How Techies Rescued Food Stamps (wired.com)

New submitter rgh02 writes: There is an endless variety of apps designed to manage life for the upper middle class, but most low-income Americans don't benefit from the same time-saving hacks. Thanks to new trends in civic technology, that's beginning to change. The 43 million Americans depending on food stamps are seeing the introduction of apps like Propel's Fresh EBT, which allows users to check balances, track deals, and organize budgets accordingly. And Propel is only one of several companies looking to disrupt outdated social programs, Tonya Riley reports at Backchannel. But the Trump administration, with its hiring freezes and budget cuts, poses threats to these advancements. Riley dives deep into the progress that's been made and how companies are navigating these obstacles.

Comments

The key with businessmen like Trump

[Marxist Hacker 42]

Is to show how this not just reduces time for the EBT customers, but can reduce headcount in government call centers by reducing the need for customer service. I don't understand why techies have never figured out that government and business have similar goals.

Re:The key with businessmen like Trump

[XxtraLarGe]

I don't understand why techies have never figured out that government and business have similar goals.

They have never figured it out because your premise is wrong. Government and business do not have similar goals. Just because Trump wants to cut some sectors of the government doesn't mean that most bureaucrats do. There are many in the government whose goal is to expand the number of people using their services, so they can justify increases in their budgets & staff. As Oscar Wilde put it, "The bureaucracy is expanding to meet the needs of the expanding bureaucracy."

Re:The key with businessmen like Trump

[PopeRatzo]

2. One argument against making social programs like food stamps easier...is that making them a PAIN IN THE ASS might help encourage folks to double down on work and education, sacrifice so they can get a real job that pays enough so that they don't need to live off the govt. teet.

This is the "moral hazard" argument, and it's bullshit. Would you ever say that not giving tax credits to big corporations would encourage those companies to be more innovative and productive? Maybe raising taxes on rich people would make them work harder for a change?

Be careful, we are entering an age where it requires a smaller percentage of people working to provide all the goods and services of a consumer society. At that point, we're going to have to become more comfortable with a growing social welfare system or be prepared for some very bad days. And don't assume that when the time comes, you will be among the "makers" and not the "takers".

Re:The key with businessmen like Trump

[SlaveToTheGrind]

If a person is on food stamps, they pretty much should not have enough money to buy a smartphone with data plan to use EBT apps...if they can afford those, they can afford to buy their own food.

Those expenses aren't even close to the same scale. There are plenty of low-end smartphones in the sub-$100 range, and data plans to be had for less than $30 a month (some of which is subsidized by the Lifeline program). Food stamp benefits can run several hundred dollars a month depending on family size.

One argument against making social programs like food stamps easier...is that making them a PAIN IN THE ASS might help encourage folks to double down on work and education, sacrifice so they can get a real job that pays enough so that they don't need to live off the govt. teet.

Making the use and administration of a welfare program less efficient for all involved seems very much like cutting off your nose to spite your face. I don't know anyone that would disagree that food stamp programs are necessary for at least some people for at least some period of time, and that being the case there's no reason the program shouldn't be as efficient as possible in delivering service to those people.

States like Wisconsin have set up their food stamp programs with fairly stringent eligibility and work requirements to accomplish your (worthy) goal of reducing long-term dependence and promoting work ethic -- imo that sort of up-front approach is far better than the more passive-aggressive strategy of trying to make the user experience miserable.

Re:The key with businessmen like Trump

[ShanghaiBill]

1. If a person is on food stamps, they pretty much should not have enough money to buy a smartphone with data plan to use EBT apps....?

Social programs should be designed, not to help people be poor, but to help them OUT of poverty. A used smartphone costs $20, the cost of groceries for one day. The apps can use Wifi, so no "data plan" is needed. But having a cellphone can make a big difference in a person's ability to find a job, deal with childcare, and manage their life.

Rather than prohibiting smartphones, it may make more sense to make them mandatory.

2. One argument against making social programs like food stamps easier...is that making them a PAIN IN THE ASS might help encourage folks to double down on work and education,

It is a dumb argument. By making benefits only for the "truly poor" you create a poverty trap. As people start to do a little better, they lose their benefits, pulling them back down. So the incentives are exactly backwards. For a well designed program, look at EITC. When a poor person works more, their benefits go UP, and only start to fade away when they are making enough to no longer be poor.

Re:The key with businessmen like Trump

[alvinrod]

I think there's something to be said for limiting food stamps to the purchase of whole foods. Even if you're utterly destitute and need the food stamps to not starve, you'll at least learn how to cook or prepare food which is a marketable skill. Sure it may not seem like much, but it's more than you learn from throwing another plate of pizza rolls into the microwave.

Personally though, I don't think we should try to restrict what food stamps can be used on. It creates too much of a bureaucratic mess, and you can't possibly account for all of the different and unique circumstance people find themselves in. Sure it might be great if people learned to cook and make healthier food choices, but there's probably some single parent of 3 working 2 jobs already that doesn't always have time to cook family meals and kids too young to help with that themselves.

In general, individuals are going to be capable of making better choices for their own set of circumstances on average than some congress critter or other bureaucrat, so let people make their own decisions. Some will choose wisely, and others not. The only real problem is that government charity seems to be boundless. I'd even be fine with more government spending on programs like this if there was a cutoff point where we tell the people making bad choices that they can fuck off now because society doesn't owe them an endless supply of opportunity to waste.

Re:The key with businessmen like Trump

[Dorianny]

You should read the articles you link to:

“In some areas, restaurants can be authorized to accept SNAP benefits from qualified homeless, elderly, or disabled people in exchange for low-cost meals.” Note that based on the published information, the Restaurant Meals Program (as this initiative is known) is available only for homeless, elderly, or disabled recipients of EBT. Furthermore the article states that the program is only widely available in a handful of states Florida, Michigan, Arizona, and California. The vast majority of states do not participate at all.

In short the program is optional for states and limited to those that aren't able to prepare their own meals

Re:Can't afford to buy food but can afford a phone

[Snotnose]

You have a steady job, buy a phone. Lose the job, can't find another, manage to get food stamps. Voila, you have a phone and welfare.

Re:EBT... a good idea, but...

[Anonymous Coward]

WTF is the government allowing cash back on EBT cards in the first place????

The OP is likely either:
1. Lying.
2. Quoting a story he/she heard that was a lie.
3. Misunderstood the transaction, and the cash back came from a debit card.
4. The vendor was committing fraud.

AFAIK you can't get cash back from an EBT transaction. EBT won't allow you to purchase non-food items with it. This includes things everyone needs, like toilet paper.