FRESH Act a practical solution to connecting justice-impacted people to basic services like food

OPINION – I encourage you to pause for a moment and try to imagine what it would be like to return to your community after spending years, or even decades, in California’s Prison system.

All of the familiar comforts of daily life are missing.

You’d have to start over.

You exit a correctional facility with a one-time check for $200 or much less to cover immediate expenses upon reentry, and you are expected to look for a job that hires second-chance candidates, find housing, purchase new clothes and other necessities like a cell phone, along with paying for your ride home.

Now, imagine as you establish this next chapter, you don’t know where you will find your next meal or when it will be.

Access to healthy, nutritious food is a serious problem for justice-impacted individuals. One in five formerly incarcerated individuals in California have limited access to adequate food.

A successful reentry should include the ability for formerly incarcerated individuals to easily access food programs and other supportive services, and these services need to be readily accessible prior to transitioning out of the criminal justice system so that on day one, they are set up for success–not failure. 

California will soon connect incarcerated individuals to certain services like Medi-Cal prior to their reentry through a simple enrollment process that unlocks opportunities for them, but there are no equivalent enrollment processes for CalFresh or other necessary supportive services.

This must change.

Earlier this year, I worked with several incredible community-based organizations to develop a framework that will address this challenge of food insecurity.

The result of this community collaboration is the FRESH Act (SB 1254), or the Food for Reentry and Stable Homes Act,

The FRESH Act allows individuals to apply for Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), otherwise known as CalFresh, benefits up to 90 days before returning to the community, effectively mirroring the enrollment process for CalFresh with other comparable programs.

It fast-tracks the CalFresh application process for justice-impacted individuals, setting them up for a more successful reentry.

This is a game changer for many who face food insecurity.

Expanding eligibility to justice-impacted individuals also makes smart economic sense for the state of California.

There are billions of dollars of free federal money that is waiting for states to utilize through various programs, including CalFresh.

CalFresh is the largest nutrition assistance program in the state, but has one of the worst track records in getting eligible people enrolled.

But how can California utilize this money?

Expanding eligibility for CalFresh would unlock a significant amount of untapped federal funds for California.

The FRESH Act would help Californians get more of the estimated $3.5 billion in additional CalFresh dollars the state is missing out on from the federal government each year.

It’s free money for California, and if we don’t use it, we lose it.

This is a hugely valuable resource that is available right now, ready to be utilized.

Expanding CalFresh eligibility to justice-impacted individuals has other significant benefits.

This new federal money would  go directly to support our local grocery stores and farms, increase the spending power of struggling Californians, and bolster local economies.

It also allows recently incarcerated individuals to use the CalFresh Employment and Training program, an additional source of support that can further drive economic benefits resulting from active participation in the workforce.

And without CalFresh?

Recidivism rates increase when CalFresh is inaccessible.

So let’s do better.

The FRESH Act will remove barriers to necessary services, increase the likelihood of successful reentry for justice-involved individuals transitioning back into the community, and maximize utilization of a federally-funded program that benefits California.

And remember that transitions are hard, but food helps.

Senator Josh Becker (D-Menlo Park) represents California’s 13th Senate District, which includes most of San Mateo County and northern Santa Clara County.