Hundreds of thousands of Wisconsin residents who are eligible for nutrition assistance are not receiving it, according to a new report by the Legislative Audit Bureau. Nearly one out of every five state residents received nutrition assistance at some point during 2011.

Participation in the Wisconsin FoodShare program (informally known as food stamps) has risen dramatically over the last several years, driven by a significant increase in poverty in the state and by policy changes that reduced barriers to participation. Between 2007 and 2011, the number of participants who received FoodShare benefits in a calendar year grew by 83 percent. Meanwhile, the total benefits paid increased by 183 percent in constant dollars, and administration costs increased by 11 percent. The federal government funds all program benefits, and the state and the federal governments share most administrative costs equally.

Most of the press attention generated by this report has focused on the small number of people who were incorrectly receiving FoodShare benefits, including about 450 prison inmates. What has received less attention is that the report includes estimates for the percent of people who are eligible for FoodShare but do not receive it. These estimates range from 23 percent to 58 percent – meaning that an additional 326,000 to 1.5 million Wisconsinites were eligible for FoodShare assistance in 2011 but did not receive it. These figures are especially concerning given that a significant share – 43 percent – of the people who receive FoodShare benefits are children. Based on these estimates, between 140,000 and 627,000 children in Wisconsin are eligible for nutrition assistance yet not receiving it. The lower estimate means every seat in Lambeau Field could be filled almost twice over with children who are missing out on nutrition assistance – and the upper estimate means that every seat in Lambeau Field could be filled more than eight times over with these children.

The good news is that Wisconsin has worked to improve access to FoodShare for eligible families, and was awarded a performance bonus in 2008 for improvement in this area. In 2010, Wisconsin incorrectly denied benefits to eligible individuals in 7.9 percent of cases in 2010, which was below the national average of 8.4 percent. In comparison, Wisconsin provided benefits to ineligible individuals or incorrectly calculated the benefit amount in just 2.0 percent of cases.

Wisconsin should continue to focus on reducing error rates in determining FoodShare eligibility. But let’s not let the 450 prison inmates overshadow the hundreds of thousands of Wisconsin children eligible for nutrition assistance who are not receiving it.

Tamarine Cornelius