For the second time this year, Vermont’s food stamp program received a bonus from the federal government.
Vermont’s branch of the federal supplemental nutrition assistance program (SNAP) received $252,344 in recognition of the high rate at which Vermonters who are eligible for the benefit use the program.
The bonuses, from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, represent a marked turnaround in the performance of 3SquaresVT, which in recent years has had an error rate so significant that the state was fined by the federal government.
Administered through the economic services division of the Department for Children and Families, 3SquaresVT provides food assistance to low-income families and individuals across Vermont.
According to numbers from calendar year 2014, 93 percent of Vermonters who are eligible for the program used it. That makes Vermont one of the highest ranking states in the country, according to an announcement from Gov. Peter Shumlin’s office Wednesday.
“The bonus comes at a time when nearly one in four people in this state turn to food shelves or meal service plans to feed themselves and their families,” Shumlin said in a statement. “Vermont will continue its efforts to fight hunger and reach those hungry Vermonters eligible for nutritional benefits.”
In July, 3SquaresVT won $293,000 from the USDA for improving the program’s error rate.
In a statement Wednesday, Hal Cohen, secretary of the Agency of Human Services, celebrated the award.
“To have almost 93 percent of all eligible people in our state participating in SNAP speaks to the outstanding effort we have put into ensuring all eligible Vermonters have access to this important anti-hunger program,” Cohen said.
The program will use the money to continue to efforts to improve the access to the program, customer service, and the integrity of the program.
