Foodbanks which are already under pressure are picking up more people who have been declined food grants. File photo. Photo: RNZ / Niva Chittock
More people in financial hardship have been declined government food grants this year, and foodbanks warn that this is putting even more pressure on their struggling services.
Data released to RNZ under the Official Information Act shows six percent of special needs grants were declined in the first nine months of this year, compared to just 3.5 percent for the same period in 2023.
The Ministry of Social Development (MSD) offers the hardship grants for one-off urgent costs such as food and people do not have to be on a benefit to apply.
The Salvation Army runs 60 foodbanks across the country. Food security manager Sonya Cameron said its foodbanks were picking up more people who have been declined food grants.
"The government's turning down people for food, they're sending them to foodbanks. Now they're not funding foodbanks. Foodbanks around the country are either overstretched like ourselves or they're starting to close down."
Cameron said MSD was taking a strict approach to approving food grants.
"The size of the hardship grants that they're giving out is reduced, the amount that they're giving out is reduced and the amount of people that are being declined has increased."
She said many foodbanks were requiring bookings to manage increased demand.
The Salvation Army's foodbank in Manukau in Auckland has gone from 48 appointments a day to 120.
"They're starting to increasingly put in appointment systems. In Manukau it's probably one of our most difficult situations. There they've got a weekly appointment system and it books out within an hour."
MSD data shows the number of people who have applied for special needs grants has dropped slightly this year compared to last year but at the same time, more grants have been declined.
In the nine months to the end of September, 60,579 people were declined these grants, compared to 36,945 in the same period last year - a jump from 3.5 percent declined to six percent of total applications.
For the September quarter, the value of food grants was $32.6 million, down 10.8 percent from the September 2023 quarter.
MSD said the majority of special needs grants were approved, but it had been bringing its special needs grants process back to pre-pandemic practices.
Last December, MSD changed how it processes applications for hardship assistance which it said is likely the reason for fewer applications.
This included requiring another layer of sign-off for those applying for $400 in a single grant payment and in some cases requiring people to meet obligations such as engaging with budgeting services.
MSD spokesperson George Van Ooyen said they knew a lot of people were struggling and continued to help by providing food grants.
"Special needs grants are available to people who have an urgent one-off cost they cannot meet any other way," he said.
MSD also had an app that existing clients could download and find out if they were eligible for a food grant.
Cameron said the Salvation Army had noticed the change in approach.
"Their staff are being much more strict about abiding to their guidelines for special needs grants in that there's no room for leniency. Then when people are turned down, they're sending them to us or to other foodbanks."
MSD provided the reasons for declining food grants, the most common of which was that circumstances could be foreseen.
North Harbour Budgeting Service helps more than 2000 people a year and its general manager Claudette Wilson said MSD's stringent approach to foodgrants had come when economic hardship was more widespread.
"It's very concerning. We're seeing a high demand for assistance from all walks of life, low to middle income, and many of these are with children."
Wilson said families with two working parents were showing up wanting help applying for food grants, as were people from occupations not usually seen through their doors, such as real estate agents.
"We do look at their budget, we look at where they're at, but we also do supply a little bit of food from the office, not a lot but we've got a kind member of the community who's dropping in food tomorrow that will go out to clients."
North Harbour Budgeting Service was among 44 financial-mentoring charities that had their funding pulled this year, which means they cannot provide supermarket vouchers this year.
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