Thursday, August 11, 2005
Pennsylvania Food Stamp Program: CAP Project
Posted on Wed, Aug. 10, 2005, Philadelphia Inquirer
Seniors get help with food stamp application
The daunting form is among the reasons many older people do not apply. A new program can streamline the process. By Kathy Boccella Inquirer Staff Writer
Oscar Benevento, 87, is barely able to put food on the table, but like many people his age, he doesn't want to bother with food stamps.
"Too many questions," he said of the application form, which he tried filling out once. "It was disgusting."
For these stalwarts of the Great Depression and World War II, taking a handout does not come easy - and neither is going through the cumbersome application process.
Filling out a 10-page form, renewing it every six months, going to an in-office interview "is a problem for some people," said Myra Kodner, who does food stamp outreach for Montgomery County.
But a new program aimed at streamlining the application process should help some elderly residents in Pennsylvania and New Jersey. The change is part of a larger effort funded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture that targets needy seniors - the least likely to accept food stamps.
Only 29 percent of eligible seniors nationwide got food stamps - actually a debit card - compared with 60 percent of those eligible in the general population in 2002, the last year for which data are available.
In Pennsylvania, the rate is 31 percent, but locally, the figures could be much lower. A 2004 survey by Philadelphia Health Management Corp., which used slightly different income and age criteria from the federal government's, said that just 13.5 percent of eligible seniors used food stamps in the region.
Beginning in November in Pennsylvania and January in New Jersey, low-income seniors and disabled people who live alone and receive Supplemental Security Income (SSI) will be able to file a simplified application for food stamps at local Social Security offices.
"We know that people on SSI are generally eligible" for food stamps, said Ed Zogby of the Pennsylvania Department of Public Welfare. "Our computers will match the information."
The partnership, called CAP, for Combined Application Project, operates in six other states and has had dramatic results. In South Carolina, the percentage of SSI recipients getting food stamps jumped 12 percent in four years after the program was implemented, according to Zogby.
"It's gone a long way in helping" the elderly get the help they need, said Jean Daniel, spokeswoman for the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
And more changes could be on the way.
The USDA earlier this month released a report showing that three pilot programs operating as county demonstrations in six states raised senior participation in the food stamp program by 20 to 35 percent. The models reduced time spent applying for food stamps, provided help with the application, and offered the seniors the option of accepting food instead of food stamps.
Benevento, a retired real estate agent and developer who lost everything in the 1970s when mortgage rates zoomed to 22 percent, now lives alone in a subsidized apartment in Royersford. Having to apply for food stamps was "degrading" and an ordeal, he said.
With an income of $360 from Social Security and $340 from a pension, "I certainly did qualify, but I said the hell with it," he said.
Instead, he eases the strain by lining up for free bags of groceries at a community center once a week. That, too, is an embarrassment. "I go for the freebies. What a disgrace," he said, walking home from the cupboard with his free food.
Experts say the most likely reason for the lack of participation was the stigma associated with taking a government handout, though lack of information and a cumbersome application process are also factors.
"They don't like to ask for help," said Karen Wilson, executive director of the Greater Philadelphia Coalition Against Hunger, which has targeted seniors with an outreach campaign.
Kodner said that while many people don't know that they are eligible - net income for a single person cannot exceed $776 a month - others want nothing to do with the program.
"The applications are difficult to understand. It's hard for highly literate people to understand."
Others are reluctant to go through a cumbersome process if they think they are going to get the minimum, $10 a month. The USDA says about 44 percent of seniors receive the minimum payment.
But Annie Beckwith, a 65-year-old grandmother from West Philadelphia, said that the $10 she receives goes toward buying the kind of healthy - and expensive - foods that help control her diabetes.
"I save it for a few months and buy some salmon from the Acme market," she said.
Beckwith, who pays $186 for a studio apartment from a $600 monthly income, didn't know she was eligible for food stamps until a volunteer at a food cupboard told her.
It's been a big help, she said, especially since she has to watch what she eats and the food that she gets for free is not always good for her diet.
Wilson, a nutritionist, couldn't agree more. "We all end up paying a lot more if people develop diabetes, hypertension and cardiovascular disease and then they don't have the money to buy the foods they need to control those diseases," she said.
But reaching people such as Beckwith is a challenge for Kodner and others. At the community center in Royersford on a recent afternoon, more people brushed by than stopped to listen.
Eleanor Kutereach, 77, was interested but unsure whether she qualified.
To get food stamps, two people must have less than $1,041 in monthly income. Certain expenses, like housing, child support, medical bills or child care, are deductible.
What she did know was that with her husband disabled from a stroke and medical bills to pay, "it's rough for us."
Kodner gave Kutereach her card and told her to call for help with the application. She said of the application process: "It's information overload."
Contact Inquirer staff writer Kathy Boccella at kboccella@phillynews.com or 610-313-8123.
Seniors get help with food stamp application
The daunting form is among the reasons many older people do not apply. A new program can streamline the process. By Kathy Boccella Inquirer Staff Writer
Oscar Benevento, 87, is barely able to put food on the table, but like many people his age, he doesn't want to bother with food stamps.
"Too many questions," he said of the application form, which he tried filling out once. "It was disgusting."
For these stalwarts of the Great Depression and World War II, taking a handout does not come easy - and neither is going through the cumbersome application process.
Filling out a 10-page form, renewing it every six months, going to an in-office interview "is a problem for some people," said Myra Kodner, who does food stamp outreach for Montgomery County.
But a new program aimed at streamlining the application process should help some elderly residents in Pennsylvania and New Jersey. The change is part of a larger effort funded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture that targets needy seniors - the least likely to accept food stamps.
Only 29 percent of eligible seniors nationwide got food stamps - actually a debit card - compared with 60 percent of those eligible in the general population in 2002, the last year for which data are available.
In Pennsylvania, the rate is 31 percent, but locally, the figures could be much lower. A 2004 survey by Philadelphia Health Management Corp., which used slightly different income and age criteria from the federal government's, said that just 13.5 percent of eligible seniors used food stamps in the region.
Beginning in November in Pennsylvania and January in New Jersey, low-income seniors and disabled people who live alone and receive Supplemental Security Income (SSI) will be able to file a simplified application for food stamps at local Social Security offices.
"We know that people on SSI are generally eligible" for food stamps, said Ed Zogby of the Pennsylvania Department of Public Welfare. "Our computers will match the information."
The partnership, called CAP, for Combined Application Project, operates in six other states and has had dramatic results. In South Carolina, the percentage of SSI recipients getting food stamps jumped 12 percent in four years after the program was implemented, according to Zogby.
"It's gone a long way in helping" the elderly get the help they need, said Jean Daniel, spokeswoman for the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
And more changes could be on the way.
The USDA earlier this month released a report showing that three pilot programs operating as county demonstrations in six states raised senior participation in the food stamp program by 20 to 35 percent. The models reduced time spent applying for food stamps, provided help with the application, and offered the seniors the option of accepting food instead of food stamps.
Benevento, a retired real estate agent and developer who lost everything in the 1970s when mortgage rates zoomed to 22 percent, now lives alone in a subsidized apartment in Royersford. Having to apply for food stamps was "degrading" and an ordeal, he said.
With an income of $360 from Social Security and $340 from a pension, "I certainly did qualify, but I said the hell with it," he said.
Instead, he eases the strain by lining up for free bags of groceries at a community center once a week. That, too, is an embarrassment. "I go for the freebies. What a disgrace," he said, walking home from the cupboard with his free food.
Experts say the most likely reason for the lack of participation was the stigma associated with taking a government handout, though lack of information and a cumbersome application process are also factors.
"They don't like to ask for help," said Karen Wilson, executive director of the Greater Philadelphia Coalition Against Hunger, which has targeted seniors with an outreach campaign.
Kodner said that while many people don't know that they are eligible - net income for a single person cannot exceed $776 a month - others want nothing to do with the program.
"The applications are difficult to understand. It's hard for highly literate people to understand."
Others are reluctant to go through a cumbersome process if they think they are going to get the minimum, $10 a month. The USDA says about 44 percent of seniors receive the minimum payment.
But Annie Beckwith, a 65-year-old grandmother from West Philadelphia, said that the $10 she receives goes toward buying the kind of healthy - and expensive - foods that help control her diabetes.
"I save it for a few months and buy some salmon from the Acme market," she said.
Beckwith, who pays $186 for a studio apartment from a $600 monthly income, didn't know she was eligible for food stamps until a volunteer at a food cupboard told her.
It's been a big help, she said, especially since she has to watch what she eats and the food that she gets for free is not always good for her diet.
Wilson, a nutritionist, couldn't agree more. "We all end up paying a lot more if people develop diabetes, hypertension and cardiovascular disease and then they don't have the money to buy the foods they need to control those diseases," she said.
But reaching people such as Beckwith is a challenge for Kodner and others. At the community center in Royersford on a recent afternoon, more people brushed by than stopped to listen.
Eleanor Kutereach, 77, was interested but unsure whether she qualified.
To get food stamps, two people must have less than $1,041 in monthly income. Certain expenses, like housing, child support, medical bills or child care, are deductible.
What she did know was that with her husband disabled from a stroke and medical bills to pay, "it's rough for us."
Kodner gave Kutereach her card and told her to call for help with the application. She said of the application process: "It's information overload."
Contact Inquirer staff writer Kathy Boccella at kboccella@phillynews.com or 610-313-8123.
