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Food
Stamps in
New Mexico
According
to the U.S. Department of
Agriculture’s annual analysis of food insecurity rates, New Mexico has
the highest rate of people reporting that they are ‘food insecure’ of
any state in the nation. For this reason, the Center has been
dedicated to increasing the effectiveness and reach of the state’s Food
Stamp Program, the single most powerful tool for increasing access to
food for very low-income families in New Mexico.
The Food
Stamp program has the most
resources and the greatest potential to help get food to those who need
it. It helps more than one in ten New Mexicans afford food.
Most of the recipients are children. Of the adult recipients,
most are working poor.
The
Center works extensively with
government, advocates and community organizations to protect and
improve the Food Stamp program in New Mexico. Our work on Food
Stamps currently includes the following objectives:
- Helping
to establish a program to allow
food stamps to be used in restaurants by elderly, homeless or disabled
recipients. Under current state regulations, food stamps may not
be used to purchase any prepared meals. This leaves about 60,000
elderly, disabled or homeless people unable to fully utilize their food
stamp benefits because they cannot use or do not have access to cooking
equipment with which to prepare meals. Federal regulations,
however, permit states to allow limited use of food stamps for certain
categories of individuals. The Center is supporting the state as
it adopts the new Food Stamp Restaurant program.
- Overseeing
implementation of a new Food
Stamp Outreach program. This program will use information
provided by the Income Support Division of New Mexico’s Human Services
Department and the Director of NM’s Tax and Revenue to identify
taxpayers who appear to qualify for Food Stamps but are not receiving
them. Once identified, these individuals will be sent a flyer
explaining that they may qualify for benefits and how to apply for
them. We will be working this summer to ensure this program is
implemented effectively and efficiently.
- Improving
the food stamp application
process and ensuring applicants are screened for expedited food stamp
benefits via the consent decree from the Hatten-Gonzales v. Hyde
decree class action lawsuit. Provisions of this decree
mandate
improvements in the application process for Medicaid and food
stamps. The Center will use legal advocacy to ensure that the
state is abiding by the major components of this decree.
Resources:
In order to have your
face-to-face interview waived, fill in
the below form and send or fax it to your caseworker.
Waiver
Face-to-Face Interview Form
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Request for a Fair
Hearing
If you do not agree with
what is happening to your benefits,
you can request a hearing. Reasons for
requesting a hearing include:
- Never hearing
anything from ISD after you apply for benefits.
- Your benefits are
reduced or cut off.
- Any other changes
to your benefits that you do not agree with.
After you are
informed that your benefits are being stopped
or reduced, or you have not heard anything from ISD 30 days after
applying, you
then have 90 days to request a hearing.
You can use the below form to
request a hearing. Give the request to
your caseworker or the
receptionist and make sure you get a receipt when you turn it in.
You can also call
1-800-432-6217 (toll free) to request a
hearing, but you should also
give the written request to your caseworker or a receptionist and get a
receipt.
Your hearing is to be held
within 60 days from the date ISD
received your request for a hearing.
You should get a notice not
less than 10 days before the
hearing telling you the time and place of the hearing.
You have the right to bring
someone with you to help you
through the hearing, and that person does not have to be an attorney.
If you lose at the hearing, you
can appeal.
Request
For Fair Hearing Form (English & Spanish)
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