By Dagny Salas
The number of people on food stamps has nearly tripled in San Diego County. The county’s hiring more than 60 new workers to help process food stamps applications. After historically doing worse than other counties in enrolling eligible people for food stamps, San Diego County has made changes to make applying easier.
But recent statistics show that San Diego may still only be getting food stamps to about one-third of the people who qualify for them. A 2010 voiceofsandiego.org special report found that the county’s focus on rooting out fraud rather than enrolling eligible people had made it difficult for them for eligible people to get benefits.
In this edition of San Diego Explained, voiceofsandiego.org’s Adrian Florido and NBC7 San Diego’s Catherine Garcia look at the latest numbers and changes in the food stamps program.