Hunger and Nutrition

The Food Stamp Program

The Food Stamp Program is the largest public food assistance program in the United States available to the homeless. Established in 1964, reenacted in 1997, and periodically reauthorized, it is the principal domestic food and nutrition assistance program that the USDA administers. During fiscal year 2002, the program served more than 19 million people in an average month at a total annual cost of over $18 billion in benefits. With its main purpose being “to permit low-income households to obtain a more nutritious diet … by increasing their purchasing power” (Food Stamp Act of 1977, as amended), the FSP is the only form of public assistance available nationwide to all households on the basis of financial need only, regardless of family type, age, or disability.

Households apply to the FSP at local offices. In general, each county within a state contains one or more food stamp offices. Families or individuals who meet certain financial and other eligibility criteria are certified by the local offices to participate in the program [Page 285]and are issued monthly food stamp benefits based on their household size and the net income they have available to purchase food. In the past, the benefits were issued as paper food coupons. In recent years, however, they have been issued increasingly as debit cards under “electronic benefit systems.” Food stamp benefits can be used to buy food items at most food outlets nationwide. These outlets redeem the coupons for money at local banks, which are then reimbursed through the Federal Reserve System. Program benefits are paid for entirely by the federal government, while the federal and state governments share the administrative costs equally.

Unfortunately, homelessness is a significant deterrent to FSP participation for several reasons that include, but are not limited to, mental illness, transportation barriers, not having kitchen facilities, and difficulty in presenting the required documentation to qualify for the program. While there are no exact national estimates available for a recent period, various studies suggest that the FSP participation rate among the homeless remains at a low level. Data from a recent America's Second Harvest study reveal that only 11.5 percent of its homeless clients were receiving food stamps at the time they were interviewed, while the comparable figure for the overall America's Second Harvest client population was 29.8 percent (Kim, Ohls, and Cohen 2002). These findings suggest that access to the FSP among the homeless could be improved, though the study was not designed to be representative of the homeless population.

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