Lawmakers target food stamp red tape

At a time when food shelves are facing rising demand, tens of thousands of Minnesotans who qualify for government subsidized food support aren't applying for it.

That's the finding of a joint report from Hunger Solutions Minnesota and the Legal Aid Project, cited by lawmakers Tuesday at the Capitol. Some legislators suspect the red tape involved, including a 22-page application which must be updated monthly, is partly to blame.

"We don't think it's necessary for seniors on fixed incomes and chronically ill people to fill out paperwork every month to prove that they're poor," said Rep Diane Loeffler, D-Minneapolis.

"We think doing it twice a year is sufficient."

Loeffler's bill would streamline that application process to three pages for seniors and persons with disabilities.

The report found that food shelf use has increased 25% in the past two years, with 400,000 Minnesotans making a total of 1.7 million visits per year.

At the same time roughly 200,000 Minnesotans who qualify for food stamps aren't applying for the program. Though originally issued in stamp form that program now features plastic credit cards, which lower income and working poor families use to purchase food from grocery stores.

"Many eligible Minnesotans don't enroll in our food support programs," said Colleen Moriarty of Hunger Solutions Minnesota.

"Either because they don?t know about the program or because they are daunted by the burdensome paperwork."

She said food shelves, in the meantime, are feeling the pressure of families that must devote more of their resources to fixed expenses such as insurance, housing, fuel and health care.

"So food has become a luxury in the state of Minnesota," Moriarty told the Capitol press corps.

"Where this used to be an emergency system in the state of Minnesota, this now has become how working families make it through the month."

Sen Mee Moua, D-St Paul, spoke from personal experience about how her Hmong family depended on food support programs after immigrating here from southeast Asia in 1978.

"I also stand before you today as a child who grew up living on food shelf foods," Sen Moua told reporters.

"For first 10 years of my life in America, from 1978 to 1988, we lived on public assistance. We lived on public housing, and we lived on food stamps. My mom would go to the food shelves every single day to supplement our income."

Moua supports legislation raising state support for local food shelves throughout Minnesota.

FATHERHOOD REPORT

Another interesting report Tuesday at the Capitol centered on the state of fatherhood in Minnesota. The study, cosponsored by Saint Cloud State and the Minnesota Fathers and Families Network, has a mix of good news and some not so encouraging.

"We?ve raised the standards for fathers, for father involvement. Most men feel pretty good about their involvement," said Glen Palm, a professor at St Cloud State.

Palm told reporters that roughly 9 out of 10 fathers in Minnesota rate themselves as better than average when it comes to being involved in raising their children.

"I would suggest, however, their frame of reference about involvement may be their own fathers or old fatherhood images," remarked Palm.

"So most men are feeling pretty good they do things like change the diapers, put the baby to bed, those kinds of things their fathers didn?t do."

The survey also queried dads on the greatest challenges they face. The most listed was "discipline/setting limits" while the next was "staying calm."

"We hope this work that we?re doing is going to be embraced by others who share our burdens and concerns about having healthy children," said R. Clarence Jones, the president of the MN Fathers and Family Network.

"Having fathers positively engaged in the lives of their children."

The report also highlighted some trends that cause concern, especially in the realm of fathers being involved in the upbringing of their kids.

Roughly three out of ten children in Minnesota are fathered by men who are not married, and 15% of men by age 40 have fathered children with more than one partner.

"The data we have gathered, as well as other data around the country, has started to show changes are occurring inside Minnesota family structures," explained Jones.

"And there?s an increase in single headed households."

Many fathers, according to Palm, often fall into the category of "discounted dads" as well as incarcerated dads which often become "uncounted" dads. Thus the formal title of the new study "Do we count fathers in Minnesota."

As Palm phrase it, "All fathers I talk to, whether they?re in prison or what ever situation they?re in, want to be good caring fathers. They want to provide that love and affection."

"But it?s hard, and they face barriers and limited support systems at this time."

The group is asking for more investment in parenting education, and state level office to track the health of fatherhood in Minnesota.

"Fathers are an underutilized resource for children and remain invisible in our discourse around young children and the achievement gap," said Palm.

"I?m a professor of early childhood education, and what I can tell you is if we don?t pay attention to the fathers we?ve missed a really important piece, but at the moment they?re kind of invisible."

(Copyright 2007 by KARE. All Rights Reserved.)

By John Croman, KARE 11 News

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