Shhhh! Help is available for poor people. Don’t pass it on.
Gov. Sam Brownback’s administration has discontinued use of a federal grant program to help poor people apply for food stamps. Theresa Freed, a spokeswoman for the Kansas Department for Children and Families (DCF), was quoted as saying, “We simply do not believe taxpayer dollars should be used to recruit people to be on welfare.”
Five community outreach groups had applied for federal funding and it had been approved to start on Oct. 1. But on Sept. 30, DCF told the groups it was turning down the federal money.
And so, Rice County Communities That Serve won’t receive a $16,267 grant earmarked for that purpose. Marian Poe, director at the Rice County Communities that Serve, told Kansas Health Institute she laid herself off last week, and she doubted the program would be able to offset loss of the grant funding.
Catholic Social Service in Dodge City won’t get $14,506; USDA Food Bank, Wichita, won’t get $13,819; Harvesters, Kansas City, won’t get $14,314; and Community Access, Independence, won’t get $12,621.
And we won’t have to come up with food for hungry people, because we won’t tell them they are eligible or help them apply for help.