Lee one of the 1st counties to implement new food stamp program

By RANDY BURNS
Item Staff Writer
rburns@theitem.com

BISHOPVILLE - South Carolina has begun the process of totally revamping the way it manages its food stamp program, officially known as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program or SNAP.

Lee County will become the first county in the area and the fifth in the state to implement SNAP’s Universal Caseload program when it begins implementation in a couple of weeks. Sumter and Clarendon counties are scheduled to get on board with the new system some time in 2010.

The new program promises to restructure the way DSS does business with respect to managing food stamp cases.

In Lee County, there are 2,375 households receiving food stamps, said Lee County Department of Social Services Director Deb Bartholoma. Each household has been assigned one of the department’s five case workers, she said. Whenever there are questions, changes in the status of a family or problems in delivery of services, only the assigned case worker has been allowed to address the issue.

“What you have often are delays and long waits,” Bartholoma said. “We are really excited that this new program is going to be very good for our clients. They will be able to do all their re-certification on the phone. And there’ll always be somebody here that can talk to them. They won’t have to wait for their case worker.”

With the Universal Caseload Program, cases are assigned not to a particular worker in a county but to the entire county, Bartholoma said. Any of the county’s case workers can assist the client.

The new caseload management program does more than just scan and assign the work. A call center will be established by the first of the year in Columbia, Bartholoma said. The call center will be able to answer eligibility questions as well as initiate changes in a client’s case.

The Universal Caseload Program was first piloted in June in Cherokee County. Larry Wall, DSS Director in Cherokee, said the agency has improved its ability to manage the workload.

“We feel that we have improved the service we give out clients,” Wall said. “It’s unanimous here. UCL is a win-win for everyone.”

Wall admits, however, that initially the new program got off to a shaky start.

“When we began this pilot, our administrative staff felt overwhelmed,” Wall said. “Now after two months, they are quite comfortable. But this is not by accident. Many people worked very hard to make certain that this level of comfort was achieved by our staff.”

In South Carolina, more than 100,000 households depend on SNAP each month to get the food they need for good health. The program is designed to end hunger and to improve the health of low-income families by helping them buy the food they need for a nutritionally adequate diet.

Sumter County DSS Director Maggie McDonald said there are more than 8,000 families in Sumter that participate in the SNAP program.

“We have not received a schedule for when we will be implementing the new caseload management program,” McDonald said. “Of course, we look forward to learning all about it, and we are committed to making sure we implement the program as it is supposed to be implemented.

People do not need to be receiving Family Independence assistance or to be out of work in order to get food stamps.

People who are working or have regular income from sources other than work, such as Social Security or a retirement pension, disability benefits, child support or unemployment, can often get SNAP benefits.

If you are applying for SNAP benefits, your benefit amount will depend upon the number of people in your food stamp “household,” your “household’s” total monthly income and certain “household” monthly expenses.

For more information, contact your local DSS office.



Contact Staff Writer Randy Burns at rburns@theitem.com or (803) 491-4533.