PHHS navigating SNAP benefits, rescinded grant funds, and staffing challenges

Josh Hinke | May 28, 2025

Cook County Public Health and Human Services got some good news recently, as previously rescinded COVID-19 grant funds were reinstated. During the Public Health and Human Services Board meeting on May 20, Director Alison McIntyre said that the county planned to accept the funds.

There is still some uncertainty surrounding the grant, which is currently being evaluated in the Federal District Court. Other counties have declined the grant funds for various reasons. However, McIntyre believes that the funds can still benefit Cook County.

“If we can use those dollars to bring a project or initiative that’s going to improve community health in Cook County, then we want to take that on, but be able to measure the risk associated with that as well,” McIntyre told WTIP.

A proposed use of the funds is to create a community resource guide, similar to the Aging Well Resources that was developed in collaboration with Care Partners and the Cook County Aging Coalition.

SNAP Benefits

The county’s Public Health and Human Services Department presented its end-of-year financials at the most recent board meeting. As part of that data, it was reported that Cook County had received 136 applications for SNAP benefits, up from a five-year average of 121.

“Minnesotans made nearly 9 million visits to food shelves in 2024, and that’s a 1.4 million increase from the previous year in Minnesota. SNAP reaches 8% of the population statewide, and over half of those are working families. So these are, oftentimes, people who have income, it’s just not enough to be able to meet their basic needs,” McIntyre told WTIP.

The increase comes as budget cuts could impact the program. SNAP could lose $300 billion over the next ten years due to proposed budget cuts.

“A lot of the cuts that are being proposed are in the form of increased work requirements for participants to be able to demonstrate that they’re meeting those program eligibility requirements to be able to receive the benefit, reducing the amounts of benefits that they receive in terms of the number of months in a given year. So it’s having that exponential impact of less benefits for people in our community who are food insecure, increased workload for our staff that are delivering the services, and less state and federal funding to be able to fund the work that we’re doing,” McIntyre said.

People can learn more about the SNAP programs on the Children, Youth, and Families website.

Staffing

The board meeting announced the departure of an employee, who had joined PHHS in the role of Mobile Crisis Response Worker. The position was created as part of a pilot program in 2022, but the role has mostly been vacant since early 2023. Since the launching of the pilot program in 2022, the position has experienced turnover. The most recent employee to leave is the third individual that has filled that role since the pilot program began.

“Some of the challenges in staffing that program are just the low volume of encounters,” McIntyre said. “We don’t have a high volume of crisis response encounters, but it’s also unpredictable, and we’ve seen an increase in recent months. That position is unique, and that includes both a direct client service as well as more of a community outreach program development, connecting with other response systems in the community to really develop and support that coordinated Crisis Response System.”

That coordination involves law enforcement and emergency services from the hospital. The behavioral health team supervisor and other members of the behavioral health team will provide the services associated with the mobile crisis response role.

WTIP spoke with Public Health and Human Services Director Alison McIntyre following the May PHHS board meeting. The audio of that interview can be found below.

*The article has been updated to remove the name of the employee who resigned.