WHY FOOD STAMPS MATTER!

• There are millions of hunger Americans. 
• Hunger has adverse consequences for all Americans, but particularly for children and mothers.  It impedes growth and development, is a significant predictor of adverse health conditions, and is associated with behavior problems among preschoolers and school-age children.
• The Food Stamp Program is efficiently targeted to reach people who have the most difficulty affording an adequate diet. 
• Over 95% of the benefits go to households with incomes below the poverty level; nearly all of the remaining beneficiaries are elderly or disabled.
• Food Stamp Program error rates (overpayments and underpayments) have declined and are at an all-time low, which is an extraordinary accomplishment for a program administered by thousands of eligibility workers in state and local offices across the country.
• Food Stamp benefits are provided in the form of an electronic benefit card that is used in supermarket checkout lines only for the purchase of food.
• Food Stamps benefit farmers, the food industry, and the economy.
• USDA estimates that each $1 billion of retail demand by food stamps generates $340 million in farm production, $110 million in farm value-added, and 3,300 farm jobs; and each $5 of food stamps generates almost $10 in total economic activity.
• Changes in food stamp policy have significant impacts on economic activity and household income across the economy.
• Food stamp participation closely follows the economic cycle - closely tracked with the unemployment rate, rising as unemployment rises, and falling when it declines.
• The Food Stamp Program helps individuals and communities hit by disasters ... when natural or man-made disasters hit the Food Stamp Program provides timely, cortical resources to help people cope, and is an important ingredient for physical and economic recovery.
• Food Stamps help low-wage workers make ends meet and assure that families are financially better off working than on welfare. 
• Food Stamps promote self-sufficeince.   For every additional dollar a food stamp recipient earns, his or here benefits decline by 24-36 cents, thus providing a strong incentive to work longer hours and search for better employment opportunities.
• Over half of all food stamp recipients are children and another quarter are elderly or disabled persons.  Of the five percent of all food stamp recipients neither working nor subject to a work requirement, half are caring for a young child.

FEDERAL FOOD STAMP RULES

The Federal government is responsible for virtually all of the rules that govern the Food Stamp Program, and, with limited variations, these rules are nationally uniform, as are the benefit levels.  The State of Colorado, through their State and County Department of Human Services, have primary responsibility for the day-to-day administration of the program.  They de terming eligibility, calculate benefits, and issue food stamp allotments.  The Food Stamp Act provides 100% federal funding for food stamp benefits.  States have responsibility for about half of the cost of state and local food stamp agency administration and enrollment.

SETTLEMENT REACHED OVER STATE'S BENEFITS MANAGEMENT PROGRAM (CBMS)
Plaintiffs and defendants agreed in December 2007 on a settlement in the CBMS class-action lawsuit over a flawed state computer system that forced thousands of social services clients to wait months for benefits. Shortly after its startup in the fall of 2004, the CBMS ran into problems such as cutting off benefits to thousands of people and mistakenly denying food stamps and medical assistance. The most important features of the settlement are:

• The Department of Human Services and the Department of Health Care Policy and Financing reaffirm their obligation to timely and accurately process Food stamp, Medicaid, Child Health Plan + and Colorado Works applications and redeterminations
• Collections and overpayments attributable to payments prior to June 1, 2006, due to CBMS, will be stopped.
• Department shall maintain customer assistance hot lines plus keep a log and if systemic problems are identified, identify what steps have been taken to fix.  Counties will provide reasonable telephone access, department will monitor and make sure it happens.
• Benefits are to be restored to clients or paid to third parties where wrongfully denied or reduced due to CBMS.

CLIENTS HELP IDENTIFY BARRIERS TO ACCESSING FOOD STAMPS

• Unaware of the Food Stamp Program benefits
• Getting to the Food Stamp office, due to lack of transportation, work, disability, etc.
• Need to return for interview or documentation
• Fear or reluctance to work with county employees
• Misinformation
• Application inaccessible or too complicated
• Application confusing
• Lack of supporting documentation
• Interview difficult to schedule and complete
• Finger imaging intimidating
• Not worth it - benefits too low especially considering difficulty in applying for the program
• Immigration issues and concerns
• County customer service
• Made to feel bad about asking for assistance
• Language barriers
• Homeless and mental health barriers

PARTICIPATION RATES

One important measure of a  program's performance is its ability to reach its target population.  According to USDA (October 2007):

• 450,000 people in Colorado were eligible for Food Stamps
• Only 54% participated in the Food Stamp Program
• Nationally, 65% of all eligible people participated in the Food Stamp Program
• Only 34% of the "working poor" in Colorado participated in the Food Stamp Program
• Nationally 57% of eligible "working poor" participated in the Food Stamp Program
• The "working poor" are defined as people whoa re eligible for food stamps and live in a household in which a member earns money from a job. 

A study conduced the the Food Research and Action Center (FRAC) in October 2007, a leading national hunger relief organization, found that more than $48 million in food stamp benefits have gone unclaimed by low-income Denver residents and that less than half of those eligible to participate in the program actually do so.  Such underparticipation in the Food Stamp Program adversely affects not only low-income people who are missing out on benefits but also communities that could be benefiting from more federal dollars circulating in the local economy.

MORE CAN BE DONE TO CONNECT ELIGIBLE PEOPLE WITH BENEFITS. 

• AT THE FEDERAL LEVEL FOOD STAMPS MUST REMAIN A FEDERAL ENTITLEMENT PROGRAM.
• AT THE STATE LEVEL, FOOD STAMP AGENCIES CAN MAKE IT EASIER FOR HOUSEHOLDS TO SIGN UP, INCLUDING ALLOWING THEM TO APPLY OVER THE TELEPHONE AND ON THE INTERNET AND ENCOURAGE PARTNERSHIPS WITH COMMUNITY GROUPS TO PROMOTE PARTIICPAITON AND IMPROVE CONSUMER ACCESS.
• AT THE COMMUNITY LEVEL, BROAD COALITIONS OF STAKEHOLDERS SHOULD CONTINUE WORKING TOGETHER TO ASSESS BARRIERS AND CREATE OUTREACH PROJECTS THAT CAN GET APPLICATION INFORMATION TO PEOPLE WHERE THEY WORK, GO TO SCHOOL, SEEK HEALTH CARE, AND SHOP.  MANY FARMERS MARKETS ARE NOW ACCEPTING FOOD STAMP CARDS, INCREASING ACCESS TO NUTRITIOUS FRESH PRODUCE AND HELPING TO SUPPORT LOCAL AGRICULTGURE. 
• AT THE INDIVIUDAL LEVEL, WE SHOULD CONTINUE TO LOOK OUT FOR ONE ANOTHER.  INDIVIUDALS CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE BY SHARING INFORMATION ON FOOD STAMPS AND OTHER NUTRITION PROGRAMS WITH FRIENDS AND FAMILIES.