Wisconsin's Emergency Food Pantries Can Now Decide Whether to Check Clients' ID

Friday, May 17th, 2024 -- 1:00 PM

(Addie Costello, Wisconsin Public Radio and Wisconsin Watch) Wisconsin’s emergency food pantries can now decide whether to check clients’ identification and verify their addresses.

According to Addie Costello with Wisconsin Public Radio and Wisconsin Watch, by October, the state will require them to stop asking. The change will improve access to a key federal program, the Wisconsin Department of Health Services said.

Some pantry coordinators support the changes, but others counter that it could complicate their work. They say the state has yet to answer important questions.

Several coordinators voiced concerns when the health department last month announced changes that affect 265 state food pantries that accept food from The Emergency Food Assistance Program, or TEFAP.

The federally funded program provides healthy foods that pantry donations don’t always cover, including milk, eggs, meat, fresh fruits and vegetables. Most participating pantries rely on the program for a significant amount of their food.

The overhaul comes as demand for emergency food surges following the expiration of extra FoodShare benefits during the pandemic. The state previously required pantry workers to check IDs of every person in a household and verify the person lived in the pantry’s county.

While pantries made exceptions for certain vulnerable groups with less access to IDs and fixed addresses, requesting that information creates unnecessary obstacles to food, supporters of the change say.

“We want to make sure people have an equitable and dignified way to receive food and we feel like the less information gathering in that regard that’s allowable, the better,” a health department spokesperson said.

With the change, Wisconsin joins 35 other states, including neighboring Minnesota, Illinois and Michigan, where TEFAP pantries don’t ask for ID. Some anti-hunger advocates say eliminating ID checks could create local food shortages.

Others support the change but worry about how to accommodate a potential influx of out-of-county clients and track demographic information about their visitors.

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