UAMS, Community Partners Hold SNAP Enrollment Events for Marshallese
| The University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS), the Northwest Arkansas Food Insecurity Community of Practice, the Marshallese Education Initiative (MEI) and other community organizations have partnered to organize SNAP enrollment events, where more than 100 Marshallese have been able to apply for the benefits.
The Compacts of Free Association (COFA) allow some Pacific Islander communities to migrate to and work in the United States. However, for decades, COFA migrants were ineligible to access federal and state benefits — such as Medicaid — after the benefits were excluded from updates to the agreement in the 1990s. In December 2020, Medicaid eligibility was restored to COFA migrants, and the extension of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits to COFA migrants was approved at the federal level in March. However, the individual states are responsible for rolling out the benefits. In August, Arkansas lawmakers passed an emergency rule to extend the SNAP and the Transitional Employment Assistance (TEA) benefits to COFA migrants.
The Northwest Arkansas Food Insecurity Community of Practice is a group of organizations and individuals, established by the UAMS Institute for Community Health Innovation, who work together to create new strategies to address food insecurity in Northwest Arkansas.
“It was truly rewarding to see the excitement of the people and families at the events,” said Jenni Vaughn, a senior project manager at the UAMS institute and a member of the community of practice. “Many Marshallese families have waited a long time to be able to apply for these benefits and now that they are able to, it will be a big relief to know they can feed their families.”
The first enrollment event was held in October at the Center for Nonprofits at the JTL Shop in Springdale, and the second event was held in November at The Jones Center. Community health workers helped Marshallese families complete SNAP applications and application appeals and also facilitated connections to Department of Human Services (DHS) employees who attended the event.
“Our clients are extremely happy that organizations like MEI and UAMS are hosting these events because they have staff who can speak the Marshallese language, and it’s hard to complete the applications when you have questions and the application is in a different language,” said Carlnis Jerry, the program director at MEI. “Marshallese community members were grateful they could bring their families along to the events, and that the events were open to all Marshallese community members and families across the state.”
Other community organizations were present at the events — including the Northwest Arkansas Food Bank, the Arkansas Hunger Alliance and For the Love Food Bank — to help with the applications and provide snacks for families.
As a result of the events, a total of 117 SNAP applications and four appeals have been submitted so far. UAMS and the community of practice are working with other community organizations to hold additional SNAP enrollment events to help those who want to apply.
Applicants must meet certain requirements to apply for SNAP benefits, such as income and state residency. The Arkansas Department of Human Services (DHS) is responsible for reviewing each application and determining if an applicant meets the eligibility criteria. Applicants who filed a SNAP application after March of this year and were denied can file an appeal at the local DHS office or online at access.arkansas.gov.
To find a local DHS office, visit humanservices.arkansas.gov or call 1-855-372-1084.