Snap Government Program on October 1, 2008,

SNAP Government Program

On October 1, 2008, the Food Stamp Program officially became the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) which assisted 43 million Americans at that time 2.5 years ago when the program changed. The reason for the change to SNAP was because of the benefits that are now available to assist a broader range of households in the United States (Center on Budget and Policy Priorities 2011). According to the United States Department of Agriculture, the first food stamp program was offered a limit of $75 million to Americans on January 31, 1964 when President Johnson approved it for a permanent program for families that qualified that was successful (2009).

One of the main reasons for this program is to offer benefits depending on the needs of family and people must meet the requirements in order to receive help (Center on Budget and Policy Priorities 2011). The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities states SNAP looks at a family's total monthly income and number of people in the home, the net income after deductions for people working in the home, and a family's assets may not exceed a certain amount in order to be accepted in the program (2011). Technology has made it easier for people who receive these benefits because people are now issued debit cards, they can always talk to their own case worker in their county of residence, and each month they will receive the funds on their EBT cards and can easily call and check their accounts.

The needier families have a variety of benefits if they are eligible for SNAP, but they also have a responsibility as a family member that is receiving help. Not only are more people receiving help to support their families more effectively, the program also encourages people to Your Last Name 3

work that are able. When family members on this program find a job, the positive point the Center reported was "For every additional dollar a SNAP recipient earns, her benefits decline by only 24 to 36 cents -- much less than with most other programs" (Center on Budget and Policy Priorities 2011). The United States Department of Agriculture point out the EBT system has improved by supplying the family with debit cards to cut back on fraud and lessen the paperwork caseworkers are responsible for. The department website provides detailed information including the positive changes since the program started such as: teaches budgeting, responsibility, honesty, and mainly to become self-sufficient and get out poor living conditions so people can get the most out of life (United States Department of Agriculture 2009).

Some of the main concerns for this program is how much tax dollars is being spent and the success rate of SNAP, yet one of biggest concerns to some leaders in health service like Arizona's Health Service Director, Will Humble, feels that there needs to be an immediate plan for obesity and the rising increase in children that are on these programs and are overweight at an early age. Thanks to the concerns of other leading health services these issues are being looked in to further (2011). The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities states in 2009 the federal government spends close to $56 billion on this program, unlike the $452 billion that was spent on Medicare (2011). With the management of food stamp costing $5.5 billion a year, it runs in cooperation with the USDA and state supervision with federal tax payers paying the direct cost and splitting the costs of state and neighboring organizations with local and state tax payers. Departments are doing what they can to help eligible candidates that need help and do away with participants who do not comply with the guidelines and to limit the amount fraudulent activity (Edwards 2009).