Promising Practices - Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania – When Allegheny County experienced its first noticeable influx of Hispanic immigrants a couple of years ago, the Hunger Services Program of the Urban League of Greater Pittsburgh contacted the newly formed Hispanic Center of Pittsburgh to partner in coordinating and delivering services to low income households. Hunger Services’ Food Stamp outreach program offers pre-screening and application assistance. They attribute their success with the Hispanic community to the availability of corollary services offered at the Urban League (employment, housing, and emergency food) through which they have been able to build the trust necessary to be effective at encouraging low income clients to apply for Federal nutrition assistance. For more information, contact: Jim Jackson, Hunger Services of the Urban League of Greater Pittsburgh, 412-325-0745, jjackson@ulpgh.org.

Pennsylvania – Pathmark grocery stores in Philadelphia find underserved areas and hold Food Stamp Program eligibility pre-screening events in a store in that area. For more information, contact Jeanne Hutchins at Jeanne.Hutchins@fns.usda.gov

Pennsylvania – The Commonwealth, in partnership with The Food Trust in Philadelphia and Just Harvest in Pittsburgh, has established wireless Point of Sale (POS) terminals for Food Stamp Program electronic benefit transactions (EBT) at five Farmers’ Markets. The Commonwealth pays the operating expenses related to food stamp purchases. Various charitable organizations purchased the wireless POS devices. In neighborhoods where more than 50 percent of the population is eligible for the Food Stamp Program, this technology has allowed clients to resume purchasing fresh produce with their Food Stamp Program benefits, now by EBT instead of coupons. To date, over hundreds of dollars have been generated in EBT sales and there are plans to expand wireless POS to other markets. For more information, contact: Brian Lang, The Food Trust, blang@thefoodtrust.org .

Pennsylvania – Save-A-Lot grocery stores partnered with the Greater Philadelphia Coalition Against Hunger to conduct a Food Stamp Program event in West Philadelphia in a neighborhood identified as one with a low income population. Save-A-Lot hosted a four-hour fair on a busy Saturday, complete with balloons, food, and face painting for the children. Volunteers from the Greater Philadelphia Coalition Against Hunger staffed the tables, handed out information on the Food Stamp Program, and conducted eligibility pre-screenings with interested customers. About 67 percent were found to be potentially eligible for Food Stamp Program benefits. The event received a positive reaction from the community, and provided a much needed service in terms of educating low wage earners that FSP benefits may be available to low income wage earners. The outreach event will be repeated at this store, and Save-A-Lot is working with FNS to identify local partners to help host more prescreening events at stores across the country. For more information, contact: Jennifer Adach, Project Manager, Government Programs and Community Relations, Save-A-Lot, Earth City MO, Jennifer.adach@save-a-lot.com , 202-352-2178.

Pennsylvania – When applications for the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) are received by mail at the York County Assistance Office, the eligibility staff checks to see whether the applicants are on other assistance programs. If not receiving Food Stamp Program benefits, the staff sends a letter that advises them of their potential eligibility for the program, along with a postage-paid envelope and web address for the State on-line application system called COMPASS. For the first half of 2005, the local office received 6,500 LIHEAP applications, mailed more than 1,200 food stamp applications and opened between 225 and 250 cases as a result of this activity. For more information, contact: Fred Landau, Executive Director, York County Assistance Office, 717-771-1257, flandau@state,pa.us.

Pennsylvania – The Department of Public Welfare was granted a two-year waiver by the Food and Nutrition Service allowing representatives of 19 faith- and community-based organizations to conduct the interview for initial certification for Food Stamp Program benefits. The waiver affects households composed of all elderly and/or disabled people who do not have earned income, and applies throughout the state. This initiative, approved to last until the end of November 2006, should benefit applicants both in time and money saved, and it should better utilize the time of eligibility staff. For more information, contact: Donna Roe, Supervisor, PDPW, 717-772-7906, drow@state.pa.us.

Last modified: 04/30/2009