Arkansas has the highest hunger rate in the nation, but participation in the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) is relatively low here. That is due in part to state-level barriers to enrollment, a new report has found.

The Arkansas Advocates for Children and Families (AACF) report released today, “State SNAP Policies Are Failing Arkansas’s Kids and Families,” calls for state-level policy improvements in addition to defending against cuts to the program at the federal level. The report is available here.

“In a state that prides itself on being a world leader in food production and distribution, no child should go hungry,” said Maricella Garcia, AACF’s Race Equity Director, who researched and wrote the report. “Arkansas doesn’t have to accept high poverty and food insecurity rates.”

Among other recommendations, the report calls for:

• Repealing the state-level “asset limit” that kicks families off SNAP if they compile even a meager emergency savings account. The great majority of states limit only income, not savings.
• Reducing the 30-page length of the SNAP applications. Most state applications are half that length or less.
• Protecting SNAP benefits at the federal level as Congress looks to make spending cuts. U.S. Sen. John Boozman will play a key role this year in proposed changes to SNAP policy.

Download the report below.