Our own Cindy McCown nominated for a CFPA Stampy Award - Vote today!

Nominations for the 11th Annual Stampy Awards from across the state honor the efforts of individuals working to improve the Food Stamp Program in California. This year, our very own Cindy McCown has been nominated, along with Jim Beall, our hunger-fighting champion in the California State Assembly!

Vote Now through January 31, 2010.

We at Second Harvest Food Bank are deeply concerned because many of the people we serve are also participants or are eligible for crucial safety net programs such as Food Stamps.

Second Harvest supports initiatives that would increase participation in state and federal supplemental food programs. This will relieve strain on our resources, allowing us to concentrate on those in our community who do not qualify for those programs but still meet our income guidelines (approximately 200% of the Federal Poverty Line).

By voting, you are rewarding efforts to improve the program, as well as identifying actions and attitudes you want replicated. A popular segment of the CFPA Food Stamp Forum, the Stampy Award ceremony is an opportunity to celebrate and honor the achievements and contributions of our colleagues in improving the Food Stamp Program at the local, county, and state levels over the past year. It's a bit like the Golden Globes of the food stamp world! The winners will be announced at the 11th Annual Food Stamp Forum on Thursday, February 18, 2010 in Sacramento.

Our Nominees of Choice:

Cindy McCown
Senior Director of Programs and Services
Second Harvest Food Bank of Santa Clara and San Mateo Counties

Through Ms. McCown's dedication she helped to create a pilot project with Santa Clara County Social Service Office in 2006 that allows for all applicants that are assisted with Food Stamp applications by Food Bank staff to be able to have their appointments be held within 5 days.  Approximately 80% of applicants assisted by the Food Bank are seen within 4 days by the SSA office.  This is remarkable in a State where many applicants are not able to be seen for up to a month or more.

A second example of her work that has led to improving the collaboration between the Food Bank and the County is the funding received by both San Mateo and Santa Clara counties to support the Food Stamp outreach work of the Food Bank.  San Mateo County has provided a 2 1/2 year contract for the work and Santa Clara County funding has been on-going and will be continued.  In addition, she has most recently accepted a donation from Santa Clara County of an RV outfitted for community clinic and outreach work that will become a "Food Stamp Mobile" to station in isolated and "walking-community" high-need locations throughout San Mateo and Santa Clara Counties.

Without Cindy's persistence and vision the Food Bank would not be assisting with Food Stamp applications.  During the First 5 months of FY 2009-2010 (July-November) the Food Bank assisted 696 households with Food Stamp applications.

Jim Beall
California State Assembly Member

Assembly Member Jim Beall (D-San Jose) has championed legislation to remove barriers to food stamps, remove asset barriers for applicants, and urged Congress to remove finger-imaging and the Obama adminstration to reduce paperwork in California's Food Stamp Program. He is the chairman of the Assembly Human Services Committee and serves as the chairman of the Select Committee on Alcohol and Drug Abuse, and the Select Committee on Foster Care.

Why Finger-Imaging is Bad News for Food Stamps

Bad news from Sacramento: Governor Schwarzenegger wants to not only keep the finger-imaging requirement for food stamp applicants, but expand finger-imaging to those receiving In-Home Supportive Services (IHSS).

We at Second Harvest Food Bank are deeply concerned because many of the people we serve are also participants or are eligible for these crucial safety net programs.

Second Harvest supports initiatives that would increase participation in state and federal supplemental food programs. This will relieve strain on our resources, allowing us to concentrate on those in our community who do not qualify for those programs but still meet our income guidelines (approximately 200% of the Federal Poverty Line).

WHY THIS MATTERS:
IHSS provides in-home support to elderly, blind, and disabled Californians. This helps prevent them from having to be institutionalized, which is a far more costly alternative to the state than providing services for them in their own homes. Were finger-imaging implemented for this program, participation would assuredly drop, and many more of California’s most vulnerable population would end up in nursing homes.

It has been proven that finger-imaging is a major deterrent to participation in the programs it has been applied to, namely the Food Stamp Program. This program is the main federal nutrition program and it provides credit to low-income families and individuals to be redeemed for food at participating grocery stores.

Finger-imaging makes applicants feel like criminals. Ashamed and embarrassed, many don’t sign up for food stamps, even if they need them and qualify for them.

Furthermore, getting a fingerprint done requires another trip out to government agency offices, which for many of these families means missing work. The money and time lost, and the childcare arrangements during that trip can deter those in need from seeking assistance.

What is more, finger-imaging has not been cost-effective. It is meant to deter multiple-aid fraud, but its cost far outweighs the negligible amount of benefits stolen through fraud. In this economic climate, the governor wants to expand an ineffective system that costs the state more than $8 million a year!

Click on the following links for more information on the governor’s proposal and learn how Food Stamps BOOST our economy in the following articles:

Fingerprinting rule will deter those needing help
Editorial, The San Jose Mercury News

Fairy Tales, Fraud, and Food Stamps (PDF)
California Food Policy Advocates (CFPA.net):
Read this lighthearted one-pager on the Governor's serious finger printing expansion efforts. Call the Governor (916.445.2841) and urge him to accept the Legislature’s plan to save millions to by ending finger imaging for food stamps and to abandon his efforts to fingerprint blind, elderly, and disabled Californians receiving IHSS.

Boost in Food-Stamp Funding Percolates Through Economy
The Wall Street Journal

The stimulus that actually IS working
The Dave Ross Show

Ending the Cycle of Poverty: AB 433 brings us one step closer!

AB 433 is now law!
No More Asset Test for Food Stamp Households with Children
A great victory has been achieved for families struggling to put food on the table. Food stamp households will now no longer be subject to an asset test, a crucial step to expanding participation in the Food Stamp Program, as well as helping people escape the cycle of poverty. No asset test means families can save up for things like a child’s college education or a retirement fund, without worrying that they will be cut off from Food Stamps.

Previously, assets were included in the calculation of a family’s income, which determines Food Stamp eligibility. This puts families in a very difficult situation of either trying to save for the future, or receiving food now.

This new requirement will be implemented at the county level, and counties can begin its implementation as early as July 1, 2009, but no later than January 1, 2010.

It is our understanding that San Mateo County will begin implementation on August 1, 2009.

More work is left to be done, however: The new rule applies only to households with children, excluding single adults or adults living together.

• Download a more detailed flyer on this important change (PDF)
  
• Find out more at California Food Policy Advocates

Stopped in its Tracks: Important Step Forward for Food Stamps and CalWORKS Reform

AB 1057, introduced by California Assembly member Jim Beall, Jr., was held in the Assembly fiscal committee, a victim of the state's budget crunch. The bill aims to simplify the Food Stamp and CalWORKS programs, thereby encouraging participation in these crucial social-safety net programs.

But this bill has found itself in the Assembly Appropriations Suspense file and is being held in committee. Some of reported reasons for shelving the bill stem from the current budget crisis. There are concerns, particularly among Republican officials, about the upfront costs to implementing the program, as well as the fact that the current budget proposal eliminates CalWORKS – a key program in the bill. The next likely opportunity for the bill to be debated won’t be until January of 2010 unless something in the budget can be worked out.

Thank you to all of those who have taken steps to support this legislation. The bill may be stalled for now, but we still need your help!

• Join our email list to receive updates from the Food Bank on key issues such as this one.
• Read the full article on our website

Further information about this legislation can be found at:

• Assembly member Jim Beall’s website
• California Food Policy Advocates
  

*Special thanks to Frances Chacon, Principal Consultant for Assembly member Jim Beall, Jr.