Letter to the Editor -- Missouri Halts SNAP Payments Due to Shutdown

     Missouri Halts SNAP Payments

Monday’s announcement from the Missouri Department of Social Services is deeply troubling. Thousands of Missouri families are now facing uncertainty about how they’ll put food on the table next month — not because of anything they did wrong, but because of a failure of leadership in Washington.

Government shutdowns aren’t acts of nature. They are choices. And right now, too many in Congress are choosing dysfunction over responsibility. When leaders refuse to govern, it’s working families, seniors, and children who bear the cost.

We can and must do better. Every Missourian deserves a government that shows up for them — one that keeps its promises and puts people over politics. I urge those in Washington to come back to the table, find common ground, and get the government reopened.

Because at the end of the day, leadership isn’t about making headlines or scoring points. It’s about doing what’s right — especially when it’s hard.

Rep. Ray Reed (D, St. Louis County)

Missouri House of Representatives

 

Governors Awards Recognize Rapid Response to Chiefs Victory Parade Shooting, Stopping Welfare Fraud, Increasing Efficiency

On Thursday, Governor Mike Kehoe and the Office of Administration recognized three state teams with the 2024 Governor’s Award for Quality and Productivity, celebrating their outstanding contributions to improving efficiency, innovation and service delivery across Missouri state government. 

This year’s recipients were celebrated on June 10, 2025, during a ceremony held in the Missouri Capitol’s First Floor Rotunda. 

“These teams represent the best of Missouri, and we are thankful for their hard work and dedication to serving our state,” said Governor Mike Kehoe. “Our state team members aren’t afraid to roll up their sleeves to solve problems, and these award recipients embody that dedication and commitment to making our state better every day with their service.” 

This award recognizes winning teams in three categories: Customer Service, Efficiency/Process Improvement, and Innovation. These winning teams serve as a model of efficiency, quality and effectiveness for other Missouri State Government teams to follow. The 2024 Award recipients and their projects are:  

For Customer Service, Missouri Disaster Medical Assistance Team 1. On February 14, 2024, at the Kansas City Chiefs Super Bowl celebration, the State Emergency Management Agency’s Missouri Disaster Medical Assistance Team (MO DMAT-1) effectively responded to a shooting, leveraging pre-positioned mobile medical units and strong partnerships with the Kansas City Fire Department, law enforcement, and local medical personnel to quickly retrieve, triage, treat, and stabilize victims for hospital transport. This successful response highlighted MO DMAT-1’s enhanced capabilities since 2020, transforming it into a rapidly deployable, fully equipped unit able to address a large array of medical needs capable of supporting overwhelmed hospitals and providing care at major public events like Super Bowl parades and large concerts across Missouri.

For Efficiency and Process Improvement: The Department of Revenue “One Team, One Bill.” The Missouri Department of Revenue’s audit team, through its “Voice of the Customer” survey, identified the need to streamline post-audit billing notices after feedback revealed that the previous process caused customer confusion, stress, and high costs. The One Team One Bill initiative, completed by December 1, 2022, shifted billing responsibilities to client-facing auditors, introduced a consolidated billing notice, and implemented quality checkpoints, customer testing, and staff education, reducing costs from a projected $328,699 to $174,544 in 2023—a first-year savings of over $154,000—while improving customer experience by minimizing frustration from multiple notices and eliminating the need for multiple payments and fees. 

For Innovation: The Department of Social Services Fraud Finder Data Analytic Application. The Welfare Investigative Unit (WIU) enhanced its efforts to combat Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) fraud by developing the Fraud Finder Data Analytic Application, funded by a $415,025 United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) grant, in partnership with the Information Technology Services Division (ITSD). Launched to address sophisticated fraudulent activity, the application analyzes multiple databases to detect fraud and identity theft, leading to over a thousand investigations by December 2023, uncovering $1.4 million in fraudulent claims, saving Missouri over $2 million, disqualifying 623 SNAP beneficiaries, and resulting in 37 criminal prosecutions. 

Missouri to Maximize Food Stamp Benefits for October

Once more, Missourians who receive Pandemic Food Stamp/Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (P-SNAP) benefits will get the maximum amount for their households' size loaded automatically onto their Electronic Benefit Transfer (EBT) card for the month of October. The Department of Social Services received approval on the October P-SNAP waiver request from the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), Food, and Nutrition Service (FNS). P-SNAP, part of the Families First Coronavirus Response Act, enables Missouri to maximize the Food Stamp/ SNAP benefit amount for each household’s size during a state of emergency. Due to the late date of the federal government’s approval of October P-SNAP, Missourians who have received/will receive their normal October SNAP benefit before October 9th will get their additional P-SNAP to maximize their households’ benefit amount after that date. In August, there were 372,464 households or 771,906 Missourians who received Food Stamp/SNAP benefits.

“October marks the eighth month of maximum SNAP benefits for Missourians,” said Jennifer Tidball, Acting Director, Department of Social Services. “We are grateful that Missouri can continue to provide this additional support during the ‘Show Me Strong’ Recovery Plan. However, SNAP recipients need to be aware and prepared for the eventual return of regular SNAP benefit amounts.”

The Missouri Services Navigator has information on over 2,800 programs and services available in the state. Missourians in need of information on Food Stamp, Medicaid, Child Care Subsidy, LIHEAP, or Temporary Assistance for Needy Families benefit programs can visit dss.mo.gov. Missourians can also apply for those services 24/7 online by visiting MyDSS.mo.gov, or sending completed applications and verification documents by email to FSD.Documents@dss.mo.gov, or by fax to 573-526-9400.

Missourians who have questions not specific to an individual’s case can use the DSS Virtual Assistant to get immediate answers to basic questions 24 hours a day. Phone assistance is also available, call 855-FSD-INFO or 855-373-4636 Monday through Friday, 6:00 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. and Saturday 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.

The Department of Social Services is committed to the “Show Me Strong" Recovery Plan and serving the needs of Missouri citizens during the COVID-19 pandemic. SkillUp and Missouri Work Assistance (MWA) are free programs available to all Food Stamp/SNAP and TA recipients that help low-income Missourians with career planning, overcoming challenges to work, as well as getting and keeping a job. Information regarding the department’s response to the pandemic is available online https://dss.mo.gov/covid-19.

No TANF Drug Tests to Date

(MDN News) -- The Missouri Department of Social Services said Wednesday that it has not drug-tested a single person receiving state welfare benefits, more than a year after lawmakers voted to allow the testing of some recipients.

The department's spokeswoman, Rebecca L. Woelfel, said no drug tests have been administered to applicants or recipients of the state's Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program because the department is still formulating rules to implement the drug testing law, which Democratic Gov. Jay Nixon signed in July 2011.

"So the drug testing won't begin until it's approved, the rule is approved," Woelfel said at the department's Jefferson City offices.

"So no drug testing at all has happened so far?" Missouri Digital News asked.

"Yeah, it still hasn't taken place," she said. "We're still kind of in the stages. We have to get the rule approved before the drug testing can begin."

Under the 2011 law, the department is to give a urine test to a welfare applicant or recipient if it has "reasonable cause" to believe that person is using illegal drugs. If a person tests positive, the law provides that they are to lose their benefits for three years. A person who tests positive but enters a rehabilitation program could have their benefits restored more quickly.

In June of this year, the department proposed six rules related to law. Those rules were published in the Aug. 1 edition of the Missouri Register, a public record of rules and executive orders put out monthly by the Secretary of State's office.

In September, Missouri Digital News filed a legal request under the state's open records law to obtain records of the number of drug tests purchased and administered by the department and of communication between department Interim Director Brian Kinkade and department staff who would implement the law.
In a Sept. 20 email to MDN, the department's custodian of records, attorney Scotty L. Allen, estimated that it would take the department two to four weeks to provide the requested records.

In a phone conversation on Oct. 10, Allen said he did have some of the records and that he would deliver those documents to MDN and to The Associated Press by Oct. 12.

But Allen never delivered the promised documents to either news outlet. He has not returned repeated phone messages left by Missouri Digital News since Oct. 10.

An MDN reporter went to Allen's Jefferson City office Wednesday, Oct. 17, and waited for more than two hours to see the state attorney in person and get the requested records. Allen did not come to see the reporter and his staff said that he was in meetings throughout the afternoon. Late in the afternoon, Woelfel came to Allen's office to talk to the reporter.