State agency sees spike in numbers using food stamps

By Daniel J. Chacon, Rocky Mountain News (Contact)

Published December 1, 2008 at 12:05 a.m.

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Photo by Dennis Schroeder / The Rocky

Pam Kirk sits in her Denver apartment on Friday. She recently fell on hard times and had to apply for food stamps, something the mother of two grown children has never had to do before. She was injured in a car accident and recently got a part-time job.

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The number of Colorado families relying on food stamps to put food on the table has risen sharply this year, a clear indicator of a troubled economy.

The state Department of Human Services said 30,000 more households statewide received food stamps in the federal fiscal year that ended in September than in the previous fiscal year.

The spike mirrors a nationwide trend. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, an additional 2.5 million people were getting food stamps this year than last year, a nearly 10 percent increase.

Of the 29.5 million Americans on food stamps, more than half are children, said Jean Daniel, a spokeswoman for the USDA's Food and Nutrition Service.

"People are in great distress," Daniel said Friday. "A little bit of the good news is that we have these programs to help people get through rough times."

Local human services agencies say that their caseloads have increased dramatically and that many people asking for food stamps have never asked before.

"It's been a rough year," said Marsha Ellis, a human resources division manager in Larimer County, where the number of food stamp cases in October ballooned 22 percent over the same month in 2007.

Other cities and counties also posted double-digit increases:

"Families that used to be able to make ends meet before" can't anymore, said Nichole Parmelly, a human services spokeswoman.

"That's forcing them to try to come up with alternatives to pay the bills," she said. "Or they're able to pay the bills, but then they've got nothing left for food."

Adams County handled 636 more food stamp cases this October over the same month a year earlier.

"An awful lot of people right now have had their work hours reduced, have been laid off, are unemployed with no work, or are unable to work," said Mark Tandberg, social services director for Adams County.

"Folks are struggling to keep food on the table," he said.

Sometimes, they struggle to get food stamps, too.

Some of Colorado's social services agencies have come under fire in recent years for taking too long to process applicants' paperwork, violating federal protocols.

"We're still not where we need to be, but we are doing better," said Liz McDonough, a spokeswoman for the state's Department of Human Services.

"Part of the reason is counties are now doing interviews over the phone, and that's helping with the processing time," she said.

Ed Kahn, special counsel for the Colorado Center on Law & Policy, sued the state DHS more than four years ago for taking too long to process food stamp applications. He said human service agencies have done a slightly better job this year, but roughly 2,000 people a month are still not getting their benefits approved within the required 30-day period ordered by a judge last December. He said he's considering whether to take the state back to court.

Given the economic troubles and growing need for aid, "It's unconscionable that they haven't made enough improvement in this problem," said Kahn.

Benilda "Benny" Samuels, a spokeswoman for Denver's human services agency, said the city strives to process paperwork quickly, especially for people who need food stamps immediately.

"In October of this year, we approved 1,796 expedited food stamp cases, 392 more cases than the previous month," she said.

Economist Patty Silverstein said several factors could be hitting people who need food stamps, but the price of gas, even though it's come down recently, has had a lingering effect.

"Oftentimes, many goods and services that are impacted by the rising price of energy, once those prices go up, it's hard to pull them back down," said Silverstein, president of Development Research Partners and consulting chief economist for the Metro Denver Economic Development Corp.

"The higher food prices can still be taking a larger bite out of those household budgets," she said.

Silverstein said the economic woes will probably continue.

"Our expectation is that economic conditions in metro Denver and in Colorado, while we are performing at levels higher than the nation, will still be constrained for another six to nine months," she said.

Do you qualify for help buying food?

About one-third of people who are eligible for the federal Food Stamp Program, now called the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, don't participate.

* Information line: 1-800-221-5689

Some helpful links:

* Human services agencies in your area: www.cdhs.state.co.us/ servicebycounty.htm

* Pre-screening eligibility Web site: www.snap-step1.usda.gov/ fns/

Recipients by county

Colorado counties are seeing their food stamp recipients increase as the economy struggles. Counties saw the following increases in October over October 2007 levels:

* Adams County had a 7 percent increase.

* Arapahoe County saw a 26 percent increase in recipients.

* In Boulder County, the number of people on food stamps grew by 14 percent.

* In Denver, the number of people on food stamps rose 22 percent.

* Douglas County saw a nearly 28 percent increase.

* El Paso County's caseload ballooned 21 percent.

* Weld County's caseload grew nearly 16 percent.

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