Last week, Christina Davis spent what she had budgeted for her phone bill and her light bill on Chef Boyardee spaghetti, hamburger meat and ramen.
After learning in late October that her SNAP benefits might not come through in November, she panicked.
“I just went to the grocery store, stocked my refrigerator up, just because I was afraid,” Davis said. “…The other night, I woke up at 4 o’clock in the morning, literally trembling.”
Her seven-year-old son is on the autism spectrum. As is common among children with autism, he’s highly specific about what he will and won’t eat. Noodles and hamburgers are approved. The groceries passed out at a food bank or in a food distribution line are a gamble.
Around 190,000 Cuyahoga County residents are uncertain when and how much they will receive in SNAP benefits this month due to the federal government shutdown. After initially declaring food stamp recipients wouldn’t get anything in November, the Trump administration told a federal judge on Monday that it would tap emergency funds to pay out reduced benefits this month. It’s still unclear just how much eligible households will receive this month and when they will actually receive it, the Associated Press reported Monday.
Thousands of people in Cuyahoga County with developmental disabilities receive food benefits. For them, earning a steady income can be difficult, and the obstacle of staying fed can fall to a caretaker.
For Davis, of Shaker Heights, the news meant spending money for utilities on groceries that she knows her son will eat. For others, such as residential homes that care for adults with developmental disabilities, it might mean sending maintenance workers to food pantries. The Cuyahoga County Board of Developmental Disabilities is preparing for an influx of requests for money to pay for groceries.
The uncertainty around food assistance – and what will happen if it truly all falls through – will be a test of the community’s resources and resourcefulness, said Amber Gibbs, CEO of the board.
“A lot of people with disabilities rely on others for assistance with so many areas of their life,” Gibbs said. “But adding one more stressor about, ‘Where will I get the … food that I need to survive?’ It just compounds all of the other challenges that they may be facing.”
In an email, Gibbs said news that partial payments will resume in November is helpful. But uncertainty reigns because it’s a temporary fix. Many will still struggle, even with partial payments, she said.
Developmental disabilities and SNAP food benefits
Developmental disabilities are disabilities that surface before the age of 22, including autism, cerebral palsy and Down syndrome. They include intellectual and physical disabilities.
The county’s board serves people of all ages, about 15,000 in total.
SNAP benefits are vital to that population, which on average has lower incomes and fewer steady work opportunities. The individuals also may have expenses related to their disabilities such as medical care, therapies and specialized care, Gibbs wrote in an email to Signal Cleveland.
About 3,000 adults the county board serves rely on SNAP, according to data Gibbs reviewed. That’s likely an undercount of the total number of people with developmental disabilities who receive SNAP, because the number of kids who rely on it is difficult to count.
Caretaking organizations that work with people who are developmentally disabled say even higher proportions of their clients will be affected.
Our Lady of the Wayside is a nonprofit that provides residential, nursing, transportation and day programming services. The organization estimates that 85% of the 500 individuals with disabilities it supports in Northeast Ohio receive SNAP.
Welcome House provides residential services to about 200 people with developmental disabilities. Approximately three in four use SNAP, said Meg Nachtwey, CEO of the Welcome House.
Providers are also worried about their own staff members. Nachtwey said many caregivers rely on SNAP themselves.
“A lot of our staff are single moms with multiple kids who are also really dependent on SNAP benefits,” Nachtwey said. “So we’re really worried right now about our staff as well.”
“The uncertainty is a little bit scary…It’s really disconcerting to know that we’re going to be faced with this situation.”
Meg Nachtwey, CEO of the Welcome House.
How are local agencies and families managing SNAP uncertainty?
From Davis up to the board of disabilities, residents are trying to figure out how to handle the cut-off.
The Welcome House has about 45 homes scattered across Cuyahoga County, in which four people with developmental disabilities can live. Staff are on-site 24/7 to help individuals with medicine, bathing, cooking and transportation, depending on their needs.
In each home, residents contribute equally to the grocery budget, Nachtwey said. Most of those dollars come from SNAP benefits. Then, caretakers and residents visit the grocery store together during the week. (In some homes, residents are more medically fragile and can’t come along.)
Nachtwey said her nonprofit will ensure no one goes hungry. To prevent that, they encouraged residents to stock up on non-perishable food last week. They are also sharing information about food banks and items that are on sale in bulk. Nachtwey said that, going forward, staff caretakers – or even the maintenance team – might get sent to food pantries instead of grocery stores.
“The uncertainty is a little bit scary,” she said. “It’s really disconcerting to know that we’re going to be faced with this situation.”
DeAndre George, 35, is a Welcome House resident. He said where he lives, staff typically do the shopping each week, using food stamps. George usually tells them what to buy, like pizza or chicken. He’s worried because he doesn’t have much family to support him if his food stamps run out.
“We have to eat like the rest of you guys,” he said.
Another nonprofit that serves people with developmental disabilities in Cuyahoga County, I am Boundless, said it’s taking similar steps to Welcome House. It’s compiling resources to support families with transportation and connections to food pantries as well as urging lawmakers to take action, a spokesperson for the organization said.
Gibbs said the board will help coordinate providers that are straining to pick up the ball dropped by the federal government. That includes authorizing more money to be spent on food, which the board of developmental disabilities didn’t budget for. Gibbs wrote in an email that the agency has some dollars that could help pay for food, but it will only be a short-term option.
Gibbs said caregivers might also be asked to keep an eye on whether their client’s pantry is stocked, an additional responsibility.
“Maybe the caregiver usually comes in once a week to help the person get out and take care of their apartment and take care of some basic needs and refill medications,” Gibbs said. “But now we’ll be asking those caregivers to potentially do extra: to find food banks.”
SNAP a lifeline for caretakers and residents with disabilities
For Davis, SNAP has been a lifeline since she first became a mom a little over 10 years ago. It acted as a safety net whenever work — or at least many hours of it — became difficult to maintain.
That included the year after her oldest daughter was born, when she was working at Walgreens for $8 an hour. SNAP allowed her to stay home with her daughter instead.
Davis has gone back to work, at other jobs, since then. But it became clear about a year ago, she said, that her son’s needs required her to stay home. She’s now his full-time caretaker, setting up appointments with occupational therapists and behavioral health specialists through the board of developmental disabilities.
“I’ve been honed into more of trying to get [him] at the level of not needing me as much as he does, but still trying to get him back into general education,” Davis said. “It’s been hard.”
SNAP helps her do this. She’s a single mom — the head of the household — and it provides about $800 a month to help feed her and her three kids.
Without it, she would have to rely on Social Security income that’s already stretched thin on the other necessities of life — rent, utilities, cell phone bills.
Food pantries are an option, of course. Her two other children will eat whatever she prepares, so she’ll likely find help there.
And, there’s the possibility that some politician, somewhere, could turn Davis’ SNAP benefits back on. The Trump administration indicated it planned to pass out at least some SNAP payments this month. A small portion of Ohio families with low incomes will get more money from other benefits at the order of Gov. Mike DeWine, though Davis isn’t sure whether this will impact her.
Either way, she says, the uncertainty of the situation already turned her monthly budget upside down.
“I’m still up in arms because I spent all my money on groceries,” Davis said.
This article was updated to correct the spelling of Meg Nachtwey’s name.