As states shoulder more costs, more SNAP recipients continue to lose benefits. Here’s the latest.

Beginning this month, states are required to shoulder a higher portion of the costs associated with administering the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.

It’s the latest change to the federal food aid program resulting from the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” signed by President Donald Trump last year. A local legal expert says that it’s another challenge for a program that has already seen tens of thousands of people in Philly lose their benefits.

Here’s the latest on what’s changed, and what people can do:

Beginning Oct. 1, Pennsylvania and other states are required to take on 75% of the administrative costs of managing SNAP, said Mackenzie Libbey, a supervising attorney at Community Legal Services, which provides free legal assistance.

State agencies are already struggling to keep up with recent changes to SNAP, Libbey said. In addition, they’re preparing for another rule change that will go into effect next year — requiring states to keep a low “error rate” or take on more of the costs of the food assistance itself.

So on one hand, state case workers are overloaded, and on the other, SNAP recipients are struggling to navigate a lot more documentation requirements.

“So what we’re seeing, and I think we’ll continue to see, is people getting cut off due to paperwork,” she said.

As of last September, people on SNAP in Philadelphia had to start proving that they were working, or that they were exempt because of medical or other reasons, to qualify.

That’s contributed to a steady decline in recipients, she said.

People who are on SNAP tend to be either working low-wage jobs and raising children, or dealing with issues related to health or age. That often doesn’t put them in a good position to handle the bureaucracy of the new system.

“It can be really difficult for people who are trying to feed their family or get back on their feet. It’s just too much, and people just give up,” Libbey said.

With a few exceptions, noncitizens have lost their access to SNAP benefits, Libbey said. That includes refugees, asylum seekers, victims of human trafficking, and those awaiting a permanent status. Green card holders and a few other groups remain eligible.

However, most people who have lost benefits are citizens who have failed to meet paperwork requirements. That’s led to a massive drop in enrollment.

Almost 2 million people in Pennsylvania were on SNAP last summer, when the federal changes were signed into law, Libbey said. Since then, 234,000 people — 12% — have fallen off the rolls.

About 106,000 lost SNAP benefits because of work requirements, including 36,000 in Philadelphia.

Children make up 29% of those who lost benefits, with 69,000 people under age 18 losing benefits since last July, she said.

The amount of benefits has not changed because of federal rules, and has increased slightly because of cost of living adjustments, federal data show.

SNAP benefits for a single person may be as high as $306. A family of four could receive as much as $1,023. A household of seven people would cap out at $1,616 per month. Most families get less than those amounts; average benefits are roughly a third less than the maximums.

Food pantries such as Philabundance are one short-term resource for people in need.

For noncitizens in particular, charitable organizations targeting specific groups have popped up. Recently, the Asian Pacific Islander Political Alliance has organized food drives focused on Asian food staples.

Libbey encourages people who have lost SNAP benefits to contact Community Legal Services, which provides free legal help in Philly and has processed thousands of SNAP applications.

“We’ve seen a sad trend where people lose their benefits, they don’t know why, and they think, that’s it, there’s nothing I can do. And typically there are ways to get help, depending on your situation,” she said.