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Promising Practices - New Jersey
New Jersey – The Essex County Division
of Welfare, thinking about how they wanted to provide good service to
seniors and people with disabilities, decided to use their USDA
performance bonus money to purchase a bus. The Mobile Citizen Services
Center is large enough to accommodate three family service workers, a
driver and a receptionist. It is equipped with laptop computers, a
wireless connection, a copier, cell phones, traditional office supplies,
brochures, posters and much more. The bus also is outfitted with tables
and an awning to provide shade and additional space during warm weather
months. More importantly, it is completely compliant with the Americans
with Disabilities Act. For more information, contact: Marc Pilchman,
Essex County Division of Welfare,
mpilchma@oel.state.nj.us,
973-733-3306.
New Jersey – In Atlantic County, many households potentially
eligible for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program live quite a
distance from the closest local office. Convinced that more could be
done to reach these households, the county established six outstation
sites where individuals can obtain supplemental nutrition assistance. In
addition, because the local agency knew a barrier for working families
involved their inability to come to an office during normal business
hours, the outstation sites are open from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. on a couple
of days a week. One of the sites in the rural part of the county serves
a large population of Spanish-speaking people, many of whom labor
seasonally at the farms and fruit orchards. Other sites are located at
community centers and assisted living centers. In the first three months
of operation they processed 278 supplemental nutrition assistance cases
through their outreach efforts. For more information, contact Charles
Bell, Atlantic County Department of Family and Community Development,
bell_charles@aclink.org,
609-485-0052, ext. 236.
New Jersey – The Essex County Outreach
Unit takes Food Stamp Program applications off-site, provides training
to community groups and conducts in-home visits. They started by
targeting food pantries, and now include schools, job and health fairs,
post-TANF outreach expos that target former TANF/Food Stamp Program
customers, and family violence meetings. For more information, contact:
Bruce Nigro, Essex County Division of Welfare,
bnigro@oel.state.nj.us,
973-733-3315.
New Jersey – The Department of Human Services implemented a
number of projects in 2003 in an effort to develop more
customer-friendly services and thereby increase participation in the
Food Stamp Program. Four of these projects have proven especially
beneficial to date; 1) a voice response system that provides food stamp
information 24-7 and reminds customers of their scheduled certification
interview; 2) a project to increase participation by the elderly in
which an outreach worker pre-screens at 20 sites and the screenings are
tracked to determine whether applications were completed; 3) an on-line
pre-screening and application tool; and 4) a large-scale campaign that
advertised the program through ads on buses and radio stations and in
newspapers. For more information, contact: Marybeth Schaedel,
Coordinator of GA/Food Stamp Programs,
mary.schaedel@dhs.state.nj.us,
609-588-2197.
New Jersey – The Bergen County Board of Social Services in the
northern part of the state is keeping kids busy during Food Stamp
Program interviews. The agency gives the youngsters crayons and a
colorful, double-sided, 11” x 17” nutrition activity sheet, designed and
printed by the agency. Children love the materials, they stay
entertained, and the interview proceeds faster because there are fewer
distractions. If others decide to design their own activity sheet, it is
helpful to involve staff volunteers in the project and to keep in mind
the ages of the target group. For more information, contact: Patricia
Bogert, Training Supervisor, pbogert@bcbss.com,
201-368-7677.
Last modified:
04/30/2009
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