19% now need food aid in Guilford
Call it what you want, across North Carolina and the Triad growing numbers of financially strapped residents call the program a necessity.
In fact, the state logged one of the nation’s highest growth rates during the last year for residents getting benefits through the program, which maxes out at $200 a month for individuals and $668 for a family of four.
Roughly 90,000 Guilford County residents live in households receiving FNS support, said Steve Hayes, assistant director of the county Department of Social Services.
“That means approximately 19 percent of (Guilford) residents are getting food stamps,” Hayes said. “We have a lot of folks who work. There are a lot of them working really hard and just not making enough to meet the needs of their family.”
Figures released in May by the U.S. Department of Agriculture ranked North Carolina among the top four states, with a growth rate of 20 percent during the preceding year.
Guilford County mirrored the trend as did the other Triad counties, though the growth rate slackened to about 15 percent in July compared with July 2010.
The average monthly assistance in Guilford is $270 a month, $6 above the statewide average. The median for both Guilford and the state is $200, meaning that 50 percent of recipients get less than that.
Hayes and others cited the persistent recession as a driving force behind the increased numbers. One source of new applicants is the expiration of unemployment benefits for people who were laid off many months ago, said Larry Johnson, director of Rockingham County’s DSS.
“A lot of folks were trying to make it on that,” Johnson said of unemployment compensation. “And FNS is often the first benefit people reach out for.”
Rockingham’s FNS levels scaled unprecedented heights in July, said Debbie McGuire, assistant director for economic services in that county’s DSS. The county had about 18,000 people living in 8,265 households that received a total $2.1 million in food assistance.
“A record in all three areas,” McGuire said, referring to July’s totals for FNS households, their residents and total benefits. “We’ve never had numbers that high.”
All of the money distributed in North Carolina comes from federal coffers, said Dean Simpson who leads the state Division of Social Services’ economic services office in Raleigh.
“The only county or state dollars involved are in administering the program,” Simpson said.
The amount of federal FNS money distributed across North Carolina added up to a staggering $2.3 billion during the last 12 months, offering some insight into the challenges the federal government faces in battling the deficit during a prolonged economic downturn.
Part of the so-called “welfare” safety net, food stamps became a lightning rod for criticism in the waning decades of the 20th century until the program was heavily reformed in the mid-1990s. Under program rules, the money must be spent on food. No cigarettes or alcoholic beverages, no toiletries, no paper supplies and no household cleaning products.
Stamps aren’t part of the deal any more. Residents receive an “electronic benefit transfer” card they use at checkout like a debit card. The card is automatically reloaded each month with the specified amount for each household.
County officials encourage recipients to buy such healthful items as dairy goods and fresh fruit or produce, but they also understand that pre-packaged food usually lasts longer and may feed more mouths per dollar, McGuire said.
“They face a dilemma: Do they make a healthy choice for their family or stretch the food dollar as far as possible?” she said.
To apply for FNS benefits, a single person must earn a net income no higher than $10,836 a year for consideration in the most readily approved category. Greater income is allowed, but legitimate monthly expenses must bring reserves down to the point that an applicant can’t afford adequate food.
Social-service screeners make those calculations by deducting reasonable amounts for rent, electricity, other utilities and such additional needs as day care for children of working mothers, Hayes said.
“The vast majority of the households are female-headed, so women do benefit more from these programs,” he said.
Whenever FNS is publicized, Hayes said, critics assert the program is a boondoggle because they know recipients who they believe should not be receiving help. Local officials investigate vigorously, but many times the problem turns out to be a misunderstanding in which the person getting benefits has some legitimate need or special circumstance the critic didn’t know about, Hayes said.
Except for elderly people living on fixed incomes, the agency reconsiders the eligibility of households receiving FNS benefits every six months, Hayes said. Elderly recipients whose income is unlikely to change significantly are re-evaluated less frequently, he said.
Some people apply for the program without sweating it. But many think long and hard before seeking help from FNS because of the perceived stigma, Hayes said.
“I couldn’t tell you the number of times I’ve heard a citizen say, 'I just never thought I would find myself here,’ ” he said. “But that’s what we’re here for.”
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