The US Department of Agriculture has announced they will stop payments to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program or SNAP on November 1, due to the federal government shutdown. Governor Glenn Youngkin has declared a state of emergency, and is launching a new program so SNAP recipients can keep receiving food benefits, at least through November. Youngkin is also sending a million dollars to food banks.
West Virginia Governor Patrick Morrisey is also providing a million dollars to food banks, and says West Virginia will use additional state funds to match private donations to food banks.
Amid the growing uncertainty, there’s another question: How could disruptions to SNAP affect schools’ abilities to pay for free meals?
Over 1200 schools in Virginia participated last year in what’s called the Community Eligibility Provision, or CEP, said Erin Kennedy-Hysom, a nutrition policy analyst at the Food Research & Action Center.
At CEP schools, all children at that school receive free meals. The program is meant to reduce stigma and streamline the paperwork process for families, and school nutrition directors.
CEP schools receive reimbursements for meals based on how many children are enrolled in Medicaid or SNAP.
“And as children lose access to SNAP, their automatic eligibility for free school meals is severed,” said Kennedy-Hysom. She and other child nutrition advocates are worried that cuts made to SNAP in H.R.1, the “One Big Beautiful Bill” may affect schools’ abilities to fund free meals.
West Virginia ranks as one of the states that could be the highest hit. Most schools in that state that are eligible for CEP participate in the program. Virginia ranks near the top as well, with more than 90 percent of eligible schools participating.
It would likely take years for SNAP cuts to make significant impacts on schools, said Hysom, though any disruptions to SNAP during the shutdown could mean schools have to scramble to fund meals during this school year.
