Homeless people in West Virginia will not have to find work or training to receive food-stamp benefits, the state Department of Health and Human Resources has decided.
The state plans to exempt homeless people by October from a requirement in nine West Virginia counties stating a person must work or train 20 hours per week, or lose food stamps after three months, said Allison Adler, a spokeswoman for DHHR.
"This issue has been discussed with the USDA [Food and Nutrition Service] and the homeless population is expected to be exempted from the changes in SNAP for Able Bodied Adults without Dependents," Adler wrote in an email to the Gazette-Mail.
The DHHR announced late last year it would reinstate a federal requirement that recipients of the state's Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program meet a monthly work or training requirement of 20 hours per week, or lose benefits after three months.
The work or training requirement took effect in January and affects recipients in counties with the lowest unemployment: Berkeley, Cabell, Harrison, Jefferson, Kanawha, Marion, Monongalia, Morgan and Putnam. It affects those who fall into the category of "able-bodied adults without dependents" - those who are between the ages of 18 to 49, are not disabled, don't have dependents and don't qualify for an exemption.
SNAP recipients who don't comply with the guidelines after three months are removed from the program.
Adler said Wednesday the state will exempt those who are residents of homeless shelters and those who don't stay at the same place for more than 90 days. The state does not have an estimate for how many homeless people will regain SNAP benefits because of the exemption.
The exemption follows an April request from legal advocacy group Mountain State Justice. In the letter, attorney Sam Petsonk noted that 10 other states had exempted their homeless populations.
"The homeless population - especially in a predominantly rural state like ours - faces high structural barriers to participating in the workplace or in E&T programs, and should be included among the categorical exemption from the SNAP work requirements," he wrote, in part. "By definition, homeless individuals do not have a secure place of their own in which to store their personal possessions. This means that participating in an E&T program or holding a job will necessitate that they leave their belongings unsecured for extended periods of time."
The letter was also signed by Ted Boettner, director of the West Virginia Center on Budget and Policy; Ellen Allen, director of Covenant House; and Betty Rivard, a volunteer advocate.
"DHHR has made the right decision," Boettner said Thursday. "For most homeless people, SNAP is the only form of public assistance they receive. They also face a difficult job market, where full and part-time jobs are hard to come by, and where work training programs are scarce.
"Taking away food from homeless adults is not going help them fund full-time work or stable housing," he said. "It only increases hunger and hardship."
Allen agreed.
"I think anything that takes down a barrier for vulnerable citizens, particularly around food security, is a really good thing," Allen said.
Reach Lori Kersey at
lori.kersey@wvgazettemail.com,
304-348-1240 or follow
@LoriKerseyWV on Twitter.