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The 1.4 million Ohioans in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, will see their food benefits end if the federal shutdown drags on through November. People who work with those low-income Ohioans are growing concerned about the potential impact.

"We have been notified by the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services that SNAP benefits for food will no longer be loaded on cards starting Nov. 1," said Jon Honeck, executive director of the Ohio Association of Job and Family Services Directors, who run the local JFS offices in the state's 88 counties.

Almost 12% of Ohio's population receives SNAP benefits. In 2023, nearly one in five Ohio households with kids participated in SNAP, and almost 44% of households led by a single female parent. Honeck said Ohio is a staggered issue state, meaning different SNAP recipients get benefits at varying times throughout the month.

Ohio state Rep. Juanita Brent on Monday called on Gov. Mike DeWine to take action to ensure the state's food banks can continue to meet demand as a pause in federal SNAP money looms.

Brent (D-Cleveland) urged DeWine and the Ohio Controlling Board to shift emergency state funds to the organization that coordinates the state's 12 regional food banks.

Ohio food banks are preparing for increased demand as funding for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), formerly referred to as food stamps, is expected to run out in November if the partial government shutdown continues.

DAYTON, Ohio (WDTN) — Ohioans who depend on SNAP benefits could see a change to their benefits in November.

Around 1.4 million Ohioans and those looking to apply for new SNAP benefits won’t be receiving them if Congress doesn’t reach a deal in Washington DC by the Nov. 1 deadline.

In Clark County, roughly 23,600 residents — nearly one-fifth of the county — receive SNAP benefits.

Tom McGrath, director of the Clark County Department of Job and Family Services, released the following statement on SNAP benefits amid the shutdown:

The County understands that many SNAP recipients are concerned about future benefits being delayed or reduced because of the federal shutdown. The latest communication from the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services is that the federal shutdown may cause a delay in new issuances of SNAP benefits starting Saturday, November 1. We do not have information about how long the delay will last. We are waiting for additional updates from the state and federal government, and we will share more information on our website when it becomes available. JFS will continue to process new applications and client recertifications to ensure benefit accuracy when federal funding resumes. Additional assistance may be available at a local food bank.”

Tom McGrath

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Ohio is warning more than 1 million residents who rely on food assistance that they may not receive their November benefits if the federal government shutdown continues.

On its website, the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services advises that Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program recipients “may not receive their November benefits as normally scheduled” if the shutdown persists.

He was a 13-year-old cut-up in a middle school class I once taught who couldn’t wait for the standardized test day administrators in his high poverty district dreaded. It wasn’t the exam slog that made him euphoric, it was the snacks given out before the tests began.

Like so many of his impoverished peers, he came to school hungry. I think of him now as millions of other hungry children and adults in Ohio will soon see their government food assistance terminated or cut substantially this fall under the Republican megabill enacted by Congress in July.

These are the invisible people who go to your church, shop at your grocery store, send their kids to the same school your kids attend. They just don’t advertise how regularly their households have to choose between buying food and paying for rent, utilities, transportation and/or gas.

It’s embarrassing for the family who lives down the block, the veteran who socializes at the local American Legion post, the penniless older adult, the disabled person scraping by and lawfully residing immigrants with nothing. They don’t want you to notice how often they don’t eat. But they all face an imminent food crisis that anyone with an ounce of compassion cannot ignore.