Nutrition Assistance for Puerto Rico

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Nutrition Assistance for Puerto Rico or NAP is a Federal assistance nutritional program provided by the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) solely to the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, a territory of the United States. It provides over $1 billion dollars in benefits to just over 1 million island residents.[1] The program is commonly known in Puerto Rico as Programa de Asistencia Nutricional, or PAN, in Spanish, and is similar in operation to the Food Stamp Program in the US.[1] Its federal identification number, or CFDA number, is 10.566.[2]

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[edit] Program benefits

Under the NAP, participating families receive monthly cash benefits to supplement their incomes which must be used to purchase foods for preparation and consumption at home.[2] The amount of a family’s monthly benefit payment depends on that family’s specific characteristics and financial circumstances, as well as the amount of overall program funds available for distribution. It is the Puerto Rican government’s responsibility to establish the eligibility requirements and benefit levels for participation in the program.[2] The overall benefits are revised annually every October 1st to consider the nutritional needs of Puerto Rico’s impoverished population and to plan for the distribution of available funds.

The Puerto Rican government, through its Department of the Family, distributes the benefits to each participating family by issuing a debit card with which to access the benefits. The actual monthly benefit is paid electronically and can be used to obtain cash at an ATM, or to combine their own cash with the debit card benefits in food purchases from authorized retailers. Since September 2001, seventy-five percent (75%) of each family’s monthly benefit has been designated for use in making food purchases at retailers authorized by the government, while the remaining twenty-five percent (25%) is a cash benefit.[2]

[edit] Program operations

The Food and Nutrition Service (FNS), a component of the USDA, provides the funds to Puerto Rico’s Department of the Family to operate the program through an annual federal block grant. This block grant covers the full cost of the benefits to participants, as well as fifty percent (50%) of the costs required to administer the program (the remaining fifty percent must be provided by the Puerto Rico government).[2][3] The assistance has surpassed $1 billion dollars annually since the early 1990s, and has increased over the years to compensate inflation. In a ten year span alone, PAN assistance increased 30%, from just over $1 billion in 1993 to more than $1.35 billion in 2002.[1]

As a condition of receiving the grant, the PR Department of the Family must submit an annual plan of operation to the FNS, which describes how it will provide the nutrition assistance to needy persons. This includes identifying the island population which is eligible for the NAP benefits (i.e., family income limits, family status limits, etc.), establishing the process in which individual participants are selected, and the process of determining the benefit amount for each participant. The plan of operation is reviewed and approved by the FNS before funds are disbursed. Although federal regulations require Puerto Rico to pay the benefits during the year for which the annual block grant was awarded, the federal government allows Puerto Rico to use two percent (2%) of an annual surplus for benefits in future years.[2]

[edit] Criticism

The NAP program has received much criticism both within and outside Puerto Rico. Since the program provides non-taxable income without any work requirements, critics argue that recipients receive free money for not doing anything and therefore hinders the economic output of the island,[4] a fact that is more worrying when considering that 1 out of every 4 island residents, more than 1 million, receive this kind of aid,[1][5] and that the average aid provided in Puerto Rico has exceeded the US national average ($94 versus $74.79, respectively; 2001 estimate).[1] This situation has led some to state that NAP and other similar programs are actually incentives for low-income families to remain within their social status, even if it means defrauding the Federal and Puerto Rico governments by hiding other sources of personal income. Because of this, some have even gone as far as naming Puerto Rico the “welfare island”.[4] However, we must note that unemployment and underemployment are two of the major issues issues confronted by Puerto Rican workers (see Santiago, C.E. 1992).

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b c d e "Uncle Sam’s Billions" by Lorelei Albanese, Caribbean Business, August 14, 2003, retrieved September 9, 2006
  2. ^ a b c d e f Nutrition Assistance for Puerto Rico (CFDA 10.566); OMB Circular A-133: Compliance Supplement; Part 4: Agency Program Requirements: Department of Housing and Urban Development, pg. 4-10.566-1
  3. ^ Code of Federal Regulations, Title 7, section 285.2(a), or 7 CFR 285.2(a)
  4. ^ a b "Trouble on Welfare Island", The Economist, May 25, 2005, retrieved July 13, 2006
  5. ^ CFDA 10.566 Nutrition Assistance For Puerto Rico (NAP), Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance, US General Services Administration

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

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