An increase in food stamp use is giving needy residents access to a basic necessity but county officials say the program benefits the entire county by directing dollars back into local coffers.

The greater demand for the program, however, will create greater demands on it, said Human Service Agency Spokeswoman Amanda Kim.

Office lobbies are more crowded and both wait and processing times are longer, Kim said.

The law requires food stamp applications to be processed within 30 days although San Mateo County’s goal is a week. Those timelines are stretching out, leaving the needy to seek immediate food access in other locales such as Second Harvest Food Bank.

Despite the added need, Kim said the increase in users is a boon to the local economy. A recent report by Beacon Economics found that every $1 spent by a food stamp participant actually multiplies into $1.37 for the economy. In the last year alone, county residents received $15.6 million in food stamps help which translated into a net benefit to the economy of more than $21.4 million.

Food stamp numbers were once a cause of concern in San Mateo County but have risen steadily in the last year. As of a January update by HSA, use jumped 28 percent since the previous June when more than half the county’s 18,588 eligible residents were not enrolled. The rate dropped to approximately 30 percent.

Another way of looking at it, according to Kim, is that the 857 applicants in March 2008 has swelled to 1,310 in March 2009.

The increase in users has been attributed to HSA efforts to educate and enroll. After the economy fell, need grew even further.

Although the increase taxes the administration more, Kim said the program “fits in so well with our overall mission.”

Food stamps are losing some stigma with the use of electronic benefits cards and helps people not “have to make that terrible choice between a rent payment and a healthy meal,” said Elsa Dawson, director of economic self-sufficiency programs for HSA.

For more information on the food stamp program or Second Harvest food connections call (800) 984-FOOD (3663).

Michelle Durand can be reached by e-mail: michelle@smdailyjournal.com or by phone: (650) 344-5200 ext. 102.  

Info box:

Food Stamp eligibility:

To get food stamps, households must meet certain tests for resources, income, deductions, employment and immigrant status. Visit the Web site for specifics, exemptions and details but a basic overview includes:

• Households may have $2,000 in countable resources, such as a bank account. Households may have $3,000 if at least one person is age 60 or older, or disabled.

• A household with an elderly or disabled member may have up to $3,000 in resources. A household without an elderly or disabled person may have up to $2,000 in resources. Some resources are not counted, such as a home and lot and up to $4,650 of the fair market value of one car per adult household member (and one car per teen-aged household member if the teenager is using it to go to work, look for work or prepare for work).

• A household of four people must have less than $2,238 in gross monthly income or $1,721 in net monthly income.

• With some exceptions, able-bodied adults between 16 and 60 must register for work, accept suitable employment and take part in an employment and training program to which they are referred by the food stamp office. Failure to comply with these requirements can result in disqualification from the Program. Able-bodied adults between 18 and 50 without dependent children can get food stamps only for three months in a 36-month period if they do not work or participate in an employment and training program other than job search.

• Normally a household must file an application form, have a face-to-face interview and provide proof (verification) of certain information, such as income and expenses. The office interview may be waived if the household is unable to appoint an authorized representative and no household member is able to go to the food stamp office because of age or disability. If the office interview is waived, the food stamp office will conduct a phone interview or a home visit. A home visit must be scheduled beforehand with the household.

• Everyone who lives together and purchases and prepares meals together is grouped together as one household. However, if a person is 60 years of age or older and he or she is unable to purchase and prepare meals separately because of a permanent disability, the person and the person’s spouse may be considered separately.