Millions of Americans are sliding toward a financial cliff as the government shutdown stretches into a second month, with four federal assistance programs for low-income families set to run out of funding on Nov. 1.Some families could lose access to multiple sources of government support. Ashley Trent, a 37-year-old single mother of six, expressed concern she could soon be without aid provided under the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), better known as food stamps, and the Women, Infants and Children (WIC) program, which provides food aid for mothers of young children.”I’m wondering how I’m going to be able to afford everything,” Trent, a Bloomington, Ill., resident who works full-time as a housing navigator, told CBS News. “It’s very stressful — what bills will I have to put off? I have a car note, I have insurance, I have clothes I have to get my kids because it’s getting colder.”The U.S. Department of Agriculture, which funds SNAP and WIC, has said it will halt payments for the anti-hunger programs on Nov. 1 due to the government shutdown. Head Start programs serving 65,000 low-income children will also lose federal funding on Saturday, potentially disrupting preschool for thousands of families, according to the National Head Start Association.The Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP), which helps struggling households heat their homes, could be next to run short of funding. Halting funding for these programs — which help cover food, education, and energy costs — could have lasting consequences for poor families already strained by high grocery and utility prices, said Ailen Arreaza, executive director of the advocacy group ParentsTogether Action. Although funding will resume once Congress passes legislation to reopen the government, she warned that the damage to households could persist.”What we are hearing from parents is desperation — parents going without meals, making impossible decisions about not paying bills or going without medication,” Arreaza told CBS News. “This has so many implications, because these kids need these programs to get ahead.”Experts note that hunger can hinder children’s ability to learn, while parents who fall behind on bills may face utility shutoffs or other lasting setbacks.Food stampsThe USDA is set to halt SNAP payments on Nov. 1, leaving about 42 million Americans uncertain how they’ll afford groceries next month. Recipients receive an average of about $187 a month on prepaid cards that can be used to buy food at grocery stores, farmers’ markets and other retailers.A prolonged cessation in food-stamp funding isn’t guaranteed. Two federal judges in Massachusetts and Rhode Island ruled on Friday that the Trump administration is required by law to use contingency funds to pay at least partial SNAP benefits. The government must respond by Monday on whether it plans to allocate money to continue payments. Meanwhile, more than a dozen states are trying to fill the gap by using state funds to support food aid or local food banks. But food bank leaders say charities can’t make up for a cutoff in food stamps. “It’s going to hurt us really bad,” said Taylour Grant, 29, a Tampa medical assistant who relies on $970 a month in SNAP benefits to feed her four children, plus WIC support for her youngest, who is 1-year-old. “It’s really scary because I know I’ll go without to make sure my kids are fed.”Grant said many people misunderstand who relies on SNAP. “We’re not on it because we want to be — no one makes enough to live off these days. That help is really needed,” she said.WICNearly 7 million low-income pregnant women, new mothers and children under 5 who receive WIC could lose federal aid in November because of the government shutdown. Unlike food stamps, WIC provides funds specifically to purchase formula and nutritious foods for pregnant women and young children, though many families rely on both programs, said Georgia Machell, CEO of the National WIC Association.”None of these programs operate in a vacuum,” she said. “Often, if a family is participating in WIC, they’re also participating in SNAP.”WIC continued paying benefits in October after the Trump administration tapped $300 million in leftover tariff revenue from the previous fiscal year. But with the stalemate in Congress continuing into November, that funding could run out. The USDA didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment about whether it could tap additional tariff revenue to fund the program. At this point, the program is set to delay payments on Nov. 1, according to the National WIC Association.WIC has been able to maintain funding during previous shutdowns in its 50-year history, according to the Food Research and Action Center (FRAC), a nonprofit group focused on stopping hunger. “The disruptions we’re concerned about would be fairly historic,” Machell said.Some states have pledged to use their own funds to keep WIC running, but many lack the budget, according to FRAC. Head StartAbout 140 Head Start programs in 41 states and Puerto Rico will lose federal funding with the shutdown set to extend past Nov. 1, affecting roughly 65,000 children, according to the National Head Start Association. Nationwide, about 750,000 children are enrolled in Head Start.Some programs may not be able to stay open, regional program directors warn.”Everybody is trying to do everything they can to keep children in classrooms and families at work,” Michelle Haimowitz, executive director of the Massachusetts Head Start Association, told CBS News Boston. “But it is incredibly difficult to operate without those federal funds.” Minnesota mother Jaycee Chrudimsky said she fears that the closure of her local Head Start program could force her to miss work and affect her 4-year-old daughter.”It would impact her, and that’s the thing I worry about the most, because she looks forward to coming to school every single day and seeing her friends and being a part of the program,” Chrudimsky told CBS News Minnesota this week. LIHEAPAnother program threatened by the shutdown is the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program, or LIHEAP, said Mark Wolfe, executive director of the National Energy Assistance Directors Association (NEADA). The program helps about 6 million low-income households pay their energy bills.”We are now at a point where the government shutdown is going to cause serious delays in the release of LIHEAP funds,” Wolfe told CBS News.The delay could leave millions of families behind on utility bills and facing power shutoffs just as energy prices are skyrocketing, he added.NEADA projects the average cost for people to heat a home this winter will rise nearly 8%.”It’s a perfect storm of misery for low- and middle-income households,” Wolfe said.
