Government shutdown: How was Ohio affected?

Words by: Tyler Haughn

The recent United States federal government shutdown was the longest government shutdown in the country’s entire history. The shutdown officially lasted for 35 days, starting December 22nd and ending on January 25th. It was the third time President Trump and members of Congress could not reach agreements before the required deadline, causing the government to shut down many services. For context, the previous shutdowns lasted only four days in total. It is estimated that around 420,000 federal employees had to work without pay during the shutdown while around 380,000 were required to take a temporary unpaid leave, according to News 5 Cleveland.

“You have to do what you have to do to keep the doors open.”

Mark Frisone, executive director of Family & Community Services.

Although many state services such as Medicaid, Social Security and Medicare were still available throughout the shutdown, access to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) was reduced. Business Insider estimates around 42 million Americans rely on the program, formerly known as food stamps, to buy groceries for themselves and their families. The shutdown caused the US Department of Agriculture to temporarily lose its funding, causing a shortage of resources for recipients of the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC), which serves around 8 million Americans.

Ohio was one of the least overall affected states by the government shutdown, ranked 42nd most affected state in a recent report from WalletHub. Although Ohio was not as affected as other states in terms of impacted federal jobs, access to national parks or federal contract dollars per capita, it did rank 18th for the total number of families dependent on the SNAP program. This means many families and residents in Ohio rely on SNAP running smoothly to feed their families and the government shutdown did impact this service. People reliant on SNAP must make their February funds last until March before they can receive their next round of benefits. The average benefit is $125 a month. Government statistics on average monthly participation and monthly benefits for the United States SNAP program can be viewed in the PDF document below.

Since the shutdown temporarily slashed federal funds for many departments and programs, non-profit organizations have struggled to offer their services too. Family & Community Services is a non-profit organization based in Portage County that provides a range of social services for its clients. It serves 26 counties throughout Ohio and 3 counties in Michigan.

Mark Frisone, executive director of Family & Community Services, said the organization is grant-funded, so the government shutdown disrupted its ability to provide services for the increased number of clients seeking food for their families because of the shortage.

“When the government shut down, a lot of the grants we have also shut down with the government,” Frisone said. “So, we went the thirty days or so without getting reimbursed from the grant.”

Frisone said it is critical the services continue even without federal funding available. The shutdown created a logistical problem for Frisone and other employees as they struggled to balance the increased demand for community assistance and loss of funds during the monthlong partial shutdown.

“That is one thing about the shutdown I don’t think people realized,” Frisone said. “Of course, we are the 800 employees who are personally affected but there are probably a million organizations that receive funding through the country for things like this and you can’t get their money but you’re still proving services. You have to do what you have to do to keep the doors open.”

Debbie Mann, secretary for Family & Community Services, said the organization’s outreach is large– last year alone, they helped over 100,000 people through all 71 of the services it provides. Mann’s position involves working with grants to make sure all the organization’s services are running smoothly. Family & Community Services have witnessed many examples of the positive impact their services offer. Mann agreed the support they provide for clients must be available no matter what.

“We’ve had some people we have served in some of our shelters that have become staff at some point, so we have seen some incredible things over the years,” Mann said.

Nikole Baringer, grants and projects coordinator for Catholic Charities in Youngstown, said the conditions of their clients are very serious and that the federal government should consider the country’s most at-risk people if a government agreement cannot be materialized.

“Situations can be so desperate and most of these people are living in the moment as they need their utilities turned back on or need food for their families,” Baringer said.

However, the short-term budget deal currently in place will expire on February 15th. NPR reports the federal government may shut down again if an agreement about Trump’s push for funding a border wall cannot be reached.

Get ready to check out my story on https://t.co/xuZW8mTUQE for the Kent Stater.

— Morg (@morgthekid) February 11, 2019

The recent monthlong government shutdown affected many states throughout the country, some more than others. Read my coverage of the shutdown to learn more about how Ohio was hit by disagreements in Washington. #JMCRPP

— Tyler Haughn (@TylerHaughn) February 12, 2019

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