Hunger & Poverty
Louisiana’s surging rates of unemployment and food insecurity led to a massive increase in applications for SNAP (formerly, Food Stamps), beginning in mid-March, when the state’s stay at home order went into effect. On April 13, Louisiana’s Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS) faced a backlog of over 95,000 unprocessed applications submitted since the beginning of February.… Read more...
The mass unemployment caused by the coronavirus pandemic has led to an unprecedented surge in applications for food assistance, creating a massive backlog for the state agency charged with processing the requests.
More than 87,000 food assistance applications submitted to the Louisiana Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS) since coronavirus-related business closures began on March 14 have not yet been processed, according to data supplied by the agency. … Read more...
As businesses closed to slow the spread of the coronavirus, tens of thousands of laid off Louisiana workers turned to SNAP (better known as Food Stamps), to help their families keep food on the table. But for thousands of families that had managed to put aside modest savings toward things like a security deposit for a safer apartment or a down payment on a reliable car, food assistance remains out of reach.… Read more...
During economic downturns, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, formerly, Food Stamps) provides an important boost to the economy as well as to those who are hungry. SNAP benefits allow people who become unemployed and underemployed to keep food on the table, and the money that SNAP recipients spend at grocery stores allows those stores to keep more of their employees on the payroll for more hours.… Read more...