Our community: Food assistance

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$12,008,149.

That’s how much money Hillsdale County paid for local administration of Michigan’s Food Assistance Program in fiscal year 2012.

The money was paid out to a total of 11,867 recipients, according to a Michigan Department of Human Services report — roughly a quarter of a population of 46,514, according to the Census Bureau’s most recent estimate. That compares to the approximately $11.4 million that Hillsdale County spent on an average 8,771 recipients per month in  2011, and the $2.9 billion that Lansing spent on about 23.7 percent of the state’s total population in 2012.

In January 2013, there were 8,068 recipients in Hillsdale County, with a total payout of $990,193.

Michiganders qualify for the Food Assistance Program by filling out a form on the DHS website, or applying through the state’s “MI bridge” website; applications must receive a response within 30 days, (or seven if the applicant demonstrates sufficient need), is a Michigan resident, a US citizen, and not receiving cash from any other state, according to DHS eligibility standards.

Those who qualify for the FAP receive a Michigan Bridge Card, which functions much like a debit card, with its own PIN number and Electronic Benefit Transfer Account.

Assistance recipients, however, are not permitted to use the card without restrictions. Recipients are legally required to repay extra benefits, provide their social security numbers to DHS, immunize children under age six, and participate with child support, according to FAP application form DHS-1171. Recipients are also required to seek other benefits.

“If you do not pursue benefits when required,” reads a line on page 10, “your DHS benefits may be reduced, closed or denied”

Recipients are also not permitted to buy whatever they want using the Bridge cards. The United States Department of Agriculture, which administers the Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program at the federal level, permits the purchase of basic grocery items – grains, produce, meat, dairy – but not alcoholic beverages, non-food items, in-store food, or hot food.

These rules, some of them introduced in the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008, might suggest that government food assistance programs try to influence positively the health of recipients. But in a 2007 report titled “Implications of Restricting the use of Food Stamp Benefits,” the USDA said that “there are serious problems with the rationale, feasibility and potential effectiveness of this proposal.”

Other restrictions are still attached. For example, not all retailers and restaurants accept Bridge cards, though most do. Locally, the retailers Wal-Mart, Walgreens, Kroger, and Hillsdale Market House do, according to a DHS participation form; Johnny T’s, however, does not.

Bridge card holders also are limited in when each month they receive benefits. Based on the last digit of a recipient’s ID card, he or she receives a benefit on a corresponding odd day of the month, starting with the 3rd, according to a DHS eligibility schedule.

What do Hillsdale’s own economists think of the FAP? Michael Clark, assistant professor of economics, said that it is a bit more complicated than one might expect.

“It’s a borderline issue in our economics department,” said Clark. “We tend to support a minimal social safety net, but want to make sure people don’t completely fall through the system. Hayek supported it.”

Clark also said that, if some in the department did support food assistance, their support would be qualified.

“The concern is when it ceases to be a safety net, when people start becoming dependent,” Clark said. “Then it stifles an individual’s pursuit of his own livelihood.”

For all the restrictions and drawbacks, however, DHS officials said that the program means a lot to the needy in the area.

On Jan. 4, for example, “human error” temporarily impacted the EBT accounts of 85,000 FAP recipients, forcing the Michigan Department of Technology, Management and Budget to figure out quickly what was wrong.

“DTMB understands the hardship that this situation has caused Michigan families and the inconvenience to the businesses that serve them,” said DTMB spokesperson Kurt Weiss in a press release at the time. “We are working around the clock to correct the problem as quickly as possible and we will determine why it occurred.”

Benefits were restored by 11:22 a.m. the next day.