The Ohio Department of Job and Family Services noted on its website SNAP recipients will continue to receive their normal amount, but will no longer receive the emergency allotment.
“Your normal amount is the first SNAP benefit you receive each month — the emergency allotment has been the second SNAP benefit issued at the end of the month,” the message read.
The ODJFS also warned of scammers attempting to steal SNAP benefits. Calls saying benefits have expired or asking for personal identification information, such as a Social Security number, should be reported to the Ohio Attorney General’s Office at 1-800-282-0515 or https://www.ohioprotects.org.
Amber Wright, development coordinator for The Foodbank Inc. in Dayton, said it’s too soon to tell how much it will impact the agency, but added they’ve already started to see an increase in people using The Foodbank’s services.
“Just today we served about 400 families in our on-site drive-thru and almost 50 of them were new,” she said. “We are starting to see people who have never had to turn to charitable food assistance before coming through our lines because they depended on this money for their household grocery budget.
In 2022 The Foodbank and its 112 partner agencies served 650,000 unique clients in Montgomery, Greene and parts of Preble counties, and Wright said that number is expected to increase this year.
“SNAP is getting cut at a very bad time because of the inflation and high costs of food,” she explained.
The Foodbank is also dealing with the impacts from inflation. It’s harder for the agency to source food and send out its truck fleet. Some retail partners may cut back on their donations as they also are affected by inflation, Wright said.
As a result, some clients might see less of a variety of foods available at Foodbank events.
“But we have a lot of talent and dedication on our team and we are not worried about running out of food,” Wright said. “We still will want everyone if they’re struggling to come utilize our services.”
She encouraged anyone struggling to visit https://thefoodbankdayton.org/ to find information about The Foodbank’s mobile pantries. The agency has drive-thru food distributions at 56 Armor Place on Wednesdays from 9 to 11 a.m.
Wright said they are also working on launching a new online locator tool that would allow people to search for pantries in their area.
Approximately 1.43 million Ohioans and 170,000 Miami Valley residents will be affected by the update to SNAP benefits.
In the Miami Valley, the following receive SNAP benefits in each county:
Butler County: 40,145
Clark County: 22,881
Greene County: 13,322
Miami County: 8,928
Montgomery County: 75,374
Preble County: 3,713
Warren County: 9,688
SOURCE: The Ohio Department of Job & Family Services, Greene and Montgomery counties.
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