Since the onset of the coronavirus pandemic, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program has helped millions more American families access food. Temporary flexibility on SNAP rules has helped many states enroll new participants more easily and continue benefits for existing participants.

But just how long this flexibility will last is in question.

More than 1.75 million residents of D.C., Maryland and Virginia receive SNAP benefits (sometimes referred to by their previous name, food stamps), and that number reflects a significant increase since the pandemic began. The number of SNAP recipients in D.C. in August was 23% higher than the monthly average between October 2019 and February 2020, according to a spokesperson for the D.C. Department of Human Services.

In Virginia, the number of recipients in June was 14% higher than it was in February. In Maryland, participation shot up by 43% in the same time period. Nationally, an estimated 6 to 7 million additional people were approved for benefits between February and June, a 17% jump in program participation.

“Once we realized that no more stimulus checks were coming, I had to dip into my savings, I had to stretch a dollar,” says Silver Spring resident Odessa Davis. “It’s a very challenging time because I have to cut things off and make sure I’m not late on any payments.”

Davis, 32, lives with her mother and 10-year-old son and has been working two jobs for the past four years. When one job evaporated due to pandemic-related closures, she was no longer able to help her mom with rent. This summer, she received a pandemic EBT (electronic benefit transfer) card, part of an emergency program that gives relief to families with children who qualify for free or reduced-price lunch. That extra few hundred dollars made a difference, she says.

“The food stamp card came in around June, so that helped,” she says “I’m not going to say I wasn’t going to take it, but I wish it was more.”

But now, after providing flexibility and expanded benefits for months, the U.S. Department of Agriculture appears to be pulling back, denying some requests from state agencies that make it easier to administer benefits and pushing agencies to start returning to pre-pandemic operations. (The White House also eyed cuts to SNAP before the pandemic.)

Rolling back accesscould have disastrous results. Before the pandemic, the Capital Area Food Bank had roughly 400,000 people in their coverage area who were food-insecure, meaning they had “limited or uncertain access to adequate food.” Now, there are more than 600,000, says CEO Radha Muthia.

“If we tighten and restrict those guidelines again for eligibility, you’re going to see thousands of people who will be cut off from this very vital program and will have to look elsewhere to support their needs,” Muthia says.

For local organizations combating hunger, increased need could strain their ability to feed area families. In the past three months, the Capital Area Food Bank has provided twice as much food as they did this time last year, Muthia says. With more people able to access SNAP benefits, these organizations can assist a greater number of families in the region — as well as help stimulate economic activity during a financial crisis.

“The stronger the SNAP program, the more people who are eligible for SNAP, the better it is overall for our community,” Muthia says. “But it goes actually beyond those individuals who are directly impacted and food-insecure because for every additional dollar that is provided to someone via SNAP, that money goes right back into the community. They’re able to take that dollar and purchase [food] from grocery stores. … And we have seen that every dollar of SNAP generates between $1.50 and $1.80 in economic activity in our region.

“Tens of thousands of people who rely on food assistance could go hungry if the Trump administration refuses to waive burdensome requirements for states administering SNAP benefits during a pandemic with limited resources,” D.C. Attorney General Racine said in a press release last month, when he led other attorneys general in pressing the Trump administration to expand access to SNAP benefits by continuing to remove some of the red tape around their disbursement.

The administration, they say, has recently pushed states to return to pre-pandemic operations, denying some of the waiver applications from state agencies without sufficient explanation. These requested modifications include allowing virtual rather than in-person interviews with recipients and extending reporting deadlines, flexibility that can speed up processing times and assist scores of families in need during the pandemic.

The coalition is calling for the Food and Nutrition Service to post guidance on the requirements for waiver approval, as well as for it to offer waiver options that would remain in effect for a longer period of time. At present, state agencies must submit adjustment requests on a monthly basis, which can be a time-consuming enterprise and one that is inefficient during an ongoing health and economic crisis.

“Because returning to ‘normal’ will likely take many months, it is unreasonable to expect that any state agency can shift their operations back to pre-pandemic status at this time,” the letter states.

As Davis and other area families continue looking for ways to pay for housing, bills and food during a devastating economic downturn and massive unemployment, organizations built to help them likely aren’t focused on a swift return to normal.

“I appreciate the interest in returning to normal, but I think we can only get there when many of the indicators that we measure suggest that we have returned to something that even resembles close to where we were prior to the pandemic,” Muthia says. “I don’t have a crystal ball that way to determine exactly when we’ll get there, but I know now is not the time to be able to pull back on these eligibility criteria and benefits.”

This post has been updated to clarify Racine’s role in the coalition.