If you’re not familiar with ABE, consider yourself lucky.
The Application for Benefits Eligibility website – abe.illinois.gov – is a project of the Illinois Department of Human Services. It acts as a front-door processing center for people who need the government’s help to afford food, health care and other necessities. The site is full of information regarding how to apply for certain aid and contains links to other programs outside ABE, like help with child care and home energy bills.
If you’ve never needed any type of public aid, or haven’t done so as an Illinoisan, it’s worth taking a few minutes poking around the site to get an idea of the required steps. Another site, wegotyouillinois.org, covers specifically food aid, including the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, the modern (since 2008) name for food stamps.
Another reason to visit now is to note the current versions. Changes are sure to come in the wake of recently enacted SNAP reforms, the full implications of which will take time to develop. On Tuesday, Capitol News Illinois reported that up to 360,000 Illinoisans currently receiving some level of SNAP assistance might be ineligible under the new guidelines.
CNI cited a U.S. Department of Agriculture memo on requirements that currently apply to people ages 18-54 but now will encompass up to age 64 and those without homes, veterans and young adults leaving foster care. People in those categories now also will have to complete “80 hours of paid, unpaid or volunteer work each month to qualify” and comply with reporting requirements to prove their involvement.
That’s a small percentage of the overall population, but of critical importance to everyone on the fringe. Then there are the ripple effects: keeping people fed is a vital component of maintaining health, physical and otherwise, and is therefore an investment in reducing strain on other government agencies, from Medicaid to public schools and beyond, as well as nonprofit endeavors like food banks.
It’s also a local economy issue: SNAP recipients are customers and the retailers who sell them food might not be prepared to lose out on that business. After all, grocery store cash registers don’t care where the money originates.
All of which point to reasons the state will likely increase efforts to ensure people who meet requirements maintain access to benefits. That’s on top of taking on additional responsibility for administrative costs (states will pay 75% instead of an even split with the feds) and drilling down on the USDA error rate to avoid paying 15% of the cost of the food.
It’s impossible to enact solutions without fully understanding the problem, but it’s unlikely Illinois leaders will leave ABE unprepared for the challenges ahead.
• Scott T. Holland writes about state government issues for Shaw Local News Network. He can be reached at sholland@shawmedia.com.
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