Hundreds Lose Food Stamps

None by KCPW

DWS Says "Sign Up for Job Counselling and Get Benefits Back"

(KCPW News) Anti-hunger advocates claim the Utah Department of Workforce Services violated state law in cutting several hundred people off from their food stamps last month.

"This was a big surprise because normally when they cut a public program they're supposed to go through a public process and they didn't do that," says Bill Tibbitts, an organizer of the Anti-Hunger Action Committee at Crossroads Urban Center.

A spokesman for the Department of Workforce Services says federal changes prompted the move, so local public hearings weren't necessary. Now all able-bodied adults must be employed or looking for work to be eligible for food stamps.

Previously some who were homeless or had limited education or language skills were exempt from the requirement for a period of time. Tibbitts worries the change will put more pressure on over-burdened food pantries.

"The people who were cut off are people who are very likely to be homeless or close to homeless and if they don't have food stamps they're going to come to pantries for emergency food," says Tibbitts.

DWS spokesman Curt Stewart says those who were cut off need only enroll in the state's employment and training program to start receiving food stamps again.

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