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Welfare and food stamp applications soar in area
Rate of requests from Central Oregon outpaces rest of state, figures show
By James Sinks / The Bulletin
Published: November 19. 2008 4:00AM PST
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SALEM — Oregon’s economic downturn is hitting Central Oregon families particularly hard, state statistics released Tuesday show.
The number of people receiving welfare checks and food stamps is up across the state, but the fastest rate of growth is occurring in the region made up of Deschutes, Crook and Jefferson counties.
“It’s terrible news, but it’s not a surprise because we knew unemployment is high in rural Oregon,” said state Sen. Ted Ferrioli, R-John Day, whose district stretches from Black Butte Ranch to Madras to Baker City.
The new figures from the Department of Human Services show the city of Bend saw a 46 percent spike in welfare aid, known formally as Temporary Assistance to Needy Families, based on numbers from October 2007 to October 2008. And compared with a year ago, 24 percent more Bend families and 33 percent more Redmond families are receiving food stamps.
Statewide, the number of families receiving Temporary Assistance for Needy Families is up 16 percent and the number receiving food stamps increased by approximately 13 percent, the agency said.
The three-county Central Oregon district, which includes Culver, La Pine, Brothers, Bend, Redmond, Prineville, Madras and Warm Springs, saw a 29 percent increase in the welfare caseload and a 25 percent increase in food stamps.
“This last year was tough for a lot of people,” said Patrick Carey, a DHS district manager for Jefferson, Crook and Deschutes counties, in a news release.
“Even for people who haven’t lost their jobs, expenses have jumped for so many things in the last year — food, fuel, tuition, prescriptions, health care — which can be disastrous for folks with low or fixed incomes. It’s a challenge for us to keep up with all the new cases.”
The new data comes on the heels of bleak Oregon unemployment numbers from October that showed the largest single-month jump in the jobless rate since 1980.
The state hasn’t released the October data by industry sector, but September figures show that job losses in Central Oregon this year have been primarily in construction and manufacturing, such as wood products and airplane assembly, said Art Ayre, an analyst for the Oregon Employment Department.
The state economist will release what’s expected to be another dose of bleak news today in a revised revenue forecast.
It will be the first projection of state revenue since this fall’s stock market collapse.
Welfare and food stamps are federally funded and based on eligibility, so everybody who qualifies will receive them, said Lauri Stewart, a spokeswoman for the Department of Human Services.
That’s not the case for programs offered through Central Oregon nonprofits, such as energy assistance and rental help, where demand is outstripping the supply of funds, said Sharon Miller, executive director of Redmond-based NeighborImpact.
Last month, the nonprofit had more than 70 people show up to a single class in Redmond about how to avoid eviction from rentals and to seek financial help — but there is only enough money to help five of those families, she said.
More dollars will be available for energy assistance, she said, but that doesn’t keep people in their houses.
“We’re here to help people, and when we have to turn people away, day after day, it is such a strain, and we don’t know what to do about it this year,” she said.
“A lot of folks in this community have never been in this economic position before. In their mind, there is an expectation that we have a safety net in this country, but when they find out there’s very little, they are shocked.”
State Sen. Rick Metsger, D-Welches, whose district includes Hood River County, said the plunging economy means the state — which relies primarily on income taxes — won’t have extra dollars to help people asking for aid, despite an inevitable increase in demand for programs like the Oregon Health Plan.
“That’s how it usually happens, and it’s a divergent track line,” he said. “There’s less revenue and more people at the door.”
Ferrioli said the economic woes will force lawmakers to make tough choices in the session that starts in January. Those will most certainly include rolling back pay raises for public workers and cutting travel for state employees, he said, but that won’t be enough.
“Unquestionably, it will be programs that are cut,” he said. “We’re at a place now where all nonessential government spending needs to go.”
The trouble is, few people agree which — if any — programs are not essential.
Demand for food stamps and welfare payments also soared by double digits in the Medford area, Klamath and Lake counties, and along the Idaho border, the state said.
There were 12,993 families in the Central Oregon region who qualified for and were receiving food stamps, up from 10,411 in 2007.
Food stamps are provided on a sliding scale, and families can receive as little as $14 and as much as $426 per month, said Stewart, the DHS spokeswoman.
To qualify, families can have a monthly income of as much of 185 percent of the poverty line. For a family of three, that translates to $2,714, or an annual income of $32,568, she said.
Eligibility is much tighter for welfare payments, which go to the poorest of the poor — and are based not just on lower monthly income but also lack of assets.
A family of three must earn less than $616 per month to qualify.
There were 897 Central Oregon families receiving Temporary Aid for Needy Families in October, up from 690 a year ago. In Bend alone, there were 345 families, up from 237.
Those checks are also on a sliding scale; the maximum benefit for a family of three is $528 per month, Stewart said.
“That’s not a lot to live on,” she said.
James Sinks can be reached at 503-566-2839 or at jsinks@bendbulletin.com.
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