CAPE WELFARE RECIPIENTS AT ALL-TIME HIGH

The number of people in Cape Girardeau County who are receiving food stamps has reached an all-time high.

As of July 1, 2,008 households, or about 4,500 people qualified for the state and federally funded program, said Dennis Reagan, director of the county office of the Missouri Department of Social Services.

Reagan said that in the past five years, the number of families receiving food stamps has risen by about 10 percent annually. But this past year, that number was close to 20 percent, he said.

"I think we are in a crisis, but I don't think it's a crisis that's suddenly erupted," he said. "The crisis has always been there for families who can't meet their needs."

A family of four can qualify for $352 in food stamps per month as long as their annual gross income is less than $16,512, according to federal guidelines.

Reagan said he attributes the rise in food stamp cases in part to a sluggish economy.

"We don't deal with specifics of how the economy impacts these people, but we do see an increase in cases when there are economic problems," he said.

Another factor, he said, is that because of changes in welfare program requirements, more people than ever are qualifying for some types of government aid.

"A number of families who apply for one type of assistance may also be eligible for another type of assistance," he said. "In the past, the programs we administered were limited, but changes in federal regulations have opened up the programs. People who four or five years ago wouldn't have been eligible are now."

Of the 2,008 households receiving food stamps, 564 also receive some other type of assistance, he said. The food stamp program is separate from Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC), which provides cash assistance and/or Medicaid to poor families.

Reagan said that although a majority of food stamp recipients are single mothers with dependent children, he's seen a rise in families with two parents who find themselves in financial trouble.

"Some of them, years before, may have even considered themselves middle class, or for a while they were doing fairly well," he said. "But then someone lost their job."

To receive AFDC assistance, the same family of four must have a much lower income than to qualify for food stamps, not more than $675 per month.

These AFDC cases have also risen in the county, from 787 in March 1990 to 919 in March of this year.

Reagan said the rise in welfare cases in Cape Girardeau County parallels the situation in other Missouri counties of similar size.

But he added that there is hope for welfare recipients in several new programs designed to help them get off the welfare rolls by providing them job training.

These programs are often labeled "transitional," he said, and provide benefits, like Medicaid and free day care, to people while they are receiving job training.

"The federal and state government has realized that if you want to decrease the welfare roles," he said, "you're going to have to give support to those who want to get off of it."