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Pallone Calls on Governor Christie to Speed Up Food Aid Application Processing in New Jersey

USDA Issues Warning Letter Regarding State’s Poor Performance

News Release 7/8/14 –
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Congressman Frank Pallone, Jr. (NJ-06) sent a letter to Governor Chris Christie urging his administration to take substantial steps in order to improve access to Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits in the State of New Jersey.  This comes in response to an advance warning issued by the U.S. Department of Agriculture last week regarding New Jersey’s poor SNAP application processing performance.  The program provides basic nutrition assistance to qualifying low-income Americans, including senior citizens and children, and has largely eliminated severe hunger and malnutrition in the United States.

The Department of Agriculture notified the State that, due to the failure of New Jersey Department of Human Services (NJDHS) to process SNAP applications in a timely manner, it could suspend federal funding for New Jersey SNAP administrative expenses if significant improvements were not made.  USDA data shows that New Jersey currently ranks 52ndamong 53 state agencies for timeliness of processing SNAP applications.

“The wait times that struggling families in New Jersey are facing when applying for SNAP benefits are absolutely unacceptable,” said Congressman Pallone.  “SNAP is our nation’s most important anti-hunger safety net program, and we must do better to ensure that New Jerseyans have access to these benefits.  We need to improve the application process so that New Jersey families can efficiently access the benefits that they need in order to put food on the table.  I look forward to working with Governor Christie in order to see that these improvements are made.”

Pallone has been an outspoken supporter of SNAP.  Currently, nearly one in seven Americans rely on SNAP to help cover the cost of their meals.  According to the New Jersey Anti-Hunger Coalition, about 897,376 people were living below poverty level in New Jersey in 2011.  The food insecurity level in the state was 12.7% overall and 19% for children, meaning 394,240 children were living in food insecure households.

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