Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (Food Stamps)

Food insecurity remains a major problem across the nation and particularly impacts children, low-wage workers, and people with disabilities. The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP)—originally created as the Food Stamp Program during the Great Depression—is the largest federal nutrition assistance program in the country. Access to this economic lifeline is vital: SNAP helps more than 41 million Americans each year stave off hunger and severe poverty by providing monthly financial support to purchase food. The National Center for Law and Economic Justice (NCLEJ) is a national leader in ensuring that low-income families and individuals can apply for and receive the SNAP benefits they are legally owed. Many people who need and are entitled to SNAP do not receive it because state agencies create unlawful barriers that prevent them from obtaining benefits.

Watchdog groups like NCLEJ play a critical role in leveraging the judicial system to fix what’s broken. Our systemic litigation program forces states to improve their internal systems so that states issue more benefits to more people, because a policy without proper implementation leaves marginalized communities and children hungry. We have helped tens of thousands of families access the benefits they need to prevent hunger and malnutrition.

A large body of research demonstrates the positive benefits of increased SNAP access and the cascading harms that result when low-income families cannot afford to meet their basic needs.

• A study by the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities states that SNAP reduces poverty for millions of people, improves food security, and is linked with improved health.
• A Johns Hopkins study shows that improving SNAP access helps reduce racial gaps in food insecurity.
• A report from Urban Institute finds that many families relied on credit cards, Buy Now Pay Later options, and payday loans to pay for groceries in 2023. Additionally, 1 in 5 adults paid for groceries with savings they did not intend to use for routine living expenses.
• A study by the USDA and CUNY found that SNAP participants have better self-reported health, take fewer sick days, and have fewer doctor visits than nonparticipants.

The Dire State of SNAP Access Today

While the extensive research on the benefits of SNAP point to the need to further expand program access, the end of COVID-era emergency SNAP benefits as well as rampant agency dysfunction prevents millions of low-income people around the country from participation despite their eligibility.

In February 2024, the USDA Secretary sent warning letters to the Governors of 44 states, as well as Washington D.C, Guam, and the Virgin Islands calling for immediate action to improve SNAP program efficiency. Application processing timeliness, wrongful denial of benefits, and lack of accommodation for disabilities and language translation services continue to pose major barriers to SNAP access, demonstrating the urgent need for NCLEJ intervention. In 2025, the Trump administration introduced major changes to SNAP funding that will likely exacerbate illegal barriers to access for eligible households.

Casework

Alaska:  

For several years, low-income Alaskans have been unlawfully denied SNAP benefits due to the State’s backlog of SNAP applications and recertifications, consistent understaffing, and their overloaded call center. In January 2025, we won a preliminary injunction requiring the State to process SNAP applications and recertifications within legal timeframes, and as of September 2025, average SNAP delays went from 11 months to 47 days—a marked improvement thanks to our legal intervention. Unfortunately, in May 2026, the court dismissed our claims and vacated the injunction, citing a recent, harmful Supreme Court decision that restricts access to the courts for federal benefits recipients. NCLEJ has filed a notice of appeal to challenge the Alaska court’s misguided decision.   

Missouri:  

In November 2025, NCLEJ defended our victories in our lawsuit against the Missouri Department of Social Services over their SNAP dysfunction. Low-income Missourians are unlawfully denied access to SNAP benefits due to long call center wait times, wrongful denials of benefits, and lack of disability accommodations. We secured a court order against the Missouri DSS in May 2025 requiring the State to take remedial action to improve their SNAP program. Litigation remains ongoing. 

Georgia:  

NCLEJ sued Georgia for SNAP processing delays in 2013, which resulted in the return of $22M in SNAP benefits to 48,000 households. The 2015 class action settlement, which NCLEJ continues to monitor and enforce, required Georgia to improve processing times and to create an informal relief process for people who contact NCLEJ to request help. While the agency had steadily improved to 95% on-time processing in 2022, during 2023 their compliance nosedived. Because of the settlement, we could provide immediate assistance to class members. In November 2023, we set up a relief line for Georgians. Since then, we’ve spoken to 5,335 Georgians, of whom 1,834 qualified for the settlement’s informal relief process, and 1,319 received SNAP benefits thanks to our intervention. We continue to work with the State to get back on track. 

Connecticut:  

NCLEJ’s work on the Briggs class-action lawsuit, filed in 2012, exemplifies the value of our work. The lawsuit set national precedent allowing SNAP recipients to sue to enforce their right to receive SNAP benefits on time. When we sued in 2012, Connecticut had the worst processing delays in the nation, but today, Connecticut processes 96% of SNAP applications on time. 

National: 

In March 2026, NCLEJ sued the USDA in federal district court in Washington D.C. over their expansion of unlawful food restriction waivers that limit the types of food that can be purchased with SNAP benefits. The lawsuit challenges food restriction waivers in Colorado, Iowa, West Virginia, Tennessee, and Nebraska. By failing to provide notice and allow public comment before approval of these waivers, the USDA violated the Administrative Procedures Act. Our clients argued that these unlawful food restriction waivers deprived SNAP recipients of access to the food they need, threatening their health and welfare, while imposing significant burdens on retailers. In June 2026, the court granted our motion for summary judgment, finding that the USDA lacked the statutory authority to implement its food restriction program. As such, the court vacated the USDA’s approval of such programs, halting implementation in all five states named in the complaint—and casting doubt on the validity of similar programs in other states across the country.   

In May 2025, NCLEJ sued the USDA over the Trump administration’s unlawful attempts to obtain the personal information of millions of SNAP recipients. The USDA requested “unfettered access to comprehensive data,” including records stored by private companies that process SNAP payments, with no clear explanation for how this data will be used. The USDA letter indicated that any failure to comply with the order could result in the withholding of funds to state agencies. In response to our lawsuit, the USDA paused their illegal demands in June 2025, before once again threatening states with the same unlawful request. In September 2025, we filed for summary judgment, and are awaiting a decision from the court.