By Bill Zeeble, KERA News
http://stream.publicbroadcasting.net/production/mp3/kera/local-kera-889230.mp3
Dallas, TX – Texas has launched a pilot program designed to cut down on the long wait for food stamps. In our Monday Economy segment, KERA's Bill Zeeble talks to the North Texas Food Bank, one of the organizations testing the program that could more rapidly help those in need.
In some Dallas cases the wait to get the Lone Star food-stamp card stretched for months - in one case to 140 days. The federal government says the wait should take no longer than 30 days. That's a huge problem for people like Amber Sexton. The single mom with two young daughters lost her job in December.
Amber Sexton: Food was a primary thing at the time, because you know, didn't have any money coming in so, you know, just the girls saying "I'm hungry, what am I going to eat?" It's just kind of hard telling them "I don't know."
The immediate solution for Sexton and thousands of other families waiting for their Lone Star card, is the local food pantry. She's at Metro Crest Social Services, in Carrollton. The longer she has to wait for food stamps, the tougher the burden on Metro Crest's supplier, the North Texas Food Bank.
In the bank's 84,000 square foot warehouse in southern Dallas, volunteers pack food supplies for Metro Crest and 1,100 other non-profit outlets. The food will eventually reach more than 60,000 families a week, according to the North Texas Food Bank's Chief Operating Officer, Paul Wunderlich. He says the food stamp backlog adds to that burden.
Paul Wunderlich, North Texas Food Bank COO: What it has done for us, is those 140 days that you mentioned, then require our food pantries to serve more to that particular family than they might normally. So that length of time to wait created more pressure on our food pantry system to feed folks.
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Wunderlich says the new pilot lets food bank workers formally interview food stamp applicants. Prior to an approved federal waiver requested by the state's Health and Human Services Commission, only an HHS person could do it.
Stephanie Goodman: So even if we had very complete information we had to call the person back and recollect it.
Stephanie Goodman is with the Texas Health and Human Services Commission. She says now, that newly trained, approved food bank worker will conduct then hand the interview over to the state.
Stephanie Goodman: It's the state worker who processes the application but we think that's going to help the process go much faster for folks who apply.
The state's four largest food banks - in Dallas, Fort Worth, Houston, and San Antonio - are piloting this program: the first of its kind in the country. That's a relief for Amber Sexton. She recently applied for food stamps, after learning about it by calling the state's free 2-1-1 help number.
Amber Sexton: It's been a week and a half since I had come up here and recently applied, and so hopefully, since it's a lot quicker process, hopefully I'll be getting it a lot faster now.
Camilla Zimbal works at Metro Crest. She's already noticed improvements.
Camilla Zimbal: I've seen the difference in how long it takes our clients to get on the food stamps. It's definitely decreased significantly. To go down from 10 weeks to 2 weeks is, is crucial.
The $3.5 million pilot program will be tested for 2 years. If successful, it'll spread statewide, and could also go national.
Anyone needing food assistance or food stamps can get more information by visiting KERA.org/economy
Additional Links:
Dallas Health & Human Services