The COVID-19 pandemic dramatically increased the need for food aid in Marin, but while the health crisis has eased, the level of food insecurity in the county remains high, according to government officials and nonprofit managers.
“We’ve come a long way since 2020, but food access issues are still with us,” Kari Beuerman, Marin County’s social services director, told county supervisors last week. “Many people of all ages and ethnicities struggle daily to make difficult choices whether to spend limited funds on food or other essentials such as rent, child care, transportation and medication.”
Based on income levels, Beuerman estimates that one in five Marin residents is enduring food insecurity. The U.S. Department of Agriculture defines food insecurity as a lack of consistent access to enough food for an active, healthy life.
Beuerman also spoke at a forum on hunger and food insecurity held by First 5 Marin on Friday. The event, at the Embassy Suites in San Rafael, had about 200 attendees, and a number of county social service staffers and nonprofit managers also spoke there.
The San Francisco-Marin Food Bank, which sent a representative to the forum, released its annual hunger report earlier in the week. A survey of 6,000 food bank participants included in the report found that 79% of respondents often or sometimes worry about running out of food and 72% had not recovered financially from the pandemic.
“This survey shows clearly that our participants are struggling,” said Tanis Crosby, the food bank’s director. “Many are forced to make impossible choices between paying bills and buying food.”
Beuerman shared the same data with both audiences to whom she spoke. She said that between the spring of 2020 and spring of 2021, food pantry participation at the San Francisco-Marin Food Bank grew by 90%.
Beuerman said the county’s Meals on Wheels program, which delivers food to seniors, grew 43% in the first year of the pandemic and an additional 15% the year after. She said the Nourish program, which delivers free meals to people with chronic health conditions, grew by 50% during this period.
Beuerman said the number of Marin residents enrolled in CalFresh grew 31% during the pandemic and has remained at that level. As of March, 13,270 Marin residents were enrolled in CalFresh, compared with 9,446 in fiscal 2019-19.
Also known as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or food stamps, CalFresh provides qualified applicants with an electronic benefit transfer card that can be used like a debit card at participating grocery stores and farmers markets.
The number of people on Marin’s CalFresh roll is expected to increase significantly in May. That is when a new state law takes effect to make undocumented residents age 50 or older eligible for full Medi-Cal and CalFresh benefits.
Beuerman has previously said she isn’t sure how many people in Marin are likely to use the increased eligibility. She told supervisors last week that some residents remain hesitant to seek government assistance because of the Trump-era “public charge” rule. The rule denied green cards, or permanent legal status, to migrants who were judged likely to require public benefits such as Medicaid, housing vouchers or food stamps. The Biden administration withdrew the rule last year.
“There is still a lot of confusion and fear around the public charge rule,” Beuerman said.
During the First 5 forum, Danielle Niemi, a Marin County eligibility specialist, said that this year California began offering medically tailored meals to Medi-Cal recipients who meet certain eligibility requirements. Niemi said people who qualify can receive two free meals per day for up to 12 weeks, or even longer in some cases.
To be eligible, Niemi said, a Marin resident would have to have a chronic health condition such as diabetes or congestive heart failure or have been recently discharged from a hospital or nursing home. Niemi said participants must also be members of Partnership HealthPlan of California, which manages the health care of Marin residents who qualify for Medi-Cal.
Niemi said that during the pandemic the state dropped a requirement to reevaluate the eligibility of Medi-Cal members once a year.
“But once the public health emergency ends we’re going to resume annual redeterminations,” she said.
Suzie Aceves, a Marin County CalFresh analyst who spoke at the forum, said the end of the public health emergency will trigger an even more consequential reversion to standard procedure.
Aceves said that during the pandemic emergency allotments were approved that permitted CalFresh recipients to receive much larger benefits than they formerly would have qualified for.
“Someone who normally would be entitled to $30 per month based on their income is currently getting $250 a month for a household of one,” Aceves said. “When the public health emergency is lifted, these types of flexibilities will go away.”
Jessica Paran, another Marin County social services manager who spoke at the forum, said, “That’s an important point. For several years many of our participants have been receiving an additional supplement that takes them to the maximum, and many of them may think that is the regular amount.”
Beuerman said the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services will decide when to end the emergency designation.
”Right now that end date is Oct 15th,” Beuerman wrote in an email. “However, it is expected to be extended at least another 90 days. The United States Secretary of Health and Human Services has committed to giving a 60 day notice prior to the lift.”
