Last week, the Arkansas Hunger Relief Alliance and the six Feeding America Arkansas food banks released results from a survey they recently commissioned showing that about 37% of Arkansans did not have enough food to meet their needs in 2025. And yet participation in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) — an effective food assistance program for low-income families in Arkansas — fell from approximately 240,000 SNAP participants in October 2025 to roughly 223,000 SNAP participants in May 2026, with almost 10,000 fewer Arkansas children receiving SNAP now.

This trend is not unique to Arkansas. SNAP participation rates have dropped drastically across the country. But not because families are faring better economically. What is likely a primary driver of this reduction in SNAP participants are the significant changes made to SNAP by the federal One Big Beautiful Bill Act (H.R. 1). October 2025 was the month before Arkansas implemented the expanded SNAP work requirements and restricted many lawfully residing immigrants’ SNAP eligibility as required by H.R. 1. Since that time, the rate of SNAP participants in Arkansas — both adults and children — has generally continued to drop.

To be clear, H.R. 1 did not make any changes to SNAP eligibility for children. Yet here we are with almost 10,000 fewer Arkansas children enrolled in this powerful anti-hunger program. In part, this may be because parents who have lost eligibility may misinterpret notifications and mistakenly believe their entire household is now ineligible. As a result, those adults may not return required paperwork or respond to requests for additional information to verify other household members’ eligibility. Likewise, even adults who are still eligible for SNAP may miss critical notices or not respond in a timely manner for requests to information, thereby jeopardizing SNAP access for their family. At issue is also the possibility that legally residing immigrants who are still eligible for SNAP may be hesitant to apply for benefits due to a new federal “public charge” rule that would make it harder to gain citizenship or a green card if there is record of using a government benefit as well as general anti-immigrant rhetoric. But while H.R.1 may not be the sole driver of the decline in child or adult SNAP participants, the corresponding timeframe of the implementation of certain H.R. 1 provisions and these decreases cannot be dismissed. 

And while it is worrisome that around 17,000 Arkansans who were already struggling to put food on the table are no longer receiving SNAP benefits, there is cause for additional alarm:

1. Bigger changes to SNAP are coming as a result of H.R. 1.
Beginning in October of this year, the federal government will no longer equally split SNAP administrative costs with states. States must pay 75% of these operational costs effective October 1, 2026, which means the Arkansas Department of Human Services (DHS), will face an $18 million funding cut in just a couple of months as the Arkansas General Assembly has yet to appropriate funds to absorb this cost shift. This will likely lead to fewer DHS staff, among other operational challenges. Fewer staff means higher caseloads, which can contribute to delays in processing applications and recertifications, thereby negatively impacting SNAP enrollment.

2. SNAP is a key to other nutrition assistance programs.
With one in four children in Arkansas classified as food insecure, the fact that so many children have lost access to SNAP over the last several months is a problem in and of itself. But SNAP enrollment can also reduce barriers to other effective food assistance programs through direct certification. Direct certification is accomplished through data matching processes. While children living in households not enrolled in SNAP may still qualify for the following programs, there are often additional steps to determine eligibility, which can limit or slow access to these programs.

• Free School Meals
  Kids living in households that receive SNAP benefits are directly certified for free school meals, increasing access to free breakfast and lunch at school and reducing the administrative burden on school staff by removing the need to process school meal applications and collect school meal debt.
  
  In addition, the Community Eligibility Provision (CEP) is a federal nutrition assistance program that allows schools in high-poverty areas to offer free meals to all enrolled students without collecting school meal applications. If more students are directly certified for the free school meal program by way of SNAP participation, schools will be more likely to adopt CEP. Participation in CEP can help increase overall school meal participation, which not only helps remove stigma associated with school meals, but in some cases, can also be helpful to school meal programs by increasing economies of scale.
  
• Summer Nutrition Benefits
  The Summer Electronic Benefits Transfer Program (Summer EBT) provides $120 per school-aged child to eligible families to help buy food over the summer months. Summer EBT benefits are loaded onto debit cards that can be used to purchase groceries. Children who are directly certified for free school meals based on their family’s SNAP enrollment (as well as certain other safety net programs) are automatically provided Summer EBT.
  
• Meals and Snacks at Afterschool and Summer Programs
  Out-of-school time programs in areas where at least 50% of the students are eligible for free or reduced-price meals may qualify for the Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP). CACFP reimburses afterschool and summer programs for providing healthy meals and snacks. Decreases in SNAP enrollment that impact the number of children who are directly certified for free school meals may result in fewer after school and summer programs being CACFP eligible.
  
• Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC)
  WIC provides healthy foods, breastfeeding support, nutrition education, and referrals to health services for low-income pregnant and postpartum women and children under the age of 5. Families who receive SNAP benefits (as well as Medicaid or Temporary Assistance for Needy Families) automatically meet the WIC income requirement. As a result, SNAP enrollees do not have to provide proof of income when applying for WIC. This streamlines the WIC application process for families and the local county health units that administer WIC in Arkansas. When Arkansans lose SNAP eligibility, it may delay their enrollment in WIC.

3. The charitable food network is struggling to keep up with the demand of increased food needs.
The charitable food network, comprised of food banks and local food pantries, performs incredible work supporting families in need. Not surprisingly, as SNAP enrollment declines, families seeking assistance from food pantries and other organizations providing access to food increases, placing strain on these organizations across the country. What’s more, research shows that for every meal the charitable food network provides, SNAP provides nine. Even with the best efforts of the charitable food network to keep up with demand, it simply cannot replace what SNAP provides to families.

Families across Arkansas are confronted with affordability challenges each day as the cost of groceries and many other goods and services continue to rise. SNAP can serve as a lifeline to ensure regular access to healthy meals. It can also provide more direct access to other food assistance programs that then work together to lessen the food insecurity burden that so many families and communities are facing. Unfortunately, this crisis will likely only worsen as federal funding cuts for SNAP administration hit in October. Contact your state legislators today to ask them to fund the SNAP administrative cost shift.