At this time, Portage County Job and Family Services is watching and concerned about House Bill 96, which if passed, would mandate monthly reporting by non-elderly SNAP recipients, requiring a monthly recalculation of benefits and reverification of eligibility by the county JFS. Current practice uses a six-month recertification process, with mandated reporting as needed when a change in circumstance affects eligibility.
If passed, this provision would require extra administrative work that could not be met by our current staffing levels. Ohio Department of Job and Family Services (ODJFS) estimates that 430,000 non-elderly SNAP households will be affected throughout Ohio. An analysis conducted by the Ohio Job and Family Services Director’s Association identifies this new mandate would require an additional 1.4 million hours of work annually throughout all our systems that would correlate to needing to hire nearly 900 county caseworkers statewide, costing on average $66 million. These costs for Ohio that would be carried by counties does not include funds needed for training. Portage County Job and Family Services has approximately 15,000 residents in Portage County eligible for SNAP, and we estimate that 6,250 non-elderly SNAP recipients would be impacted by this new mandate in Portage County.
Additionally, ODJFS has estimated that the cost of mailing associated with this proposed mandate estimates at an additional $15.6 million per year. The Ohio Department of Job and Family Services Director’s Association has asked for this provision to be removed from the bill or to be fully funded. Portage County Job and Family Services supports this ask so not to place a financial burden on the agency and team members in the Public Assistance division. Without additional funds to hire new staff, case processing times and call center wait times could be compromised.
For more information, please contact Audrey Riley, Public Information Officer, at Portage County Job and Family Services at audrey.riley@jfs.ohio.gov.
