Posted: Monday, December 8, 2008 12:00 am
Food stamp offices around Oregon will get 60 more workers to handle an increasing number of applicants, the state Department of Human Services says.
Currently 258,600 households - or about 499,000 individuals - receive food stamps in Oregon. That's about 13 percent of the population.
In Salem Friday, the legislative Emergency Board approved a request from Gov. Ted Kulongoski to immediately hire new workers throughout the state to meet the increasing demand for food stamps.
In the mid-valley, food stamps are handled by the "self sufficiency" sections at the DHS offices in Albany, Lebanon and Corvallis.
Need for the stamps has grown 13 percent in Oregon since October 2007, and in some communities the increase is as high as 25 percent, according to the state.
The new positions will be targeted to the communities that have shown the greatest increase in applications. Funding comes from two bonuses Oregon received from the federal government for exceptional administration of the food stamp program.
As approved by the Emergency Board, DHS will spend $3.1 million of the $3.6 million bonus to hire the added staff. The other $500,000 will go to groups such as the Oregon Food Bank and the Oregon Hunger Relief Task Force to improve outreach and service delivery to seniors and rural residents.
"These new positions will be welcome relief for clients who have had to wait too long for benefits and for staff who have been overwhelmed by the increased need," said Erinn Kelley-Siel, interim assistant director of the Children, Adults and Families Division.
Food stamp benefits are determined on a sliding scale, from $14 to $463 per month for a family of three.
Democrat-Herald