Massive changes to the food benefits program called SNAP have forced more people who already struggle to maintain stable lives to report work hours if they need federal support to eat.
Former foster youth, some people who are homeless and some military veterans must show they are working, volunteering or attending training programs for at least 80 hours a month to receive food benefits under the federal “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” spending and tax cut package passed last year.
The law also raises the age limit for people who must meet work requirements to 64 from 54 unless they qualify for exemptions, and shifts more of the cost of the federal program onto state and county governments.
Lindsey Haynes-Maslow, a professor at UNC-Chapel Hill who has studied SNAP and nutrition, said she’s worried about how SNAP recipients — especially veterans without diagnosed disabilities, people experiencing homelessness, and former foster youth – will be able to navigate the new requirements to keep federal aid that helps them buy food.
Before this year, young people who aged out of foster care on their 18th birthdays were able to receive SNAP benefits, commonly known as food stamps, until age 24.
“A lot of SNAP recipients, if they can work, they do work,” she said. “Many SNAP recipients are working low-wage jobs or multiple part-time jobs.”
Many adults who need food benefits work unpredictable hours and “struggle to document who did what and where,” Haynes-Maslow said.
She is also worried about how government agencies will handle the increased workload as they implement the new rules.
“It will take more people and more time,” she said. “Someone will have to pay for it.”
SNAP enrollment already falling in NC
The Congressional Budget Office estimates that nationally, the new work requirements will force 2.4 million to lose food benefits in an average month from 2025 to 2034.
In North Carolina, SNAP enrollment declined by about 2% between Dec. 1, when the new work requirements took effect, and March.
A representative from the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services told legislators last summer that the agency anticipates 90,000 adults in North Carolina will lose benefits because of work requirements.
About 1.3 million people in about 676,000 households received SNAP benefits in January, according to NC DHHS.
Households may qualify for federal food benefits through several avenues. There’s a standard gross income limit of 130% of federal poverty level, which is about $42,900 for a family of four.
Households can also qualify if they receive Supplemental Security Income or Work First benefits. About 13% of households in the state qualified for SNAP under “Broad-Based Categorical Eligibility,” where incomes can range from 130% to 200% of federal poverty level, according to the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services. The upper income limit to qualify under the broad-based category is $66,000 a year for a family of four.
Most households have their eligibility checked every six months.
Counties shoulder more work, higher costs
The federal changes to SNAP are forcing county governments to do additional administrative work to verify employment.
Wake County has taken on the added work without hiring more employees, spokeswoman Leah Holdren said in an email.
Staff members are required to explain work requirements and exemptions during interviews with applicants, and people who may be required to prove they’re working are given documents outlining the policies, Holdren said.
There’s now increased coordination between staff members who review applications and staff members who do recertifications to make sure interviews are done on time.
“These interviews are critical in determining whether individuals are subject to work requirements or qualify for exemptions,” she wrote.
Counties will also have to pay for a higher portion of the administrative cost for SNAP starting this fall.
The federal government used to split the cost with counties 50-50. Starting in October, the federal government will pay 25% of administrative costs, leaving the counties to pick up 75%. That change will take a bite out of all of their budgets.
At Durham County’s public budget preview in March, budget director Keith Lane highlighted the increased SNAP cost to the county. The higher administrative charges will amount to $2 million in the next budget, he said.
And counties may face even higher SNAP costs in future years.
Beginning in 2027, states will be required to cover part of the cost of SNAP benefits based on statewide error rates for improper approvals or wrongful denials. Counties cringe at the thought they might have to help cover that cost, too.
Looming federal cuts to food stamps could impact state and local budgets in NC
In 2024, the state reported a 10.21% error rate. If the new law had been in place then, that error rate would have come with a $400 million price tag.
DHHS Deputy Secretary Mike Leighs told legislators earlier this year that the state error rate has improved, and was at about 7% from October 2024 through last August, NC Newsline reported.
States with error rates below 6% will not have to shoulder new costs for benefits.
Durham’s error rate is low – a little more than 1%, Lane told Durham County commissioners. But a statewide error rate above 6% could still cost Durham County between $3.8 million to $11.5 million.
“That’s a major revenue loss,” he said.
The new administrative expenses alone are expected to collectively cost counties an additional $52 million over nine months starting in October, according to the N.C. Association of County Commissioners.
The association has asked legislators to pick up the full tab, communications director Philip Lane said in an email.
Sen. Jim Burgin (R-Harnett), chairman of his chamber’s Health and Human Services budget committee, told NC Newsline he was asked about the state picking up the charges during a visit to his county social services office. Burgin said he told them the state couldn’t afford it because legislators face so many other budget pressures.
Nonprofits brace for a spike in demand
More hungry people inevitably means more traffic at local food pantries.
Nourish Up, which runs a network of 41 food pantries in Mecklenburg, has seen record-breaking years, including last year when SNAP benefits were paused during the federal government shutdown.
“These are the kinds of records I’m tired of breaking,” said Nourish Up CEO Tina Postel.
She expects even more people to turn to their programs this year as they lose federal food benefits.
It’s harder and harder for people to qualify for SNAP, she said, with one barrier after another thrown in front of them.
If budget cuts are needed, “I don’t know why we’re starting at the dinner plate,” Postel said. “It seems like a bizarre place to start. Those would be the last things I would be cutting — people’s basic needs.”
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