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Sitting in a warehouse in front of shelves of food, the Rev. Vernon Graham added his two cents to complaints about the state’s new welfare delivery system.
The number of people visiting the local food bank system has risen this year, said Graham, executive pastor of Associated Churches of Fort Wayne and Allen County, which owns the warehouse and directs a city-county food bank system.
Food bank sites have recorded 10,000 visits from seniors this year, compared with 5,000 for all of last year.
Seniors are getting slammed, Graham said. “The system is broken.”
Rolled out in Allen County and most of the surrounding counties in May, the new eligibility system related to food stamps, Medicaid and other welfare benefits has been the subject of intense criticism around the state.
The Indiana Family and Social Services Administration signed a $1.16 billion modernization contract last year to privatize much of the eligibility system. State officials say it’s not perfect but it’s an improvement over the old system.
In Allen County, the number of food stamp recipients increased slightly from 14,520 in September 2007 to 14,840 this September. And the state says the new system, which employs the Internet and call centers, is faster: 91.5 percent of those who applied for food stamps either received them or were denied within the allotted time, compared with the national average of 86.3 percent, according to the latest figures.
But representatives from the Indiana Alliance for Retired Americans, Indiana Home Care Task Force and United Senior Action of Indiana at Wednesday’s news conference said none of the state numbers add up to quality help for those who need it most.
They said they supported technological upgrades but said all the bells and whistles don’t replace face time for those seeking benefits, and that having fewer caseworkers puts some of the most vulnerable people at risk.
FSSA spokeswoman Lauren Auld acknowledged that the state has fewer caseworkers – “maybe three less caseworkers per county.” She said she didn’t immediately have the number of caseworkers today compared with before the modernization. But she said the state hired an additional 800 caseworkers in the Division of Child Services, which even most welfare overhaul opponents concede has seen improvement.
Overall, the modernized system has been rolled out in 59 of Indiana’s 92 counties.
“We still have a county office open in every single county,” said Elizabeth Surgener of FSSA. “We have closed no access points for service.”
Even so, many – including people with certain disabilities – unable to navigate the phone or Internet application process are missing out on benefits rightly due to them, said John Cardwell, chairman of the Indiana Home Care Task Force.
He and others said the burden for helping people get signed up has shifted from the state to non-profit organizations.
mschroeder@jg.net
