Is it any wonder that enrollment is up... (my highlighting)
The Safety Net - Once Stigmatized, Food Stamps Find New Acceptance - Series - NYTimes.com
excerpt:
Juan Diego Castro, 24, is a
college graduate and Americorps volunteer whose immigrant parents warned him not to be a burden on this country. He has a monthly stipend of about $2,500 and initially thought food stamps should go to needier people, like the tenants he organizes. My concern was if Im taking food stamps and I have a job, is it morally correct? he said.
But federal law eases eligibility for Americorps members, and a food bank worker urged him and fellow volunteers to apply,
arguing that there was enough aid to go around and that use would demonstrate continuing need. That meeting definitely turned us around, Mr. Castro said.
or this one...
A decade ago, New York City officials were so reluctant to give out food stamps, they made people register one day and return the next just to get an application. The welfare commissioner said the program caused dependency and the poor were better off without it. Now
the city urges the needy to seek aid (in languages from Albanian to Yiddish). Neighborhood groups recruit clients at churches and grocery stores, with materials that all but proclaim a civic duty to apply to help New York farmers, grocers, and businesses. There is even a program on Rikers Island to enroll inmates leaving the jail.
Applying for food stamps is easier than ever, city posters say.
These changes, combined with soaring unemployment, have pushed enrollment to record highs, with one in eight Americans now getting aid. Ive seen a remarkable shift, said Senator Richard G. Lugar, an Indiana Republican and prominent food stamp supporter. People now see that its necessary to have a strong food stamp program.
The program has commercial allies, in farmers and grocery stores, and it got an unexpected boost from President George W. Bush, whose food stamp administrator, Eric Bost, proved an ardent supporter. I assure you, food stamps is not welfare, Mr. Bost said in a recent interview. Still, some critics see it as welfare in disguise and advocate more restraints.
The federal government now gives bonuses to states that enroll the most eligible people.
In 2008, the program got an upbeat new name: the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program SNAP.
Since Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg took office eight years ago, the rolls have doubled, to 1.6 million people
Albany made a parallel push to enroll the working poor, setting an explicit goal for caseload growth. This is all federal money it drives dollars to local economies, said Russell Sykes, a senior program official. But Mr. Turner, now a consultant in Milwaukee, warns that the aid encourages the poor to work less and therefore remain in need. Its going to be very difficult with large swaths of the lower middle class tasting the fruits of dependency to be weaned from this, he said.
