Food stamp benefits will increase for some
By Mike Sims
Of tha Emerald
Most Oregon food stamp reci
pients will receive increased
benefits beginning this month.
According to Bob Labbe, state
food stamp program unit
manager, recipients may be af
fected by changes in one or
more facets of the program.
Labbe said that an annual in
crease in the program’s cost-of
living allowance, beginning in
October, will mean an increase
in the maximum amount of food
IT
stamps allowed per household.
For example, a family of five
would see its monthly benefits
increase by $9.
Also, standard deductions in
household income will increase
from $85 to $89 this year. The
Adult and Family Services Divi
sion of the Oregon State Depart
ment of Human Resources,
which administers the federally
funded food stamp program,
uses household income as a par
tial basis for determining
whether a household is eligible
for benefits, as well as the
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amount of benefits to be
received.
Food stamps are issued by
household, whether that
represents one person or
several. The 223,000 persons
receiving benefits represent
about 92,000 Oregon
households.
Some recipients will receive
an allowance for higher utility
costs during the winter. The
AFS considers household utili
ty costs in determining the
amount of food stamp benefits.
Recipients may choose to either
receive a standard allowance,
which is adjusted in October
and March to allow for seasonal
changes in utility rates, or to
have benefits adjusted accord
ing to their actural utility costs.
Recipients who choose the
standard allowance for utility
bills will receive an increase in
food stamp benefits when the
winter allowance takes effect to
day. An average increase for a
family of five would be about
$15 a month in food stamps.
The standard allowance is $122
from April through September,
and $199 during the winter.
Many recipients with low
utility bills opt for the standard
allowance and thus obtain more
benefits than if they had their
eligibility adjusted according to
their actual utility costs, Labbe
explained.
Labbe also stated that food
stamp program officials hope to
begin conducting rate studies
among a sampling of food
stamp recipients, energy
distributors and public utility
concerns in late December or
January. Labbe says that the in
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formation gathered will be used
to help adjust food stamp
benefit amounts, and officials
hope to use the data when
benefits are adjusted again in
April.
Increases in food stamp
benefits represent "relatively
minor changes in policy,"
Labbe said, adding that he
doesn’t expect the number of
food stamp recipients to in
crease dramatically.
"Persons who’ve applied
already and have been denied
benefits might consider re
applying," Labbe said. "Every
year there are changes in
eligibility requirements in
small, incremental amounts,
and people who were right on
the borderline last year may
qualify this year," Labbe
explained,
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