The number of people who get SNAP food benefits in Cuyahoga County dropped by more than 11,000 in the last six months, a nearly 6% drop.  

The program is now at its lowest enrollment in the last six years — and the county expects even more people to lose food assistance when the full scale of new work requirements go into effect this summer.

Social service leaders say they’re still trying to fully understand the reasons behind the decrease. The temporary disruption in SNAP benefits caused by last fall’s federal government shutdown seemed to kick it off. But it hasn’t recovered since. Kevin Gowan, director of Cuyahoga County’s Department of Job and Family Services, said in a community presentation last week that he worries people are losing faith in the program. 

“Overall, people have disengaged from the program,” Gowan said. “They’ve heard about the work requirements. They’ve heard about the new restrictions. And quite frankly, particularly among immigrants … they’re afraid to apply for federal benefits at this point.” 

Last October, about 192,900 residents in Cuyahoga County received monthly benefits. By March, that had dropped to 181,700. The shift is happening while the SNAP program is in the midst of a flurry of changes largely resulting from a federal bill President Donald Trump signed into law last summer. The bill cut SNAP funding, narrowed which non-citizens could receive benefits and instituted expanded work requirements. 

“If there are fewer people on SNAP, that is exactly what the One Big Beautiful Bill act intended to happen,” said Emily Campbell, president and chief executive officer for The Center for Community Solutions, a nonpartisan, nonprofit policy and research think tank in Cleveland. 

The trend is also appearing at the state and federal levels, though the data is less up to date. Statewide, enrollment shrank by about 92,000 people between January and December 2025. Nationwide, SNAP participation declined from nearly 43 million to under 40 million in that same period. 

Despite the overall drop, the Greater Cleveland Food Bank, which helps residents apply for SNAP, has seen interest in the program return to normal levels this year after a dip following the government shutdown.  

“I don’t really have any insights into why the enrollment might be down,” said Jessica Semachko, director of Advocacy and Public Education at the food bank. “All I can say is that we are continuing to see neighbors who are coming in seeking assistance with applications and with navigating the changes.”

Gowan said there’s also a possibility that shrinking staff in his department is making it more difficult to get residents who are applying for benefits enrolled in SNAP. The county hasn’t hired any new caseworkers since October even though it generally has regular turnover, Gowan said. It’s in a hiring freeze due to county-wide budget shortages and the potential of a $7 million budget cut next October due to federal changes.

Government shutdown leads to drop in SNAP enrollment

Enrollment first began ticking down in November, when SNAP enrollees around the nation received benefits weeks late because of the federal government shutdown.  

But Cuyahoga County and the state government stayed open. They still needed SNAP recipients to do all the check-ins, paperwork and interviews normally required to keep their benefits. That confused people, Gowan said. Why would someone have to complete paperwork for a program that wasn’t handing out money? 

“People simply didn’t complete their paperwork, cause they heard SNAP was shut down,” Gowan said.  

Six months after SNAP recipients get approved, they have to send a form to the county to report any changes in income, household or expenses. If they don’t, they get taken off the program. And last November, less than half of the residents whose forms were due sent them in, Gowan said, far below the 60% they typically receive. It was a similar trend for those who had to go through their annual renewal process in November, which involves an interview. Many just didn’t do it. 

Campbell said that the drop in enrollment after the shutdown didn’t come as a surprise.  

“The surprise is they haven’t come back,” Campbell said.

Campbell said, as of March, the decreased number of people getting SNAP benefits is unlikely due to one particular piece of the new federal bill. The expanded work requirements won’t result in a large number of people losing benefits until June, Gowan said. Over 2,000 non-citizens, such as refugees and asylum-seekers, lost SNAP since last November due to the new federal bill, but they account for no more than a quarter of the reduction in enrollees over the last six months. 

Social service leaders are digging into the numbers and trends to try to understand why the number of people dropped so drastically or what it means for the community. Yet many are unsure.

Gowan wrote in an email that the department did not note any one demographic – age, race or gender – that had a significantly sharper decline in enrollment. 

Campbell said that there’s also no indication that the reduction is due to a sudden boost in enrollees’ income. Higher income could disqualify residents from getting SNAP. 

Need help with work requirements?

The Greater Cleveland Food Bank offers a help line for residents who need assistance completing their application to SNAP and other benefits programs.

Call at 216-738-2067.

Cuyahoga County also recently published the following one-pager to help explain the new work requirements to those seeking SNAP benefits.