OLYMPIA, WA (MyBellinghamNow.com) – As one federal food assistance program just got extended, another critical program is on the verge of drying up.
The state Department of Social and Health Services (DSHS) says all the basic food assistance benefits it offers, including SNAP, will end after Oct. 31 if federal funding isn’t restored.
In addition to the programs, DSHS says hundreds of employees who support SNAP could be subject to temporary layoffs beginning on Nov. 4. If those layoffs take place, the department’s Tribal outstations and mobile office teams won’t be staffed until the federal government reopens.
It comes as My Bellingham Now previously reported that funding for the Women, Infants and Children Nutrition Program, or WIC, has been extended through mid-to-late November.
Despite the impending end of SNAP support in grocery stores, DSHS says cash benefits will still be sent out as usual in November.
According to Gov. Bob Ferguson, roughly 1 million Washington residents use SNAP benefits every month to buy food.
