SAVANNAH, Ga. (WTOC) -The government shutdown is creating an unexpected crisis for foster care families across the Southeast as cuts to SNAP benefits threaten to separate parents from their children.

Brightside Child and Family Advocacy is warning that SNAP benefit cuts threaten foster care reunions, saying parents will face an impossible choice between food or shelter for their children.

Kate Blair, executive director of Brightside Child and Family Advocacy, said one family she knows receives around $1,000 in SNAP benefits for five children as a single mother.

“Without those SNAP benefits, she’s going to be forced to choose between food or a shelter for her children,” Blair said.

Blair leads the organization that serves children in foster care in Chatham County and surrounding areas.

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