Ohioans could see food stamp reduction

Job and Family Services information

In the next few weeks many Ohio households will receive a letter saying their food assistance will be reduced in 2013.  Some of the 1,511 households in Van Wert County currently receiving Food Assistance will get those letters.

“As recently as last week there was concern families would see a reduction of $50, but it looks like it will actually be closer to $23 per month,” said Mary Beth Holtsberry, director of the Van Wert County Department of Job and Family Services. “Families will be impacted and it’s important that people know about this change.”

A utility allowance is a deduction to a family’s available income that is used when determining the monthly food assistance benefit.  The utility allowance allows families that are responsible for paying one or more eligible utility bills to receive a larger monthly food assistance benefit, because families with higher utility bills have less money available to spend on food. The biggest change will be seen by families responsible for heating and/or cooling costs.

Federal law requires the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services (ODJFS) to recalculate utility allowances each year.  To calculate the utility allowances, ODJFS gathers information regarding the costs of utilities from around the state and from the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio.  These numbers are then submitted to the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) for approval.  This year, the decreasing cost of natural gas led to a reduction in the 2013 standard utility allowance.

Even if nothing else has changed in the household, many families will see fewer Food Assistance dollars starting in January due to the reduction in the 2013 standard utility allowance.

“Families paying heating and/or cooling should watch the mail for their letter to see what the reduction will be,” concluded Holtsberry.