Food aid sign-ups flooding Mass.

[Bindare_Dundat]

Over the past year, the number of Massachusetts residents receiving food stamps has surged 20 percent, bringing the total to more than 600,000 and taxing the state's ability to serve those in need, welfare officials say.

The state added nearly 100,000 people to the food stamp rolls in 2008, the largest increase since at least 1995 and possibly the largest in Massachusetts history, the state's welfare director said. As many as 20,000 new applications are coming in each month, along with an average of 18,000 requests for extensions.

The crush of applications comes as the state's welfare department has about 25 percent fewer caseworkers and supervisors than at the start of the decade, when the food stamp rolls were less than half what they are today. It has also resulted in a potentially dangerous delay in the processing of applications.

http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2009/02/26/food_aid_sign_ups_flooding_mass/

[kimura]

I need a man meal sandwich, yes I need Manwich
I feel good, now it's time to do damage
I flow like Bounty, you know what I mean?

You a customer