Pennsylvania to impose asset test for food stamps, By Alfred Lubrano, January 10, 2012, Philadelphia Inquirer: “Pennsylvania plans to make the amount of food stamps that people receive contingent on the assets they possess – an unexpected move that bucks national trends and places the commonwealth among a minority of states. Specifically, the Department of Public Welfare said that as of May 1, people under 60 with more than $2,000 in savings and other assets would no longer be eligible for food stamps. For people over 60, the limit would be $3,250. Houses and retirement benefits would be exempt from being counted as assets. If a person owns a car, that vehicle also would also be exempt, but any additional vehicle worth more than $4,650 would be considered a countable asset. Anne Bale, a spokeswoman for DPW, said the asset test was a way to ensure that ‘people with resources are not taking advantage of the food-stamp program,’ funded by federal money…”
Thousands in Philadelphia eligible for food assistance never sought it, group says, By Alfred Lubrano, January 5, 2012, Philadelphia Inquirer: “In hard times, it seems unthinkable that people would miss out on millions of dollars to which they’re entitled. But that’s precisely what’s been happening with food stamps in Philadelphia. An estimated 180,000 city residents who were eligible for food stamps in 2010 never enrolled in the program, known as the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, according to new calculations by the Greater Philadelphia Coalition Against Hunger. That’s up from 150,000 in 2008, according to coalition numbers, the latest available…”
State stops seeking refunds for overpaid welfare, By Marisa Lagos, January 10, 2012, San Francisco Chronicle: “The state will no longer allow counties to seek refunds from former welfare recipients who were minors when their caregivers were overpaid, officials announced in a partial win for advocates who had sued on behalf of the recipients last year. The announcement was welcome news for one of the plaintiffs in that suit, a 19-year-old Riverside County woman whose was being asked to repay $766 mistakenly given to her mother four years ago. But the other family named in the lawsuit, headed by Fresno County resident Clarence Ayers – who receives $334 a month to help raise his 14-year-old great-granddaughter, Irene – will still be on the hook, said attorney Patti Prunhuber. That’s because the state decided only to halt collections from former recipients, she said. In cases where the recipient is a minor who is still receiving welfare, county welfare agencies will be allowed to continue pursuing the debt, said Prunhuber. The Public Interest Law Project in Oakland, where she works, filed the suit in November…”
State will stop trying to recoup past erroneous food stamp overpayments to poor, By Catherine Candisky, December 21, 2011, Columbus Dispatch: “The state will no longer try to recoup food stamp overpayments made in error to poor families prior to Jan. 1, 2000. The announcement comes a month after Gov. John Kasich dumped efforts initiated by his predecessor to collect more than 10-year-old overpayments of cash assistance to former welfare recipients. State officials said the rationale for both policy changes is the same – they don’t want to create further hardship for vulnerable families by trying to collect non-fraudulent debts more than a decade old…”
