A "Food Stamp" Makeover: Redesign Offers Better Accessibility

For the staff at La Luz, it was the fine print at the end of the sales pitch.

Each time one of their clients attempted to sign up for CalFresh aid, formerly known as "Food Stamps,"  they had to make three appointments at the county's Santa Rosa Offices - first to drop off their application, then to interview with a staff member and finally to pick up their CalFresh card - meaning Sonoma's most economically fragile population had to spend three long days off work and on the bus.

"I had people who said 'I'm trying to apply because I don't have any money, but I'm going to have to take three days off from work and get childcare," said Rosie Mottsmith, a program and development coordinator at La Luz. "It just seems counter-intuitive."

But late last year, along with name change (CalFresh, unlike "Food Stamps," places an emphasis on healthy food,) the county created an online application process, in an effort to reach a greater percentage of their at-risk community.

"Because Sonoma County is so wide and the distances are so far for some people to come, it was really hard for someone to come to our offices so many times, it was just off-putting for people to make it that trip," said Lisa Mann, an analyst for the Sonoma County Human Services Department.

According to a 2010 California Food Police Advocates report, Sonoma County has one of the lowest rates of participation in the CalFresh Program: Only 33 percent of the estimated 54,000 who qualify sign up for the program - over 38,000 people just do without. 

"In California we are near the bottom in participation rates compared to our poverty rates," said Mann, who said the county has had an increase of a few hundred applications since transitioning to the online process, but expects greater numbers once they begin publicizing the change. 

But La Luz has seen an uptick in applications since the changeover - they completed 17  in March with 20 referrals; last year their numbers were in the low single digits.

"It takes, like, an hour to fill out the application, then you can schedule the interview by phone and, if you qualify, they mail you the CalFresh card," said Kara Reyes. La Luz's director of family services. "It really is a lot easier."

La Luz recently received a grant from Santa Rosa's Community Action Partnership to facilitate CalFresh applications. Still, because of the county's limited outreach funds, most populations are still in the dark about changes to the program, which now only looks at income, not assets, for qualification.

"Before you could only have $2,000 in the bank, so that excluded a lot of people - especially seniors - and it didn’t give people an incentive to save," said Reyes. "But they found people were taking money out of their retirement accounts to buy food and then starving themselves because they didn't want to be homeless in 10 years." Now, the program only looks at earned income, with deductions for childcare payments and medical bills.

And proper education and information is important, according to La Luz staff, to ensure that at-risk individuals get the support they need.

"With the people we're dealing with there's a lot of fear that they'll be deported for putting their kids on this program," said Reyes. "It's really a hard issue, there's stigma surrounding it - it's touchy."

To find out more about the CalFresh program visit Sonomafoodstamps.org. La Luz assists with filing applications for CalFresh and other social services programs: make an appointment during their business hours M-Th, 9 a.m. - 4 p.m. and Friday 9 a.m. - 3 p.m.