Food Stamp Application Delays

Millions forced to wait for food stamps benefits, By Michelle Roberts and Justin Juozapavicius (AP), June 9, 2010, Washington Post: “When Amanda Vaca’s husband lost his job, the couple took stock of their finances and drew a startling conclusion: They could not afford to feed their four young children. So Vaca filled out an application for food stamps. Then, the wait began. A month passed, then two. In some weeks, the food simply ran out. ‘There was several occasions where I didn’t have breakfast to cook them or all there was was noodles,’ said Vaca, a customer-service representative in Fort Worth who got laid off shortly after her husband. They waited three months for assistance. The recession has landed millions of hungry families in similar straits, forcing them to endure long waits for help buying basic groceries. A review by The Associated Press found that dozens of food-stamp programs in 39 states left at least a quarter of applicants waiting weeks or months for food aid, some in areas that were not particularly hard hit by the economic downturn…”