receiving their benefits.
According to Jeff, candidates not only need high-quality translation and interpretation services, but also training to learn how the SNAP program works.
Roadrunner Food Bank Outreach Since 2013
The New Mexico Human Services Department first applied for a SNAP outreach program with the U.S. Department of Agriculture in October 2023. Oversight of SNAP, along with many other health care responsibilities, was later transferred to the Health Care Authority.
The goal of the plan is to ensure that New Mexico residents who qualify for SNAP receive accurate, culturally relevant and developmentally appropriate information and assistance when they apply, according to the 127-page informational brochure. plan.
Jason Riggs, director of advocacy and public policy at Roadrunner Food Bank, said he spent the better part of a decade “harassing everyone I could talk to” about getting a SNAP outreach plan for New Mexico.
According to Jeff, Colorado, Nebraska, Texas and New Jersey already have robust outreach programs in place.
The Health Care Authority has made a lot of progress over the past year, Riggs told lawmakers Tuesday.
The state government received $60,000 from the federal government in 2023 for SNAP outreach, which helped support Roadrunner Food Bank’s existing outreach program, which has been in place for a decade, Riggs said.
“Food banks are designed as emergency services, and SNAP is really the first line of defense against extreme hunger,” Riggs said.
The state’s outreach program improved communication between the Health Care Authority and people in the community inquiring about their applications, eliminating people’s fear of applying “because of the wait time,” said Shannon Hudson, SNAP and public benefits outreach manager at Roadrunner Food Bank.
“So we can encourage people to sign up because we have the information from the Health Care Authority,” Hudson said.
