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food stamp lines grow CITY SERVING MORE PEOPLE

Rising food stamp demands tax area departments of social services

BY AMY FLOWERS UMBLE

Date published: 2/27/2009

BY AMY FLOWERS UMBLE

As the economy continues to slide, the newly poor continue to wait in lines at Virginia's departments of social services.

Last month, departments across the state served 8,522 more food stamp clients than in December.

Throw in hiring freezes at Fredericksburg-area social services offices, and the result is frazzled eligibility workers, cramped waiting rooms and frustrated prospective clients.

Some social services directors estimate that nearly half the people who walk through the door don't qualify for food stamps because of vehicles or bank accounts they own. So eligibility staff received requests from many more people than the nearly 9,000 added to the rolls in January alone.

"They've been lifelong taxpayers, and now they need help, and they can't get it," said Michael Muse, director of Stafford County's Department of Social Services. "People want to vent their frustrations at someone, and we're the face of the system."

Muse emphasized that the pain is greater for the person coming in for help. But eligibility workers feel the strain of dealing with families new to the system, turning down desperate people and working with burgeoning caseloads.

Muse's department is down three eligibility workers--staff who left but weren't replaced because of a county hiring freeze.

Stafford officials approved replacing two of the staffers. But a third position would remain vacant, even as 30 percent more people apply for benefits.

"That's extremely significant, especially when you're trying to get the job done, in some ways, with not as many resources," Muse said.

His staff added more chairs to the department's waiting room in the government complex off Courthouse Road. At times, the crowd in the lobby swells to standing room only.

Across the state, crowded social services offices are not uncommon. In some departments, lines snake around the buildings. And some staff now work weekends to accommodate larger workloads.

"As the economy drops, other [governmental] departments have a slowdown," said Janine Sewell, director of Fredericksburg's Department of Social Services. "We have an increase."

National social-work caseload recommendations suggest her department should have nearly 20 eligibility positions, about eight more than the city has.

Social workers and department directors are still waiting to see how the federal stimulus package will affect the numbers.

The bill includes $20 billion for food stamps, which will increase benefits and lengthen the amount of time clients can receive aid. It shouldn't directly increase the number of applicants, but experts expect the continuing recession to bring more people through social services' doors.

The economic recovery package does include $290.5 million for administrative funds. Virginia should get $5.3 million of that as early as April.

The money is supposed to mitigate the impact of rising caseloads.

Directors are eager to see how much the money will help, as more people seek help.

"These numbers are unheard-of, really," Muse said.

Amy Flowers Umble: 540/735-1973
Email: aumble@freelancestar.com

Given the swell of people waiting for food stamps, it's hard to believe that at this time last year, social services officials worried about a lack of applications. In Virginia, nearly half of those who qualified for food stamps had applied for them. Some didn't know they qualified; others struggled to get through the application process. Fredericksburg already had a higher participation rate than the state--65 percent. But officials wanted to improve that. Social workers teamed up with the Fredericksburg Area Food Bank to help the area's needy fill out the 14-page application for food stamps. Participation rose to 73 percent, and the city's social services department received the USDA's 2008 Food Stamp Hunger Champions Award. --Amy Flowers Umble

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Date published: 2/27/2009

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