SNAP enrollment in March 2022 for Cuyahoga County residents was just over 211,000 which mirrors the SNAP enrollment from February 2020, one month prior to the start of the pandemic processing rules for SNAP eligibility.

For the past two years, in response to COVID-19, the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services (ODJFS) took advantage of several waivers made available by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Food and Nutrition Services (FNS) that decreased the administrative burden on the local county agencies and recipients.  These included:

• Waiving the interim reporting requirements;
• Suspending recertification interview requirements for six months; and
• Waiving the interview requirement for non expedited SNAP cases when the agency could independently verify eligibility.

These waivers allowed Cuyahoga Job and Family Services (CJFS) to focus resources on the influx of new applications that were being received as a result of the massive job loss occurring during the pandemic. 

As the COVID-19 pandemic appears to subside and the economy recovers, SNAP participation is expected to decrease and stabilize. This trend matches the trend in the local and statewide unemployment rates.