Denver Post | August 12, 2009

Under siege for statewide delays in getting people food stamps on time, state officials said Wednesday that by October people can check whether they’re eligible for food and other kinds of assistance online.

But people won’t be able to apply for help on a new website until March 2010.

Tens of thousands more people in the metro area are on food or medical assistance since last summer. In Denver County alone, caseloads are up 20,000 people from 137,124 in June 2008 to 158,527 this summer.

Counties are behind in getting people food stamps on time. They say the swell of new clients is forcing wait times to exceed 30 days to get money on the EBT, or food stamp, cards. Private foundations, many of which have provided thousands of dollars in food for pantries during the recession, have pressured Gov. Bill Ritter to improve the computer program that processes food stamp and Medicaid applications. County officials say the program is counterintuitive and takes 45 minutes to fill out a single application for help.

The work on a new website is just one of many improvements coming to the Colorado Benefits Management System, a $166.4 million computer system that processes food stamp and medical assistance applications, state officials said.

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