Perspectives on SNAP Application Assistance in Illinois during COVID-19

The COVID-19 pandemic required organizations to abruptly shift to remote work environments. Organizations which provided face-to-face outreach and application assistance to connect families to Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits (e.g., food stamps) are now largely providing these services over the phone while also responding to increased need and changing administrative rules. This created a need for technology to enable remote outreach and assistance.

To meet this demand, mRelief developed an accessible platform for outreach workers to reliably connect with clients over the phone. Our customer relationship management platform, Johnnie, has enabled outreach workers at local food banks and community organizations to respond to this need and provide SNAP application assistance remotely.

Technology has enabled mRelief’s services to be responsive to the national crisis, filling in the gaps of the existing systems. However, there are still major barriers in the enrollment process for SNAP benefits, and in the fight to end hunger in America at large. In the near term, as states’ telephonic signature waivers expire, it will be critically important for SNAP applicants nationwide to still be able to access application assistance remotely.

With funding from the Illinois Coronavirus Response Fund, mRelief has investigated the delivery (and uncovered the importance) of remote application assistance. In March and April of 2021 mRelief interviewed 19 SNAP outreach workers from 12 different organizations in 6 counties across Illinois about their experience assisting individuals to apply for SNAP.

The research brief available below presents insights from these interviews on the shift to remote assistance and key themes related to providing remote application assistance during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Download the Brief: SNAP Application Assistance in Illinois during COVID-19: Outreach Workers’ Perspectives