JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- More than 1 million low-income residents in 21 states, including more than 30,000 in Arkansas, could soon lose their government food stamps if they fail to meet work requirements that began kicking in this month.
The rule change in the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program was triggered by the improving economy -- specifically, falling unemployment. But it is raising concerns among the poor, social service providers and food pantry workers, who fear an influx of hungry people.
Recent experience in other states indicates that most of those affected will probably not meet the work requirements and will be cut off from food stamps.
Advocates say some adults trying to find work face many obstacles, including criminal records, disabilities or lack of a driver's license.
The work-for-food requirements were first enacted under the 1996 welfare reform law signed by President Bill Clinton and sponsored by then-Rep. John Kasich, who is now Ohio's governor and a Republican candidate for president.
The provision applies to able-bodied adults ages 18 through 49 who have no children or other dependents. It requires them to work, volunteer or attend education or job-training courses at least 80 hours a month to receive food aid. If they don't, their benefits are cut off after three months.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture can waive those work rules, either for entire states or certain counties and communities, when unemployment is high and jobs are scarce. Nearly every state was granted a waiver during the recession that began in 2008. But statewide waivers ended this month in at least 21 states, the largest group since the recession.
An Associated Press analysis of food aid figures shows that nearly 1.1 million adults stand to lose their benefits in those 21 states if they do not get a job or an exemption. That includes about 300,000 in Florida, 150,000 in Tennessee and 110,000 in North Carolina. In Arkansas, about 31,300 people would be affected.
In Tennessee, Terry Work said her 27-year-old deaf son recently was denied disability payments, meaning he is considered able-bodied. And that means he stands to lose his food stamps, even though she said her son has trouble keeping a job because of his deafness.
"I know there's going to be a lot of people in the county hurt by this," said Work, founder of Helping Hands of Hickman County, a social service agency in a community about an hour west of Nashville.
In states that already have implemented the work requirements, many recipients have ended up losing their benefits.
Wisconsin began phasing in work requirements last spring. Of the 22,500 able-bodied adults who became subject to the change between April and June, two-thirds were dropped from the rolls three months later for failing to meet the requirements.
Some states could have applied for partial waivers but chose not to do so.
North Carolina's Republican-led government enacted a law last fall accelerating implementation of the work requirements and barring the state from seeking waivers unless there is a natural disaster.
In Missouri, the GOP-led Legislature overrode a veto by Democratic Gov. Jay Nixon to enact a law barring the state from waiving work requirements until at least 2019. The three-month clock started ticking Jan. 1 for 60,000 people in Missouri, where unemployment is 4.4 percent.
"We were seeing a lot of people who were receiving food stamps who weren't even trying to get a job," said the law's sponsor, Sen. David Sater, a Republican.
Others say it's not that simple to find work, even with an improving economy.
Joe Heflin, 33, of Jefferson City said he has been receiving food stamps for more than five years, since an injury ended his steady job as an iron worker and led to mental illness during his recovery. He was recently notified that his food stamps could end if he doesn't get a job or a disability exemption.
"I think it's a crummy deal," Heflin said while waiting in line at a food pantry. "I think they ought to look into individuals more, or at least hear them out. ... I depend on it, you know, to eat."
Policymakers often "don't realize a lot of the struggles those individuals are dealing with," said Mariana Chilton, director of the Center for Hunger-Free Communities at Drexel University in Philadelphia.
A study of 4,145 food-stamp recipients in Franklin County, Ohio, who became subject to work requirements between December 2013 and February 2015 found that more than 30 percent said they had physical or mental limitations that affected their ability to work. A similar percentage had no high school diploma or equivalency degree. And 61 percent lacked a driver's license.
Information for this article was contributed by Jonathan Drew, Travis Loller and Greg Moore of The Associated Press.
A Section on 01/31/2016