NCLEJ Awarded $1.3 Million Grant for SNAP Litigation by Robert Wood Johnson Foundation
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: May 6, 2025
Contact: Patrick Fowler, fowler@nclej.org
NEW YORK, NY – The National Center for Law and Economic Justice (NCLEJ) is excited to announce the awarding of a $1.3 Million Grant by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF). This grant will fund NCLEJ’s efforts to preserve and expand access to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) through high-impact litigation over a two-year grant period.
SNAP, formerly known as food stamps, is a vital lifeline of economic support for nearly 42 million Americans. A large body of research demonstrates that access to SNAP reduces poverty, reduces food insecurity, reduces racial inequality, and improves health outcomes and financial security for low-income participants.
With food insecurity sharply rising due to the end of pandemic emergency benefits, inflation, and SNAP agency dysfunction, and the program under threat in Congress, protecting and expanding access to SNAP is more critical than ever. 47 out of 50 states are not delivering benefits as required by federal law, and millions of eligible people across the country—disproportionately people of color and people with disabilities—do not have enough money to buy food.
“This major $1.3 million grant will help power our high-impact efforts to dismantle barriers to SNAP access for low-income communities,” said Dennis Parker, Executive Director of NCLEJ. “We are one of the only organizations in the country that has a program area dedicated to SNAP litigation, and we are enormously thankful to the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation for partnering with us in the fight to combat food insecurity and achieve greater health equity across the United States.”
Under this project, NCLEJ’s litigation will help low-income people, people of color, Indigenous communities, non-English speakers, and people with disabilities who rely on SNAP by requiring state agencies to provide due process, adhere to SNAP program rules, and affirmatively dismantle barriers to access. NCLEJ will also train and support legal services lawyers to bring similar litigation using their successful strategies. Finally, NCLEJ will work to defend SNAP from proposed changes at the federal level that could impose additional restrictions and new barriers to access.
NCLEJ has ongoing litigation in Alaska and Missouri to address SNAP failures, and within the grant term intends to investigate litigation opportunities in additional states.
The National Center for Law and Economic Justice (NCLEJ) advances racial and economic justice for low-income families, individuals, and communities across the country through ground-breaking impact litigation, policy advocacy, and support for grassroots organizing. Founded in 1965, NCLEJ protects access to critical benefits such as food stamps, Medicaid, and childcare; empowers low-wage workers, advocates for people with disabilities; and fights unlawful debt collection.
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