Food Stamp Enrollment Campaign

Making Food Stamps Work, a report released on National Hunger Awareness Day in June, summarizes the Food Stamp Enrollment Campaign and the lessons learned from this work over the past several years. At the same time, Governor Rendell announced two initiatives designed to reduce barriers to enrollment for eligible low-income Pennsylvanians.

In January 2003, the Greater Philadelphia Coalition Against Hunger and its partners embarked on an 18-month Food Stamp Enrollment Campaign, funded by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). This effort aimed to test the efficacy of using student and faith-based volunteers in a program of outreach and screening to promote food stamp enrollment among potentially eligible low-income people. Although the grant ended more than two years ago, the Coalition has continued to move ahead with its work to connect the 60,000 eligible but not participating Philadelphians with the Food Stamp Program. Below are the highlights of this effort:

Over 13,000 households were screened in the first three years of the Campaign, and 9500 appeared to be eligible for food stamps. More than 4700 (50% of those eligible) applied for the program. 3760 (80% of the applicants, 40% of those found eligible) successfully enrolled.
Anticipated benefit levels did not appear to be a decisive factor in generating higher application rates, suggesting that significant barriers prevent many clients, who are eligible for substantial benefits, from accessing this critical nutrition support program.
The Campaign provided important data for ongoing work with the Department of Public Welfare at the state, county, and individual County Assistance Office levels to address these barriers.
Estimated potential benefits for subsequently enrolled clients indicate that during the grant period, the Campaign brought more than $3.2 million dollars to low-income Philadelphia residents and more than $5.9 million in increased business to the local economy each year.
More than half of all screenings were conducted on the Campaign's Hotline, with word-of-mouth referrals, posters advertising the hotline in service agencies like WIC offices, and an ad campaign on SEPTA (the city's public transportation system) generating the most calls.
The community sites that proved most effective for outreach and screenings were health centers, Career Links (Pennsylvania's one-stop service centers for job seekers) and food cupboards.
The volunteers who proved most effective were those who put the most hours into the Campaign, especially work-study and service-learning students, who also found the Campaign a rewarding educational experience. Students from 14 area campuses have participated in outreach and screening efforts.
The Campaign's recent focus on application assistance for potentially eligible clients has helped to boost its application and enrollment rates significantly over their levels during the grant-period. Hotline staff and many volunteers now use COMPASS, the state's online application for a range of public benefits including food stamps, to submit applications for clients immediately following their screening.

History and Background

grocery bag Food stamps can meet the basic food and nutrition needs of low-income families, while maintaining their dignity and encouraging self-sufficiency. In Philadelphia, over 60,000 eligible people are not receiving food stamps. From 1996 through early 2002, program participation dropped by over 30 percent. Although the number of low-income families receiving food stamps is now increasing, thousands more need to hear they are eligible. Among those screened as eligible through the Campaign, many are working adults trying their best to hold on to jobs, pay the bills, and feed their families. The combination of low-wages, high utility costs, limited or missing health care benefits, and the lack of affordable housing tally up to impossible choices.

In 2000, the Coalition surveyed nearly 100 clients at local food cupboards and found that almost half of them (46 percent) were not receiving food stamp benefits. The majority were not receiving food stamps because they simply lacked information. These findings pointed to the need for food stamp outreach to encourage eligible but non-participating low-income families to enroll and inspired the Coalition's subsequent outreach efforts.

In September 2002, the Coalition was one of 19 agencies nationwide awarded an 18-month Food Stamp Outreach Grant by the USDA. Since then, the Coalition and its partners have been training students and faith-based volunteers who are fanning out across Philadelphia to promote the Food Stamp Program. We have trained more than 400 volunteers who are reaching out to the tens of thousands of low-income residents who could be using food stamps.

We have learned a tremendous amount since we began this work four years ago: which community sites are best for conducting outreach and screenings, the significance of an information hotline in outreach efforts, the value of screening experiences for college students enrolled in service-learning courses, and the importance of maintaining a client database. In recognition of the Campaign's accomplishments, the Coalition was one of 24 organizations nationwide to receive the Congressional Hunger Center 2004 Victory Against Hunger Award, which was nominated and then later presented by Congressman Robert Brady (D-PA).