WFHB Bloomington Community Radio
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 3:25 — 3.4MB)
On Friday, 585,000 food stamp beneficiaries in Indiana were told they will not receive food stamps next month.
The Indiana Family and Social Services Administration announced they will be distributing Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits early this month. The FSSA receives their funding primarily from the U.S. Department of Agriculture. FSSA Division of Family Resources Director Adrienne Shields said benefits will not be distributed in February, due to the shut down.
The FSSA encourages Hoosiers who regularly depend on SNAP benefits to ‘ration’ this month’s early allocation. Shields said FSSA is uncertain when they will receive funding to reinstate SNAP.
Shields said the number of SNAP beneficiaries changes month to month, but her office estimates 585,000 people use SNAP, every month – Nine percent of Indiana’s six and a half million estimated population.
