The state is “chronically understaffed” in terms of caseworkers who process benefits like food stamps and Medicaid at local county assistance offices, according to a report issued last week by […]
News Items Archive
Letter to the Editor: SNAP cuts real, painful
Regarding the editorial “The SNAP ‘cuts’: Food for thought”: If opponents of America’s food stamp program “focused more attention on helping benefit recipients become breadwinners,” they wouldn’t be stomping their […]
Anti-hunger group’s report details poor service at Pa. welfare department
It’s bad enough when you call the cable company and can’t get through to a human being. But that hardly compares with a new report by the anti-hunger group Just […]
Right for the job: The welfare secretary wants a responsive agency
Beverly Mackereth’s background as a caseworker, supervisor, administrator and state lawmaker means she understands, from the ground up, the complicated Pennsylvania Welfare Department that she now leads.
Pennsylvania welfare department urged to improve its methods
Despite notifying the state several times that she was now working a second job — which could impact her food stamp benefit eligibility — Tammy Toth said she never heard […]
Allegheny County Residents to DPW Head: Fix the Department!
Lost paperwork, benefit delays, being hung up on or treated rudely – those are just some of the problems faced by some residents of Allegheny County as they try to […]
Pennsylvania considering repeal of asset test used in food stamps
State officials are signaling they could repeal or revise a controversial asset test for food stamp recipients — a measure instituted last year that barred thousands of families from receiving […]
Advocate nun headlines Just Harvest fundraiser in Pittsburgh
A fundraising dinner Tuesday for a Pittsburgh-area nonprofit will feature a keynote address by a Catholic nun who gained national prominence as an advocate for President Barack Obama’s health care […]
Program expands access to fresh produce
The federal government aimed to help low-income shoppers avoid the stigma of welfare when it told states to replace food stamps with cards that resemble debit cards. But Emily Schmidlapp, […]
With these votes, they turned their backs on the poor
As a youngster in the 1960s, I was inspired by John Kennedy’s book “Profiles in Courage,” about congressmen in our history who bravely put public service and the good of […]