Volunteers representing Ohio State University and the University of Miami pack food at the North Texas Food Bank in Plano on Tuesday, Dec. 30, 2025.
Juan Figueroa/Dallas Morning News
Texas’ SNAP application backlog has skyrocketed since the start of 2026, data shows, as more of the state faces burgeoning food insecurity.
The program’s application backlog for new cases skyrocketed to more than 150,000 pending applications in August, according to data from the state Health and Human Services Commission obtained by Texans Care for Children, a policy nonprofit.
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“This is alarming,” said Diana Forester, director of health policy at Texans Care for Children. “It is very strange to me — I can’t believe it’s as big as it is.”
SNAP, or the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, is a federal initiative that provides financial assistance to low-income families across the country to buy food. The program’s coverage has steadily declined in the last year, forcing families to make hard decisions to survive.
Food insecurity, or inability to afford nutritious food, has been on the rise in North Texas since 2021, according to estimates from Feeding America, a nonprofit network of U.S. food banks.
The percentage of North Texans who were food insecure grew from about 11.8% in 2021 to 16.3% in 2024. While the region’s 2024 percentage was lower than the statewide 19.4%, it exceeded the national average of about 14.4%.
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Read more: Texas first in nation for food insecurity for third year in a row
Federal overhaul shocks outdated system
The One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which President Donald Trump signed into law in July 2025, heavily restructured SNAP eligibility and funding across the country. The law’s changes included:
Making several immigrant groups, including many refugees and asylees, ineligible for SNAP benefits.
Adding work requirements for people ages 60-64 and parents with children ages 14-17.
Requiring a state to fund a proportion of its SNAP program based on its “error rate,” how much recipients were underpaid or overpaid in a year.
The error rate-based funding is completely new. Celia Cole, CEO of Feeding Texas, said that policy change is likely prompting state agencies, including the Texas Health and Human Services Commission, to take extra time in verifying applicant eligibility.
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“New SNAP mandates require a thorough review of each case to ensure program integrity and accuracy,” state agency spokesperson Jennifer Ruffcorn wrote in an email to the Dallas Morning News. “HHSC will continue supporting eligible Texas families as quickly as possible.”
Texas’ application system is also “really antiquated” because of its reliance on manual data entry, Forester said. Shifting rules and higher stakes for accuracy are straining an already tedious application system.
The legislature invested heavily in software improvements for the application process last year, which Forester called “great.” But the upgraded system could take eight years to roll out.
“In the meantime, we can’t have Texas families waiting three months just for an eligibility worker to touch their application,” Forester said.
Texas SNAP enrollment drops
As the SNAP application backlog skyrocketed, the program has also stopped covering hundreds of thousands of Texans.
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The number of SNAP cases in Texas fell from about 1.63 million to 1.33 million households between September 2025 and August 2026. Dallas County’s decrease accounted for about 10% of that drop — around 30,000 households who were no longer on SNAP.
That drop is strange, Cole said, since rising food insecurity would in theory push more people to apply for SNAP. She’s concerned the One Big Beautiful Bill Act’s new eligibility rules are pushing people who need help off of SNAP coverage.
“Are they getting off the program because they don’t need assistance and they’ve found work, or are they facing barriers that are forcing them off the program?” Cole asked. “We think the latter is true, because it doesn’t match up with what we’re seeing in our lines.”
Aside from changes to eligibility, Forester said many Texas families with mixed immigration status have stopped trying to obtain benefits for fear of drawing too much government scrutiny. The paperwork required as part of applications could be another factor.
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Food banks step up
Food banks around Texas have reported higher demand for services, Cole said. In North Texas too, local pantries have experienced more community members needing help, said Elizabeth Vela, social services assistance team manager at North Texas Food Bank. Annual charitable meal distribution increased from 116 million to 119 million meals between July 2024 and June 2026.
D-FW organizations have also received more donations from neighbors recently, Vela said. Many local pantries are considering changing hours or using “Amazon locker” style drop-offs to adjust to demand.
For now, North Texas Food Bank has the capacity to meet increasing demand, according to Jeff Smith, the organization’s communications director. But private charitable meal donations were never meant to supplant a program like SNAP, he said.
For now, more families are having to choose between food and other necessities.
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“It’s really just making those tough decisions in that moment,” Vela said. “And finding what’s going to best fit their need.”
Community members who need food assistance can visit ntfb.org/food-assistance/ for information on nearby pantries and mobile food delivery services.
