Thursday, July 27, 2006
Contact: Jessica Robinson, 573-751-0290
Blunt's Request for Food Stamp Waiver Approved
ST. LOUIS–Gov. Matt Blunt announced today that the waiver he requested from the United States Department of Agriculture extending the time for food stamp households to apply for replacement benefits has been approved.
Rather than the typical ten day period to request replacement food stamps, food stamp households that lost food due to last week's storms now have until August 18 to request replacement benefits from their local Family Support office.
“I am very happy that we were successful in ensuring that people have adequate time to make their request,” Blunt said. “I want to thank our federal partners for their quick response.”
Regarding the process, the Family Support Division (FSD) is reporting that the Food Stamp replacement process in St. Louis is working, and that the volume of replacements is beginning to wane. From Monday through Wednesday division staff replaced over 16,000 households' benefits.
“The division extended hours this week in order to serve our clients better,” FSD Director Janel Luck said. “We appreciate the city for assisting with traffic flow and thank the volunteer organizations that provided cool water to our customers. We have been able to move people quickly through the short, five minute replacement process, and customers have been appreciative of the streamlined procedures.”
Lines formed early Monday morning and again on Tuesday, but were moved inside expeditiously, with lines dissipating by mid-morning. Many offices opened before 7 a.m., with some opening as early as 6 a.m. and staying open until 7 p.m. However, with volume diminishing today, offices anticipate moving back to regular 8 to 5 hours on Friday. “Our workers have been utterly amazing,” Luck said, “It is impossible to say enough good things about their extraordinary efforts.”
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