Disaster Food Assistance

About the Program

Category: Risk and Emergency Management (Best in Category)

Year: 2014

On September 10, 2013, the citizens of Boulder County were hit by one of the worst floods in the state’s history. Boulder County, along with several surrounding counties, was declared a federal disaster area, allowing the state and county to jointly assess the option of accessing emergency federal food assistance aid in the form of the Disaster Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (DSNAP). Boulder County collaborated with the State of Colorado to implement this seven day emergency program. In order to continue with the simultaneous efforts to prepare for Affordable Care Act implementation, DSNAP was structured to pull a specialized team of eligibility technicians, lead workers, managers and benefits issuance staff. To best serve displaced and distressed citizens, emergency eligibility stations were constructed at two Disaster Assistance Centers, allowing application and issuance of food assistance benefits to take place alongside FEMA assistance, mental health care, transportation assistance, and many other case management and community resources. Families who were not currently receiving food assistance were able to be issued benefits on site through EBT cards; families known to the Boulder County food assistance program were issued replacement or supplemental benefits when appropriate. During the seven day DSNAP program, more than 300 applications were processed for more than 650 people.