Tallahassee, Fla. – Today, Florida Commissioner of Agriculture and Consumer Services Nikki Fried, an independently-elected member of the Florida Cabinet, wrote to Governor Ron DeSantis and Florida Department of Children and Families (DCF) Secretary Shevaun Harris regarding a troubling trend of actions and inactions impacting the availability of federal nutrition assistance administered by DCF that are critical to feed Florida families. This letter follows a formal warning from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Food Nutrition Service (FNS) due to DCF’s SNAP Employment and Training (SNAP E&T) program deficiencies that have been unaddressed since August 2022. DCF has also yet to apply for Summer 2022 P-EBT assistance for children across the state. In 2021, DCF had also not applied for available Summer P-EBT funding until Commissioner Fried’s advocacy led to the securing of $1 billion in federal assistance.
The letter reads in part: “While your administration continues to ignore the unaffordability crisis plaguing our state, Floridians are having a harder and harder time making ends meet and keeping food on their tables, making the efficient administration of critical nutrition assistance programs even more important. DCF must show greater urgency and attention to its administration of those federal nutrition programs under its authority, with positive steps towards that end including immediately rectifying the deficiencies with Florida’s SNAP E&T program and applying for summer 2022 P-EBT funding without further delay.”
The letter reads as follows:
July 19, 2022
Governor DeSantis and Secretary Harris,
It has recently come to my attention that a formal warning letter was issued on July 14th by the U. S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) to the Florida Department of Children and Families (DCF) regarding the department’s failure to bring its Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Employment and Training Program (SNAP E&T) into federal compliance. As Commissioner of the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (FDACS), which partners with the USDA to carry out critical nutrition programs throughout the state including The Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP) and our school nutrition programs that serve many of the same Floridians in need that depend on the SNAP benefits administered by DCF, I write today to request an update on this troubling situation as well as details as to the immediate corrective actions your administration will be taking.
The recent warning from USDA FNS is particularly troubling as DCF was notified of an issue in the Fiscal Year 2021 SNAP Management Evaluation report. The report, issued almost a year ago in August 2021, informed your administration of the program’s noncompliance starting in June 2021. According to FNS, “despite having provided extensive technical assistance” the program is still non-compliant and risks forfeiting SNAP administrative funds in accordance with Federal regulation 7 CFR 276.4. According to the program’s FY 2021 State Plan, 240,000 Floridians would be denied access to the program with the loss of administrative funds. It is unclear to me why your administration would risk such critical funding for a program that helps Florida’s most vulnerable residents, especially when given ample time and federal technical assistance to address the cited deficiencies. Thankfully, it appears that USDA FNS remains willing to work with DCF to address the outstanding program issues and I hope Floridians can count on DCF taking immediate corrective action to not further risk the forfeiture of SNAP E&T administrative funds.
Unfortunately, a failure to address problems with SNAP E&T is only the most recent in a trend of troubling inactions by DCF when it comes to securing or efficiently administering federal nutrition programs to help Floridians struggling with food insecurity. Last summer, your administration allowed the state’s pandemic state of emergency to lapse, disqualifying SNAP recipients from an additional $280 million per month. This devastating action was followed by DCF’s initial unwillingness to apply for $820 million in available 2021 Summer Pandemic Electronic Benefit Transfer (P-EBT) funds from the federal government. I am grateful DCF heard my calls and finally applied resulting in over $1 billion for our state and providing a retroactive benefit of $375 per child for eligible families to receive supplemental nutrition aid, however, it has been disheartening to see continued delays in disbursing this critical assistance after it was already delayed due to DCF’s late application. Clearly, lessons from this unfortunate situation have not been learned as Florida has still not applied for summer 2022 P-EBT funding. While P-EBT program administration and authority lies with DCF, know that my Department’s Division of Food, Nutrition, and Wellness remains willing to provide any assistance your administration may need to complete and submit the application for the 2022 Summer P-EBT funding as well as any help we can offer to help resolve any issues with distributing previous funding.
While your administration continues to ignore the unaffordability crisis plaguing our state, Floridians are having a harder and harder time making ends meet and keeping food on their tables, making the efficient administration of critical nutrition assistance programs even more important. DCF must show greater urgency and attention to its administration of those federal nutrition programs under its authority, with positive steps towards that end including immediately rectifying the deficiencies with Florida’s SNAP E&T program and applying for summer 2022 P-EBT funding without further delay.
Our nation is facing a hunger crisis, and our state is not immune from its impact as over three million Floridians, including 850,000 children, suffer from food insecurity. In September, the White House Conference on Hunger, Nutrition, and Health will inform a national strategy with the goal of eliminating hunger by 2030. To reach that goal, Florida will likely be the recipient of further federal nutrition funding, so it is essential that your administration is ready to seize these opportunities as they emerge to help fight hunger across our state. Through state and federal partnerships, we can improve the food security of Floridians, but only if we commit to utilizing every available resource. My department stands ready to assist DCF and USDA in that endeavor.
Thank you for your attention to this urgent matter.
Sincerely,
Nicole Fried
Commissioner of Agriculture and Consumer Services
