DHS outlines impacts from federal government shutdown, Governor offers food bank help

On Friday (Oct. 31), Gov. Sarah Sanders and the Arkansas Department of Human Services outlined moves being made to offset the federal government shutdown, which is entering a new month.

DHS said Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits for November will be disrupted, 34 additional DHS employees will be furloughed, and multiple programs that receive federal funding through grants administered by DHS will have to cease those services due to inaction at the federal level.

“If the shutdown continues through the end of next week, DHS will have to furlough an additional 1,500 employees and temporarily close offices in every county in the state due to a lack of federal funding that supports these operations. Those furloughs and closures would officially begin on Monday, November 10,” the agency said in a statement.

Some of the impacts include:

– Funds administered to community partners through the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), Social Services Block Grant (SSBG), and Community Service Block Grant (CSBG) programs will be suspended, and partner agencies will be directed to cease services reliant on federal funding provided through DHS and to hold all invoices. This includes funds that support programs within the Arkansas Department of Education, Area Agencies on Aging, Arkansas Rehabilitation Services, the Arkansas Spinal Cord Commission, Community Action Agencies, the Division of Services for the Blind, and multiple TANF subgrantees.

– 34 additional employees within the DHS Office of Payment Integrity, the Division of Aging, Adult, and Behavioral Health Services, and the Division of County Operations will also be placed on furlough due to a lapse in funding. These furloughs are in addition to 37 employees within the Division of Provider Services and Quality Assurance who have been furloughed since the beginning of the shutdown, and who remain furloughed now.

– If the shutdown remains in effect after Nov. 7, DHS offices in every county in the state will close to public access and approximately 1,500 employees within the Division of County Operations (DCO) will be placed on furlough.

“The government shutdown has put enormous strain on many services we offer, and we are deeply concerned that important benefits Arkansans rely on will suffer as a result,” DHS Secretary Janet Mann said. “First and foremost, this will be painful for the beneficiaries we serve, and we regret that we have been placed in this position. It will also be painful for the hundreds of employees within our agency who will not be paid for as long as this shutdown continues. My message to federal partners who continue to vote against reopening the government: Reopen now, and let us turn our full attention back to our critical mission of helping Arkansans in need.”

However on Friday, two federal judges in separate cases ordered the Trump administration to use contingency funds to keep the SNAP program afloat.

Federal judges in Massachusetts and Rhode Island blocked the Trump administration from ceasing to pay SNAP benefits during the government shutdown. The ruling came a day before the administration was set to cut off those food stamp benefits from 42 million Americans. It is unclear if the Trump administration will follow the judicial rulings.

In a separate announcement on Friday, Gov. Sarah Sanders said she is directing $500,000 from Restricted Reserve funds to six food bank networks across Arkansas and will consider additional allocations on a weekly basis should the shutdown continue. Sanders said should the shutdown continue past next week, she will consider additional, weekly allocations to those food banks, which include:

• Northwest Arkansas Food Bank at Springdale
• Food Bank of North Central Arkansas at Norfork
• Food Bank of Northeast Arkansas at Jonesboro
• River Valley Regional Food Bank at Fort Smith
• Arkansas Foodbank at Little Rock
• Harvest Regional Food Bank at Texarkana