hvactec
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7/15/2010
DAYTONA BEACH -- Sitting in the food stamp office filling out a renewal form, Brian Bachurek said he'd rather be working than asking for help from the state.
He moved from Indiana several months ago and had a welding job in Daytona Beach but was let go because of a lack of business, the 44-year-old said. He started getting $200 a month in food stamps and was renewing his form this week as he continues to look for work.
"I feel kind of like I'm freeloading. I'd rather earn my keep, but you have to do what you have to do," said Bachurek of South Daytona.
The state Department of Children & Families continues to see an increase in people applying for food stamps and Medicaid even though temporary cash assistance is starting to decline.
DCF secretary George Sheldon said once the job market improves, he expects food stamp numbers to decline, but "I don't see that happening for a year."
"We haven't detected a decline," Sheldon said. "It's still going up, not at the rate of a year ago, but it's still up."
Recent state and federal changes that took effect July 1 could help additional people qualify for assistance, but state officials don't expect to see a big increase from the changes. Some changes include considering how much people spend for child care, for example, when looking at their income, and allowing applicants to have some savings in the bank.
Since early 2007, when the food stamp program started seeing the effects of the recession, the state of Florida went from serving 1.2 million people to more than 2.7 million today, state reports show. The dollar amount provided has gone from $117.5 million to $371.5 million.
Volusia County has seen a 136 percent increase in people on food stamps from July 2007 to June of this year with more than 75,000 people now getting assistance. Just since January of this year, Volusia has seen more than 5,000 additional people receive assistance.
FULL STORY; Food stamp needs keep growing - News
DAYTONA BEACH -- Sitting in the food stamp office filling out a renewal form, Brian Bachurek said he'd rather be working than asking for help from the state.
He moved from Indiana several months ago and had a welding job in Daytona Beach but was let go because of a lack of business, the 44-year-old said. He started getting $200 a month in food stamps and was renewing his form this week as he continues to look for work.
"I feel kind of like I'm freeloading. I'd rather earn my keep, but you have to do what you have to do," said Bachurek of South Daytona.
The state Department of Children & Families continues to see an increase in people applying for food stamps and Medicaid even though temporary cash assistance is starting to decline.
DCF secretary George Sheldon said once the job market improves, he expects food stamp numbers to decline, but "I don't see that happening for a year."
"We haven't detected a decline," Sheldon said. "It's still going up, not at the rate of a year ago, but it's still up."
Recent state and federal changes that took effect July 1 could help additional people qualify for assistance, but state officials don't expect to see a big increase from the changes. Some changes include considering how much people spend for child care, for example, when looking at their income, and allowing applicants to have some savings in the bank.
Since early 2007, when the food stamp program started seeing the effects of the recession, the state of Florida went from serving 1.2 million people to more than 2.7 million today, state reports show. The dollar amount provided has gone from $117.5 million to $371.5 million.
Volusia County has seen a 136 percent increase in people on food stamps from July 2007 to June of this year with more than 75,000 people now getting assistance. Just since January of this year, Volusia has seen more than 5,000 additional people receive assistance.
FULL STORY; Food stamp needs keep growing - News
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