What you didn't know about SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program)

When thinking about a topic to write for my MCOM 441 class I was looking across government site and one subject that I was curious about was the food stamp or Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) program.

There are many stereotypes that many people think about people who are on SNAP. Before doing my research I thought only poor people who were lazy and couldn’t get a job was the stereotype of SNAP recipients. Even though I knew people who were on the program. I was ignorant to how low income families lived and that they needed SNAP to get by.

For 30 years, SNAP has helped low-income families buy food. Over 100,000 households depend on SNAP in South Carolina each month for assistance to buy food. SNAP is based on the household’s total monthly income and expenses.

Those who get on SNAP are families, people living alone, and people living with roommates use SNAP benefits. The homeless also can apply for SNAP benefits. This meaning that you could be having a steady income but don’t have enough to put food on the table.

The SNAP program is not for those who are “lazy”. Starting April 1, there has been a change in policy for those who are unemployed and are on SNAP. Those who Are Able-bodied  Adults without Dependents or ABAWD can only get SNAP for three months in three years if they don’t meet certain work requirements.

An Able-Bodied Adult Without Dependents are persons between the age of 18 to 49 who have no dependents and are not disabled.

Basically if you are living by yourself without any kids (dependents) and you don’t have a job, you need to start looking for one ASAP because after 3 months your account will be canceled.

An ABAWD must work no less than 80 hours for every month, take an interest in a qualifying training and training exercises no less than 80 hours for each month, or a workfare program. Workfare implies that ABAWDs can do unpaid work through an extraordinary State-endorsed program. For workfare, the measure of time worked relies on upon the measure of advantages received every month. Another way to satisfy the ABAWD work necessity is through a SNAP Employment and Training Program.

So what does all that mean? It means that each month and ABAWD has to work, get training, or be apart of a work force program for 80 hours. Then wondered if DSS just leave ABAWDs out for dry. Just saying get a job or find something that qualifies you to keep your benefits.

They don’t! I spoke to Glenda McNeal who works for the Rock Hill DSS who said starting in March until the end of February letters went out about the new changes and possible ways ABAWDs a could keep their benefits. They can call their case manager to see how they can get help.

There is a program that helps SNAP recipients called the SNAP Education and Training program which includes the SNAP2Work Program that gives Federal funding to providers of employment and training services to SNAP participants through a “third-party reimbursement” model, where the other State agencies, non-profit organizations, foundations and others put up funding for the necessary and reasonable costs of an employment and training component, and DSS uses that funding to leverage 50% Federal reimbursement to help pay for partner services. A provider like York Technical College in Rock Hill, SC.

“Once an individual is receiving food stamp and no other assistance through DSS they become eligible to the Snap to Work program and as a part of that program one of the pieces is that there is an intake procedure that validates their eligibility.” said Sonia Young, Program Manager for Workforce Development and Corporate Training at York Technical College in Rock Hill, SC.

So….about that stereotype. I was wrong to think that SNAP recipients are just people who don’t want a job. They work hard to try to make ends meet and just need a little help.

I have to stay awake: College students and driving drowsy

Waking up at 5:30 in the morning to grab a cup of coffee and a quick breakfast is what Jenniscia Whitfield’s morning routine. She is a Winthrop University student that works off campus in her hometown. Holiday season is the hardest time when traveling to work for Jenniscia. Driving two hours from Rock Hill to Cheraw to open up the store at seven in the morning and working past closing time to do inventory for the next day. Not leaving the store until midnight to drive back to Rock Hill just to wake up again to commute back to work.

Many college students like Jenniscia have received a job before they started college and want to maintain that connection during the semester. They sacrifice their time and sleep to complete assignments for class and try to keep their jobs.

Waking up early and sleeping late can cause people to drive drowsy. Jenniscia is being careful not to be another victim of driving drowsy which she knows the consequences too well. Getting the right amount of sleep is crucial for college students to be alert in class and for those who commute back and forth to school.

It is more likely for adults between the ages of 18 to 29 to drive while drowsy. Many students stay up late hours to finish assignments for classes are in risk  of having a sleep-related crash. The less sleep you get the greater the risk of falling asleep at the wheel.

Driving drowsy can equate to to having a crash associated with those who drink under the influence of alcohol. A milion such crashes are reported annually that are from drowsy driving.

Winthrop University’s Assistant Chief of Police Ken Scoggins says he stops students at all times of night but only stop a few students over the semester for driving drowsy.

“I stopped a guy in the middle of the intersections and told him to call a friend and get a ride.” says  Assistant Chief of Police Ken Scoggins.

In South Carolina, there is no specific law that officers can convict a person who is driving drowsy. Currently there are a few states that have a driving drowsy law such as Arkansas that has “Classifies “fatigued driving” offense under negligent homicide- punishable by a class A misdemeanor- when the driver involved in a fatal accident has been without sleep for 24 consecutive hours or is the a state of sleep after being without sleep for 24 consecutive hours.”

Arkansas law only convicts them if their was a crime caused due to them driving drowsy but Utah just states they will begin installing road signs that warn against drowsy driving and provide information on where drivers can pull over to rest.

Though South Carolina does not have a distinctive law for driving drowsy it is hard for states to actually convict someone of driving drowsy because it is done often by human beings.

“If they break a law while they are driving drowsy it is their fault if they drive off the right side of the road even if they are not under the influence.”says  Assistant Chief of Police Ken Scoggins.

A study of sleep patterns of college students in the Journal of Psychosomatic Research identifies the difference sleeping patterns between the weekends and the weekdays. Students woke up later had longer time in bed and sleep time on the weekends. During the week students had shorter time to get accurate sleep from going to sleep at later times than on weekends.

Different techiques are used to stay awake while driving but it might not always work.

“To wake up,  I blast my music, nothing boring, and stop by McDonald’s to get something with caffeine in it. I also tap my legs and have to keep my body engaged to stay awake.” says Jenniscia.

“About 42% of nearly 2,000 motorists surveyed they say open a window or sunroof to stay awake while driving; 35% say they pull over to exercise or stretch; 35% listen to loud music; and 25% turn up the air conditioning stated in an article in USA today.

"Drowsy driving is the culprit behind more than 100,000 U.S. accidents each year, and 16.5% of deadly ones," says Mike Martinez, DMEautomotive's chief marketing officer.

“My cousin worked third shifts at his job which made him very tired” says Jenniscia.

One night after a long day at work, Jennicia’s cousin was driving home from work. Her cousin worked the third shift at his job. The late nights with trying to sleep during the day and working late nights really took a toll on his sleeping patterns. One late night, after working a long third shift, he fell asleep at the wheel and tragically ran off a bridge. He died on the scene.

Journal of Safety Research." Fatigued and Drowsy Driving: A Survey of Attitudes, Opinions and Behaviors says sleep-related crashes are more likely to:

• occur at night or in mid afternoon, when people have a natural propensity to sleep;
• involve a single vehicle running off the roadway, or rear-end and head-on collisions;
• occur on higher-speed roadways;
• involve only the driver as occupant, who is young and male; and,result in serious injuries.

According to the National Sleep Foundation’s 2005 Sleep in America poll, 60% of adult drivers – about 168 million people – say they have driven a vehicle while feeling drowsy in the past year, and more than one-third, (37% or 103 million people), have actually fallen asleep at the wheel! In fact, of those who have nodded off, 13% say they have done so at least once a month. Four percent – approximately eleven million drivers – admit they have had an accident or near accident because they dozed off or were too tired to drive.

Sleep education for college students may help awareness of their own sleep problems and willing to choose activity schedules and sleep habits good for sleep.

“The best way to fix this problem is to stop them before they hurt anybody.”says  Assistant Chief of Police Ken Scoggins.

No more coffee

“Coffee! I love coffee in the morning, and I still sneak it in there, but it’s not a part of the budget,” says Raven Wright, human nutrition graduate student.

During the week of January 22-28, Winthrop students are participating in the SNAP challenge. Only having $29.40 to spend on food and beverages for the whole challenge week. Keeping up with their blog and reading their triumphs and struggles, many of them start out their first day skipping that morning coffee run.

Lauren Cobb, human nutrition graduate student, started her morning eating oatmeal instead of her usual eggs and toast. Cobb writes on the blog, “I was concerned that oatmeal wouldn't fill me up as much as the eggs and toast but it did. The only thing I could not give up was my coffee! I woke up at 5 a.m. this morning to review some items before my 8 a.m. class and there's no way I would have been able to function without it.”

During the challenge all food items that are purchased from the grocery store, fast food, and dining on and off campus are subtracted from the weekly budget. “I definitely looked at coupons and deals that were going on in the area,” says Teresa Farina, human nutrition graduate student. “I looked at Publix’ BOGO items and if you get only one item that is buy one get one free, you can get it for half the price. It is a great way to save money.”

After a few days, students can’t go another day without their coffee fix. A blogger using the name Nutrition Whiz wrote, “Isn't coffee just flavored water? Spices that you already have at home don't count against the $29 food budget... Great loophole, right?! Okay, maybe not, but how can a student go without coffee??”

If students get just a regular coffee it would cost around $2 a cup. That would be $14 per week. That’s a big chunk of their budget.

Budgeting during the week challenged a lot of those who accepted the SNAP challenge.  Many have resorted to cooking food in their dorms or apartments rather than going to DiG's or Thomson.

“My advice would be to look at the deals going on at various grocery stores and shop according to those. Ideally, food stamps is not something that I want or would encourage someone to want. I would rather make enough money for a bigger food budget.” says Farina.

If you want to follow the students that have taken on the SNAP challenge you can go to their blog WinthropSNAPChallenge.blogspot.com. You can also add them on Facebook and Twitter at www.facebook.com/winthropsnapchallenge amd @WinthropSNAP.

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