More than 3,000 blind, disabled and low-income seniors in Snohomish County who were on food stamps last year will soon get a small bonus – up to $68 to buy food.
“It’s for that population that anything they get helps,” said Greta Kaas-Lent, a regional administrator for the state Department of Social and Health Services.
| Seniors who receive a letter from the state about the food stamp program may call local offices of the Department of Social and Health Services for more information:
* Alderwood, 425-438-4974 * Arlington, 425-438-4973 * Everett, 425-438-4971 * Monroe, 425-438-4972 The Northwest Justice Project also has a hotline to help seniors 60 and older, 888-201-1014. |
The money is the result of a lawsuit filed by Columbia Legal Services affecting about 41,500 seniors statewide who last year participated in the food program, known as the Washington State Combined Application Program.
The program was established in 2001 to consolidate federal and state applications for food assistance and get more food to eligible people, according to DSHS officials.
To comply with federal requirements that the new program not cost more money, DSHS officials said they cut the benefit in January 2005 by $17 per client per month.
Columbia Legal Services, which provides legal assistance to low-income people in the state, challenged the decision. Following a ruling by a Thurston County Superior Court judge, clients will receive an additional $17 for each month they participated in the program when the reduced benefits were in effect, which was January through April 2005.
The money will automatically be added to the electronic benefit card that has replaced food stamps. The total benefit seniors can receive through the food program depends on their income and other factors, Kaas-Lent said.
Those now in the Washington State Combined Application Program may get more benefits under another program, Basic Food, but they must apply for the change by Feb. 23, said Amy Crewdson, an attorney with Columbia Legal Services.
About 12,000 seniors statewide could do better under the regular food stamp program, she said. However, people must call DSHS to make the change. As soon as letters were sent to seniors telling them about the bonus, DSHS phone lines were jammed.
That changed last week, she said. People who may have been discouraged from calling because the line was busy should call again, Crewdson said.
Seniors can request a telephone interview to make the change, she said.
Anyone on Supplemental Security Income, a program of Social Security, automatically qualifies for food stamps, Crewdson said.
“It’s a question of getting hooked up with DSHS,” she said.
Reporter Sharon Salyer: 425-339-3486 or salyer@heraldnet.com.
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