Demand For Food Stamps/Medicaid Increases

TELLURIDE – In another indication of local economic hardship generated by the national recession, the number of families receiving federal food stamp benefits increased by 33 percent in San Miguel County and 54 percent in Ouray County between January and December 2008.

The 51 San Miguel County families who began the year enrolled in the nation’s Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (formerly known as the Food Stamp Program prior to Oct. 2008) grew to 68 by the end of the 12-month period. Ouray County SNAP/Food Stamp households grew from 50 to 77 during the same period, according to Allan Gerstle, director of the Department of Social Services for both counties.

“It’s indicative of what’s going on throughout the state,” he said, adding that the demand has become so great that he has heard that the parking lots and lobbies of social services departments in other counties are at times filled to capacity.

The enrolled families make up slightly over two percent of the 3,015 households counted in San Miguel County during the most recent Census in 2000, and nearly five percent of the 1,576 households counted in Ouray County.

However, “I can’t say that we’ve never seen numbers like this,” Gerstle continued, adding that despite San Miguel County’s enrollment numbers more typically falling around 50 households, at one point in 2007 that number rose as high as 64.

“We are seeing people we’ve never seen before,” he added, noting in particular that some families that formerly earned two incomes have been spurred to seek government assistance in the wake of job loss by one of the earners.

Still, because qualification for the program (which is administered by state and local welfare agencies according to standards set by Congress and the U.S. Department of Agriculture) is based upon financial need as a percentage of the national poverty level and that level is generally not indexed to account for regional cost of living variations, it is entirely possible that some locals whose incomes have been reduced during this period may not qualify for the federal aid despite a genuine need.

Participating households may earn a net income of no more than 100 percent of the poverty level, which varies according to the size of the household. The maximum net income for a family of four residing in any of the lower 48 states or the District of Columbia in 2009 is $22,050, or $1,767 a month, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services website.

Those maximums are slightly higher in the states of Alaska and Hawaii where a four-person household may earn a monthly net income of $2,209 and $2,032, respectively.

“What’s poor in Telluride is different than what’s poor in Olathe,” said Gerstle, underscoring the cost of living difference between the two towns.

“A family of four might be able to live on $1,767 a month in Olathe; four people can’t live on that in Telluride,” he said.

According to statistics compiled by the Food Research and Action Center, a Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit anti-hunger and food insecurity organization, the number of people receiving SNAP/Food Stamps nationally grew from 26.3 million 29.5 million between April 2007 and August 2008.

Nationally, over 79 percent of those benefits go to households with children, and over half of food stamp recipients are children aged 17 and under. One-third of children enrolled in the program are under the age of five.

Twenty-seven percent of food stamp households contain at least one disabled person, and nearly 19 percent contain at least one elderly person.

In Colorado, which has fared slightly better than the national average in terms of unemployment, 118,268 households received food stamp benefits in October 2008, an 11.4 percent increase from October 2007, according to USDA statistics.

The state unemployment rate was 5.8 percent in November 2008, the most recent data available, according to the Colorado Department of Labor and Employment. Comparatively, the national unemployment rate in December increased from 6.8 to 7.2 percent to include 11.1 million people, the U.S. Department of Labor reported earlier this month.

While it outperformed the national rate, San Miguel County fared slightly worse than the rest of the state in reporting a 6.5 percent unemployment rate, according to CDLE statistics.

Ouray County reported a 4.5 percent unemployment rate during the same period.

Economists from the University of Colorado at Boulder, Leeds School of Business are projecting that statewide unemployment will grow to 6.4 percent in 2009 in the school’s 44th annual economic outlook report.

In San Miguel County in 2008 the number of individuals enrolled in Medicaid, which provides health care services to low-income families, elderly and disabled recipients, increased 17 percent from 219 in January to 257 in December, according to Gerstle.

In contrast, Ouray County saw its Medicaid roles increase by slightly over 1 percent from 159 individuals in January to 161 during the same month.

“Clearly the country is in crisis and Telluride is not immune,” said Gerstle, who said that the elevated number of phone calls and drop-ins his agency continues to receive suggests that the local need for social service benefits is unlikely to wane anytime soon.

“San Miguel County is not immune.”

“It used to be when someone walked into our office we’d tell them to look in the paper,” he said.

But these days a glance at the spare help-wanted classified sections can prove discouraging. Compared to the fat times of years past there are few job opportunities available.

“People are not hiring,” he said.