Co-enrollment for Child Health: How Receipt and Loss of Food and Housing Subsidies Relate to Housing Security and Statutes for Streamlined, Multi-Subsidy Application

In light of recent policy debates around funding food and housing subsidies, the combined influence of these programs on housing security (HS), defined as housing without crowding or frequent moves, remains unstudied. In a multi-city study of young children, federal nutrition and housing subsidies together increased the odds of HS, whereas loss of nutrition subsidies lowered the odds of HS even after controlling for housing subsidy receipt. Ensuring eligible families’ access to both nutrition and housing subsidies may sustain HS. The results of this study inform and support current efforts by states to streamline online applications for social services and remove statutory legal barriers to accessing these subsidies simultaneously

Trends in Household and Child Food Insecurity Among Families with Young Children from 2007 to 2013

Background: 2007-2013 spanned an economic downturn with rising food costs. While Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits increased during those years by 13.6% from the 2009 American Recovery Reinvestment Act (ARRA), the impact of these competing conditions on household food insecurity (HFI, household food insecure but child food secure) and child food insecurity (CFI, household and child food insecure) in households with infants and toddlers has not been investigated. Objective: To describe HFI and CFI in households participating in SNAP vs. households likely eligible but not participating (No SNAP). Design: Repeat cross-sectional Participants/Setting: 19,999 caregivers of childrenChildren’s HealthWatch survey in emergency and primary care departments in 5 US cities. Main Outcome Measures: The 18-item U.S. Household Food Security Survey (HFSS) measured HFI (≥3 affirmative responses on non-child-specific questions) and CFI (≥2 affirmative responses to eight child-specific questions). Statistical analyses performed: The sample was stratified by SNAP/ No SNAP. Multinomial logistic regression analyses examined the association between SNAP receipt and HFI and CFI. Results: Across the study period, controlling for confounders including year, households with SNAP were 17% less likely to experience HFI (AOR 0.83; 95% CI,0 .75, 0.91; p Conclusions: Receipt of SNAP vs. No SNAP was associated with decreased prevalence of HFI and CFI during much of the economic downturn; this impact waned as the buying power of the boost in benefit amounts during the ARRA period eroded