Public Hearing

Oversight: Hunger in NYC

New York City Council

Committee on General Welfare Committee on Women's Issues Committee on Health November 25, 2013

Prepared by: Lori McNeil, Ph.D Director of Research and Policy Safety Net Project Carolyn OConnor Advocate Safety Net Project

Good morning, my name is Lori McNeil, I am the Director of Research and Policy at the Urban Justice Centers Safety Net Project (SNP). Thank you for this opportunity to testify. The Safety Net Project is New York Citys advocate for economic justice, combining direct legal services, litigation, research, and policymaking to achieve economic justice for all New Yorkers. We protect the due process rights of low- and noincome New Yorkers by ensuring access to public benefits, nutritional assistance programs, eviction prevention services, public housing, emergency shelter, and other elements of our social safety net. SNPs attorneys and advocates hold the government accountable in order to ensure that no New Yorker is without food, housing, or other basic human rights. In New York City, a third of our residents are classified as food insecure (Food Bank for New York City, Policy Brief, NYC on the Edge of a Hunger Cliff, September 24, 2013). Currently, almost 2 million City residents rely on the federal food stamps program, Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), to provide daily sustenance. The expiration of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) on November 1, 2013which had provided a critical boost in SNAP benefits for our City residentsnow has decreased food stamp levels in New York City by almost $19 million per month from 2009 levels. The federal Farm Bill, which includes funding for the SNAP program, is currently being negotiated for the time range of 2014-2018. The outlook for the Farm Bill budget is grim and, by most accounts, cuts to the SNAP program will be exponentially larger than those already experienced due to the sun-setting of ARRA. In light of substantially

decreased SNAP levels, and with our City already experiencing high rates of food insecurity, the Safety Net Project (SNP) urges City Council to be proactive in its interventions to address hunger in New York City. Part of our work at the Safety Net Project includes food stamp outreach efforts. To this end, we host two outreach clinics in the Bronx at community health centersone in Tremont and another in Fordham. The health centers are located in Congressional District (CD16), which has the highest rate of food hardship in the entire United States. Based on our outreach work in CD16 and research examining food hardship across the nation, we have found that hunger is not indiscriminate, but rather it is uniquely shaped by geography, which in turn is shaped by special circumstances such as disability. This conclusion is based on preliminary analysis of 312 households SNP prescreened (in CD16) for food stamp eligibility between March and July 2013. Demographically, the 312 households were disproportionately characterized by the following: Households or people of color Income originating from SSI or SSD Mixed citizenship families Single parent/caretaker families Working households, i.e., earned income It is important to note that the characteristics referred to above are often signifiers of households that are not able to individually fill hunger gaps. For example, working, disabled, or single parents may not be able to access food pantries even if the pantries have the capacity to fill the gapwhich is unlikely. And, mixed citizenship households

may not have access to other safety net services such as Cash Assistance or disability benefits. As our City explores interventions to fill the currentand predicted increased hunger gap, we urge thoughtful consideration of geographic hunger pockets as well as the household characteristics presented above. Hunger discriminates and our efforts to eliminate hunger must include a thorough examination of hunger patterns across our City. Thank you for the opportunity to testify on this important and timely topic and please feel free to contact the Safety Net Project should you wish for additional information or clarification regarding this testimony.