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Summary:
The number of people receiving food stamps continues to climb, hitting another record for May.
June 18
Number of food-stamp recipients sets record again
Tulsa World (Oklahoma City, Oklahoma)
Barbara Hoberock
The number of people receiving food stamps continues to climb, hitting another record for May.
The Commission for Human Services on Tuesday got an overview of the increase.
As of May, 474,971 people were receiving food stamps, also called the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, which is paid for with federal dollars.
“It is an all-time record,” DHS Director Howard Hendrick, told the commission.
That figure is 16.2 percent more than it was a year ago, he said.
In the last 60 days, about 30,000 food-stamp recipients have been added, which is a little more than 500 a day, Hendrick said.
Still, Oklahoma has not see the dramatic increases that other states have seen, DHS spokesman George Johnson said.
But the state is not insulated from the national recession, he said.
Unlike Temporary Assistance to Needy Families, which has a 60-month lifetime limit, food stamps have no time limit, Johnson said.
Officials are not able to project when the increase will plateau and begin to drop, nor is there an “average profile” of a person who receives food stamps, he said.
Eligibility for food stamps is based on income, the number of people in the family and other factors, Johnson said.
Delivered electronically, food stamps cover only edible food, and not other items such as alcohol, toilet paper or aluminum foil, he noted.
