There's a growing demand in Hawaiʻi for the largest federal nutrition program — but there's also a shortage of staff to process applications.
The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, formerly known as food stamps, is fully funded by the federal government. Hawaiʻi received $51 million in SNAP benefits and served 141,000 people under the program in December, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
But there isn't enough staff to process SNAP applications.
“ Right now there's a backlog and the people who are eligible for the program are not able to access these benefits. If we can hire one additional worker, that could bring in about $2 million in federal benefits to our families in need, that is an easy 10 to 1, 20 to 1 return on investment just for one worker,” said Nate Hix, director of policy and advocacy for the Hawaiʻi Pacific Health Institute.
The state Department of Human Services said it has a 25% vacancy for eligibility workers and 50% for clerical staff at SNAP processing centers.
The department, in written testimony supporting a measure to provide state funds to support SNAP workers, said, “High vacancies and challenges to both recruitment and retention of the workforce can be attributed to retirements, a lack of interested applicants, and opportunities for higher-wage jobs, which, combined, make the vacancies very difficult to fill.”
That measure, Senate Bill 960, would allocate funds for pay increases, new positions, and potential DHS initiatives and programs to improve SNAP participation rates.
SB 960 doesn’t have a funding amount attached to it, although the Senate Committee on Human Services and Homelessness suggested $1.1 million for the bill to “strengthen the Department of Human Services' staffing capacity and operational efficiency, ultimately increasing access to food assistance and ensuring that more eligible individuals can benefit from this essential program.”
Some testifiers also supported the state playing a bigger role in SNAP, as the program is a target of the Trump administration's efforts to slash spending and services by the federal government.
