JEFFERSON COUNTY, Colo. — Recipients of Colorado's Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) could start receiving benefits again as early as Thursday following the end of the longest government shutdown in U.S. history.
But even with benefits resuming for the hundreds of thousands of families who depend on them, officials in Jefferson County told Scripps News Denver food insecurity won't disappear overnight.
“It has been an incredibly difficult time for our community. We have families who are struggling, who are concerned about where their next meal will come from," said Lesley Dahlkemper, the chair of the Board of County Commissioners for Jefferson County.
Across the county, 38,000 residents, including 13,000 children, receive SNAP benefits. Dahlkemper said Jeffco has given $250,000 to local food banks supporting those families during the government shutdown, but despite the aid, access to nutritious food will still be a problem for many.
"In fact, we're going to see some residual effects of what we saw with the freeze on SNAP funds. And remember, in Jeffco, we have 6,000 federal employees who have gone without a paycheck for 6 weeks, so they're also feeling the weight of this," she added added.
Dahlkemper also warned about a new scam targeting SNAP recipients hoping to get their benefits faster.
“I was in the office yesterday, and I share a wall with another county commissioner, Andy Kerr, my colleague on the board, and I heard his voice elevating, and this is a man who's very calm and kind of quiet… he was actually on a call with a fraudster who was trying to convince him that he could help him with SNAP benefits," Dahlkemper said. “I mean, it happened to one of our own county commissioners just yesterday in terms of a call that he received. So we want to remind people to exercise extreme caution and again, report any suspicious activity.”
To protect yourself against these type of scams, Dahlkemper said SNAP recipients should not share their EBT PIN or any identifiable information over the phone.
Recipients can check the status of their SNAP benefits by calling Colorado’s statewide hotline at 1-800-816-4451.
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