By James DeWeese
Investigators conducting the third in an ongoing series of City Council studies on the 1964 federal program designed to combat hunger said they were turned away from a city-run Northern Boulevard food stamp application site by employees who incorrectly said they needed a referral. And another food stamp site located on 32nd Place in Astoria was not listed on the Web page of the city's Human Resources Administration, which oversees the program, the study found.Councilman Eric Gioia (D-Sunnyside), who chairs the City Council committee that conducted the study, said the problems uncovered by investigators are indicative of a semi-dysfunctional bureaucracy that has failed to make benefits available to between 621,000 and 1 million of the estimated 2 million low-income New York City residents eligible for the food subsidy.”It is unconscionable to think that in the greatest city in the history of the world, millions of people are at risk of going hungry each and every day,” Gioia said in a statement. “New York City has not only a legal obligation but a moral imperative to provide our neediest citizens with access to hunger relief.”The study documented problems at 36 city-run food stamp offices and job centers that included long wait times, a lack of applications and written informational materials as well as incorrect information from staff. Incorrect or incomplete information also appeared on the city Human Resources Administration's Web site, the study said.Gioia said the city loses out on about $1.45 billion in federal funds earmarked for the program every year because residents do not sign up for the initiative that enables low-income people to purchase “healthy” food. The study also found that enrollment has failed to keep pace with what it cited as the growing number of people at risk of going hungry in the five boroughs.The study titled “Food Stamp Enrollment made the following recommendations to boost enrollment in the federal program:¥ create an interactive online application for food-stamp benefits as officials did in West Virginia, where the study's authors said participation had grown to more than 80 percent of eligible residents.¥ allow applications to be faxed or mailed in.¥ keep existing centers open later on weekdays and on weekends to accommodate people whose jobs do not allow them to apply during the normal business hours of 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. at most food stamp and job center facilities.¥ make applications and informational materials available at each of the city's more than 1,300 soup kitchens and food pantries.”We need a food stamp program that knows who and where its customers are, so whether it's on the Internet or at the local food pantry or soup kitchen, we're bringing this program to the people,” said Gioia, who indicated that a number of private organizations have stepped up out-reach efforts in recent years.There are three dedicated food stamp offices in Queens, according to the HRA Web site: 32-20 Northern Blvd. in Flushing; 520 Beach 20th Street in Rockaway; and 90-75 Sutphin Blvd. in Jamaica, which has extended hours to 6 p.m. on weekdays and opens from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturdays.Food stamp eligibility and benefits are based on family size and income. A four-person household with monthly income of less than $2,043 could receive as much a monthly food subsidy of $499, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture's guidelines.”While this third investigation demonstrates significant improvements in the accessibility of food stamps in New York City, the main findings of the previous two investigations remain unchanged: New York City residents are still facing substantial barriers in accessing food stamps,” the study's authors wrote. Reach reporter James DeWeese by e-mail at news@timesledger.com or by phone at 718-229-0300, Ext. 157.
