PHOENIX – For Ivone Rubio, a single mother of five in Arizona, her paycheck is the main source of support for her family.

In her home, where money barely stretches from month to month, receiving government assistance to buy groceries through the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program has been a lifeline.

“It really helps a lot,” she said. “Especially now that everything is so expensive – we really need it.”

Rubio is among the more than 850,000 people in Arizona who have been affected by the delay and projected reduction in SNAP benefits this month.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture announced Monday it will issue only partial SNAP payments in November, following federal court orders requiring the agency to continue providing food assistance to millions of families who were set to l

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