Emergency help is now available for approximately 30,000 Connecticut residents losing SNAP food benefits due to strict new federal work requirements.

The money comes from a $500 million Federal Cuts Emergency Fund – but it might not be enough to cover even deeper cuts next year.

Sharita Johnson just lost her SNAP benefits.

The New Haven mother still has three kids to feed.

“Especially now, during the summer months when they’re home all day," she said. “By the time they come home, they’re ready to eat again. And they’re not looking for little meals; they're looking for full meals.”

Johnson was cut off from the program last Friday. So far, around 15,000 others have dropped off the program in Connecticut – with twice that amount expected at the end of this month – according to the state Department of Social Services.

“The prices of everything have increased.” Johnson said. “We are working. We don’t make enough to sustain, so we need those extra benefits.”

The new work requirements are part of a series of SNAP changes that President Donald Trump and congressional Republicans pushed through last summer.

Most adults ages 18 to 64 must now document 80 hours a month working, taking job training classes or volunteering. Last year’s One Big Beautiful Bill removed exemptions for parents with kids 14 and older, people without a home, able-bodied veterans and non-citizen “green card” holders.

“SNAP is a broken program. SNAP is full of corruption,” Trump’s agriculture secretary, Brooke Rollins, told CNN in November.

Last April, the nonpartisan Congressional Research Service found that “SNAP fraud is rare” and most issues are due to unintentional mistakes.

Starting Tuesday, the grocery allowance will be loaded onto the Akimbo app – not the federal government’s EBT card – with a limited number of physical cards also available.

“You get a card for each person who has fallen off of SNAP in your household,” said DSS commissioner Andrea Barton Reeves. "It is not for everyone who has lost a benefit, and you had to have lost it because you could not meet the new work requirements.”

The $300 covers almost two months of benefits for the average person, Reeves said. The money can be used anywhere that accepts SNAP – but only on items allowed under the program.

The $8.5 million cost comes out of a $500 million emergency fund to offset cuts from Washington. DSS said that about $1 million of the budget goes to regional nonprofits that will actually sign people up for the program.

Connecticut may have to come up with even more money soon.

States will have to pay a 25% larger share for the SNAP program this year. That could cost Connecticut $252 million, according to No Kid Hungry. And next year, states face penalties for payment error rates above 6%.

Lamont, who faces a Democratic primary next Tuesday, has said he would consider a state-level food program in the 2027 legislative session.

But that could be an expensive recurring cost.

“Before we say, ‘Let’s run to the Connecticut taxpayers,’ let’s maximize the benefit we get from the feds,” Lamont said.

Connecticut has been able to keep around 5,000 people enrolled in SNAP through other eligibility means, according to DSS.

As for Johnson? She found a new job, but is still struggling to feed her kids.

“Do I think it’s enough? No,” Johnson said. “But am I grateful for it? Of course.”

You must apply through one of these regional community action agencies:

Click HERE to see if new SNAP work requirements apply to you.

If you need help, call 211 or click HERE to learn about food assistance programs in Connecticut.