October 25, 2025
$83 Million In SNAP Benefits Not Distributed To Applicants On Time
RALEIGH — A performance audit by the North Carolina Office of the State Auditor (OSA) has found tens of millions of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefit payments were delivered late to North Carolinians.
From 2021 to 2024, North Carolina processed 3.7 million SNAP benefit applications and paid out approximately $15.7 billion in SNAP benefit payments. However, SNAP benefit payments were not always made on time during this period. Approximately $83 million in benefits, which are federally funded and overseen by the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS), Division of Child and Family Well–Being, were delayed from 2021 to 2024.
Auditors identified the seven counties with the worst performance in meeting federal timeliness standards: Davidson, Edgecombe, Wake, Mecklenburg, Pitt, Cumberland, and Stanly counties. These counties issued between 14%-25% of benefit payments in an untimely manner. The audit found that DHHS leadership made the decision not to enforce corrective actions to county offices that failed to meet federal timeliness requirements.
“The State Auditor’s Office is committed to holding government accountable for being efficient. In this case, despite repeatedly seeing there were delays in the distribution of SNAP benefits, DHHS chose not to enforce corrective actions,” said State Auditor Dave Boliek. “It is troubling that DHHS leadership doesn’t believe tracking untimely benefit amounts would improve efficiency. Measuring performance provides transparency and results on the spending of taxpayer dollars.”
OSA included recommendations for the Division of Child and Family Well-Being to take, including consistent monitoring of the timeliness of county SNAP benefit payments, enforcing corrective actions, and ensuring access to the necessary data to administer and monitor SNAP benefit payments.
Discover more from JoCo Report
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
what is really sad is the amount of money from 2021 to 2024 NC paid out-$15.7 BILLION. Thats a big number.
That means we need better paying jobs as well as better education to get those jobs. However that does not always mean 4 to 8 or more years of college for white collar jobs. If you notice all the new construction in Selma – it is mostly retail and restaurants. People love to go shopping and to go out to eat, but those same people for some reason do not believe (not all, of course, but way too many) that those workers don’t deserve to make a living wage. We also need to talk to our children or grandchildren and remind them that there is nothing wrong with blue collar jobs – auto mechanics, plumbers, electricians, truck drivers, construction workers etc., but they will need to go to a specialized trade school or community college.
All of the people I know that receive food stamps that are able to work – actually work – some work two jobs. Some work for the state or county and some are in the military. The few that are disabled or are retired get such a small amount of help it is laughable – we are talking $10-20 a month, if that – which can make a difference in eating for a day I suppose. I would rather my tax dollars go to feeding people than to give the rich tax breaks or to bail out failing corporations. The millionaires/billionaires have so many convinced that it is the not their fault that the companies they own do not pay the employees enough money to live on – and half the nation has bought into that notion – even if the state or county the live in has a high percentage on food stamps and Medicaid.
Read the recent article by Mark Cuban – it is a good read.
Education, financial literacy, ethics,moral standards, all the good stuff starts at home. I never witnessed an excuse pay a bill or attain a goal or teach right from wrong. I never found food stamps under my work boots, I didn’t concern myself with wants before needs. We’ve all got choices, I chose to raise my children in order that I could enjoy my grandchildren. I saved instead of squandering by design, I do however refuse to take the blame for those that choose to live their life differently. First out of the gate, folks got to learn to get on your feet, ya gotta get off your a**. Quit whining, get a job, night school ,online education, learn, listen, save and live on less than you make. No, it’s not easy, but it works. Govt freebies don’t, never have , never will.
SNAP/food stamps were first introduced in 1939, but it wasn’t until 1964 Food Stamp Act was it nationally implemented. In 1974, the Nationwide program was launched. The major social impact cannot be denied nor understated: SNAP, WIC, and TANF replaced Dads with Uncle Sam expeditiously, and divorce rates spiked. The foreseen impacts are apparent: Children raised without fathers, and the enabling of systemic poverty, increased crime, delinquency, and poor academic performance. Prior to the Food Stamp Act, families relied on the nuclear family structure to make ends meet, and as a result, we had far less violence and mental health issues.
As unpopular as it would be, repealing/reforming these laws that fund the programs would force a return to healthy societal conditions that promote familial bonds, healthy children, and a brighter future for all of us. This isn’t just about being fair to the taxpayer, who is funding these, but undoing the systems that keep generational poverty, broken homes, and mental illness a reality. Reforming these systems to provide social welfare benefits for only those who truly need it: Married couples under the poverty line (doubled, since there are two people contributing to the household), orphans, and widows, would be the corrective measure that would fix these problems in our country.
For now, we must at least be willing to admit the truth: Welfare has created, and maintains the destruction of the nuclear family, and thus enables systemic generational poverty to continue.
Many factors have contributed to the erosion of the “traditional” nuclear family since the 1960’s. The rise of mainstream feminism. The uptick in same-sex coupling. To point to Welfare Programs as the only reason is lazy critical thinking.