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Our Mission
The Caring Council is a voluntary organization dedicated to building and supporting a movement focused on
changing the structures, conditions, and systems that create that create and maintain poverty.
We Serve...
...by working to influence the public policies that impact the quality of life for those of our community.
importance:
1. San Diego’s extremely complex, cumbersome and intrusive application process. To obtain food stamps in San Diego, the
typical applicant must:
2. Fear of retaliation. This fear is strongest among immigrants, many believing that receiving government benefits can lead to deportation. It is particularly difficult for families when the children are citizens but the parents are undocumented.
3. Ignorance. People are not aware of their eligibility for food stamps. This ignorance is exacerbated by the relatively common practice of
verbally denying applications to people and telling them they are ineligible before they apply.
Campaign Outline:
The Caring Council and SPIN have come to the conclusion that the application process is the main reason for the low participation
rate. Our goal is to convince the county to drop Project 100% and to join a statewide effort to eliminate finger imaging as a
requirement for food stamps. This campaign will take three paths. These are:
1. Public Education: We intend to publish a review of the food stamps situation in San Diego County that will point out the
following:
2. Lobby the Board of Supervisors: Our goal is to lobby the Board of Supervisors to drop Project 100%. This campaign will
include:
3. Work with Statewide effort to end finger imaging: Or goal is to convince the state to abandon the requirement of finger
printing every food stamps applicant by working with existing state-wide networks.
The Caring Council is a voluntary organization dedicated to building and supporting a movement focused on
changing the structures, conditions, and systems that create that create and maintain poverty.
We Serve...
 | Children | |
| Families | |
| Working Poor | |
| Single Parents | |
| Public Assistance Recipients | |
| Homeless | |
| Immigrants/Refugees | |
| People with Limited Financial Resources |
| ©2008 The Caring Council Web Design By Marketing Strategies of California www.walterdavisenterprises.com webmaster@sdcaringcouncil.org 760-917-1251 |
CARING COUNCIL/SPIN FOOD STAMPS PARTICIPATION RATE CAMPAIGN
What we know:
Why the participation rate is so low:
Research corroborated by reports from local agencies identifies three reasons for the low participation rate. They are, in order of
What we know:
 | San Diego has the lowest food stamps participation rate in the nation (31%) | |
| Almost 180,000 San Diegans eligible for food stamps don’t receive them | |
| 89% of food stamps in San Diego are paid out to families with children | |
| Hunger and Food Insecurity result in: | |
| Poorer health – more hospitalizations | |
| Delays in reading | |
| Lower reading scores | |
| Lower math scores | |
| Childhood Obesity – especially in girls | |
| Poorer social skills – especially in boys | |
| Food stamps significantly reduce the impact of hunger and food insecurity on children and families | |
| Access to food stamps increases access to healthy food |
Why the participation rate is so low:
Research corroborated by reports from local agencies identifies three reasons for the low participation rate. They are, in order of
1. San Diego’s extremely complex, cumbersome and intrusive application process. To obtain food stamps in San Diego, the
typical applicant must:
| Make an average of five trips to the Food Stamps Office | |
| Complete an extremely complex and confusing application | |
| Agree to be finger printed | |
| Agree to have an unannounced search of their home by an investigator from the District Attorney’s office | |
| In some cases, refuse to accept a verbal denial and demand an application | |
|
3. Ignorance. People are not aware of their eligibility for food stamps. This ignorance is exacerbated by the relatively common practice of
verbally denying applications to people and telling them they are ineligible before they apply.
Campaign Outline:
The Caring Council and SPIN have come to the conclusion that the application process is the main reason for the low participation
rate. Our goal is to convince the county to drop Project 100% and to join a statewide effort to eliminate finger imaging as a
requirement for food stamps. This campaign will take three paths. These are:
1. Public Education: We intend to publish a review of the food stamps situation in San Diego County that will point out the
following:
| The extent of hunger and food insecurity in the county with a particular focus on children | |
| How successful the food stamps program is in reducing the negative impact of hunger and food insecurity | |
| How food stamps impact the economy of San Diego. In particular: | |
| The $135.9 million loss in food stamps translates to a loss of $250.1 million into the local economy, including a $63.6 million | |
| dollar loss to the Grocery Stores | ||
| The loss of $3.1 million in state tax revenue and $1.4 million loss in county tax revenue. Tax revenue generated from food | |
| stamps is greater than the administrative costs of running the program | ||
| How Project 100% costs San Diegans between $7 and $14 million a year to operate. Best estimates of fraud recovery or | |
| prevention due to searches are generally below $500,000 per year. | ||
| How the finger imaging program cost the state $31 million to set up and over $11 million a year to operate. According to | |
| the State Auditor, the program is responsible for reducing fraud by less than 1%. |
2. Lobby the Board of Supervisors: Our goal is to lobby the Board of Supervisors to drop Project 100%. This campaign will
include:
| Present the report of food stamps participation to the public, the Board of Supervisors, County and State Officials, | |
| Use report as a basis for engaging people, build a broad based coalition that would include: social service agencies, faith- | |
| based organizations, community organizations and coalitions, the County Grocers Association, Tax Payers Association, etc. | ||
| Meet with members of the Board of County Supervisors individually to present our case | |
| Form groups of concerned citizens within each supervisory district who will call on their representative to bring an end to | |
| Project 100% through letters, office visits and statements at Board of Supervisor meetings | ||
| Meet with staff of County Department of Health and Human Services to present findings and encourage them to support an | |
| end to Project 100% |
3. Work with Statewide effort to end finger imaging: Or goal is to convince the state to abandon the requirement of finger
printing every food stamps applicant by working with existing state-wide networks.