Food Stamp Fiasco
By Laurie Cipriano
COLORADO SPRINGS – A Colorado Springs woman who relies on food stamps was surprised to find only one dollar on her food stamp card Friday.
“I called when I got up at six thirty,” said Kimberly Balogh. According to Balogh, $252 is supposed to be deposited into her food stamp account on the ninth of every month.
She decided to go to the El Paso County DHS office and wait until they opened. “I flew down there this morning and I waited and the lady just said well we’re upgrading our computers.” She was told the system was overloaded with new applicants.
“We’ve just had such an increase in applications back in the fall, which are now turning into re-determinations,” said Rick Bengtsson, the Director of the El Paso County Department of Human Services. “So we are falling somewhat behind, but we’re working overtime. The CBMS (Colorado Benefit Management System) is slow at times. It has a capacity issue that everybody in the state’s trying to get on at the same time, and it sometimes just gets slow when so many people are trying to access.”
Balogh doesn’t have time to wait. “Our income is $980 a month,” she said. “That is my husband’s disability. We’re 185% below the poverty level at this point.”
Even though she is struggling she says she cannot go to her relatives for help. “If we go to my in-laws we’ll get penalized. They’ll deduct any money my in-laws have given to us,” said Balogh. “They consider that earned income, even though it’s a gift.”
According to Bengtsson, Balogh is misinformed. “If they get a loan from somebody, a relative, it’s not reportable. It doesn’t have to be reported and it will not be counted against them when their re-determination is completed,” stated Bengtsson. “They will not be penalized.”
Either way, Balogh and her husband are running out of money and food. “I mean I stretch that money out because we both take a lot of meds. I have no insurance.”
A chunk of Balogh’s monthly income goes to pay for prescription medications. “My husband takes about ten different medications,” said Balogh. “I take an average of five different medications.”
Balogh says she is disabled and suffers from PTSD (post traumatic stress disorder) and panic attacks. “I was stabbed in 2006 and that’s what gave me the PTSD.”
With the recent passage of healthcare reform, Balogh can expect additional federal assistance for her medical conditions, on top of the assistance she is already receiving for food. Despite her situation she says, “I think that is wrong. What right does he (President Obama) have to come in and dictate what we’re supposed to get as far as healthcare?” She added, “I think he’s got good intentions, don’t get me wrong, but you can’t fix something that’s been wrong for forty, fifty years, in a year.”
According to the Bengtsson, food stamp applications in El Paso County are up nearly 75% and caseloads are up approximately 30%. He says despite that, the staff size has not changed.
