Charities Brace for Cutoff of Food Stamps

As many as 14,000 legal immigrants in Orange County stand to lose their food stamp benefits at the end of the month as officials continue implementing the terms of welfare reform.

Food banks and charity groups are bracing for increased requests for help because of the cutbacks, which will be the most far-reaching in Orange County since welfare reform was adopted by Congress last year.

“We’ve seen more people coming to us for help, and this will make things even more difficult,” said Scott Mather, development director for the St. Vincent de Paul center, which distributes food to 280 charity organizations. “It’s pushing some people further to the limit.”

The impending changes come five months after the Orange County Social Services Agency cut off food stamps to 1,100 able-bodied adults without children. In accordance with federal rules, the county has been denying new food stamp benefits to legal immigrants since September 1996.

Other immigrants will lose their benefits by Aug. 30. County officials plan to send letters to recipients notifying them of the cutoff as soon as they determine exactly who is covered by the rules.

A bill now in the state Legislature would allow legal immigrants younger than 18 and older than 65 to retain food stamp benefits for an additional three years. County officials said the number of people losing aid could drop significantly if the bill becomes law, though an exact breakdown was not available Friday.

“We are still waiting to see what happens with the bill,” said Angelo Doti, assistant director of the Social Services Agency.

The food stamp cutoff is just a small part of sweeping welfare reform rules that will eventually touch the lives of the 100,000 adults and children in Orange County who receive aid.

The reforms are designed to move aid recipients from welfare to work by providing job training and child-care services.

Earlier this week, Gov. Pete Wilson signed state welfare reform guidelines that are set to take effect Jan. 1 and give current recipients 24 months of aid. Those receiving aid will be required to participate in job-training programs and will be penalized for refusing to accept valid job offers.

But the state rules also grant individual counties wide powers to craft their own job training, education and child-care programs. Orange County officials hope to have their plan complete within the next few months.

The initial round of food-stamp cuts earlier this year not only increased demand at local food banks and soup kitchens but has also hurt some merchants who reported sluggish sales.

“It’s going to be tough,” said Dwight Smith, a volunteer at the Catholic Worker in Santa Ana, which feeds more than 100 homeless people daily.

Charity groups estimate that 300,000 people go hungry on any given night in Orange County. Food banks can serve about 180,000.

“We are not even able to meet existing needs,” said Mather, suggesting that the federal government make surplus food available for distribution.

Backers of welfare reform say the changes are fair because legal immigrants should rely on their sponsors or family members--and not the government--for financial support.