Needy still suffering from persistent delays in state's benefits system

Source: Denver Post

Massive delays continue to plague the state benefits system for Medicaid, food stamps and other assistance, obstructing hundreds of thousands of residents and prompting a new contempt of court call by legal advocates for the poor.

Read more: http://www.denverpost.com/news/ci_17171568

My better half will be leaving me soon and once she does 90% of my income will go into rent. I was frankly told by someone who should know that to avoid risking starvation I should enter the food stamp program now, because it will take months before anyone even contacts me to set up an appointment.

At least go to the online website and see if you will qualify and find out what you will need to do. Getting prepared is much easier when you still have food in your belly and aren't in that desperate phase.

So the best I can do is have everything ready when it happens. I have the choice to lie to get the ball rolling early so that it comes through when I'm actually going to need it. Or I can play by the rules and eat grubs, or bum food off of my family and friends.

So I'll do the latter, but it bothers me that the purported delay in service is longer than it takes for a human to starve to death. Somehow, I feel that should be a target.

If you are earning enough money to pay a mortgage, odds are you are making too much money to qualify for food stamps.

The bar is set real low. As I mentioned previously, it is best to go to your state's site now and find out.

A 100% raise would not put me above the poverty level, at this point; unfortunately, that's just what I need to pull off to pay the rent. I think I can do it, but I'll only have around $25 a month for everything else, assuming everything goes well.

So I took your advice and started poking around. Annoyingly, finding out what the exact qualifications are without actually applying is looking like a night's work (if I apply now, I'm told, I'll be rejected).

However, I am pleased to note that there is an emergency assistance sub-program that claims to be able to dispense aid within 24 hours, should I eventually qualify.

I will definitely keep working on this over the coming weeks, and be ready when the time comes.

We've been "privatized" :(

money and now when so many are turning to these programs they are overloaded. Another long list that you might want to look into is for rent vouchers. If you qualify they are a great help. You find them at the local Housing Authority. Be warned they have long waiting lists but they also have a priority list that bumps some people to the top faster.