NYC warns young adults could be hardest hit by SNAP benefit losses

Nearly 43,500 New Yorkers are at risk of losing their food assistance benefits known as SNAP on Monday, as the sweeping work requirements enacted by the Trump administration reaches its first deadline, city officials told Gothamist.

Officials warn those most at risk of losing the monthly aid are young people; about 40% of SNAP recipients who haven’t complied with the new rules are between 18-30 years old. Overall, nearly 60% are men.

That’s partly because younger people aren’t eligible for many exemptions, like older adults with disabilities. And anecdotally, outreach workers say many don’t realize how much they could be affected if they don’t comply with the new requirements and submit the necessary paperwork.

Now city workers say they are in a mad dash to target as many New Yorkers who haven’t met the requirements and get them to take action before June 1. The city launched an unprecedented door-knocking campaign this month across the five boroughs, leveraged city data to find people who could be exempt for medical reasons or because of a disability, and is proactively calling people who haven’t replied.

“It's devastating. No matter how hard we work, no matter how much we do, no matter how much door-knocking we do, how much government excellence we put forward … unfortunately, people will lose their benefits. That is what this is designed to do,” Erin Dalton, commissioner for the Department of Social Services, said in an interview.