No More Fingerprinting for California Food Stamps

According to a story in the Los Angeles Times, Governor Jerry Brown has ended the fingerprint requirement for CalFresh Benefits (California food stamps).

The Department of Social Services States that they spent around $14 million in money to have have Food Stamp applicants fingerprinted, but they claim to have saved $60 million in welfare fraud.

Questions about the effectiveness of the program to prevent food stamp fraud in particular were raised, so Governor Brown nixed the requirement.

Meanwhile, a report showed that only half of the people who are eligible for CalFresh were actually participating in the program. Elderly people in particular have been identified as being underserved. Therefore, an effort is underway to get all eligible elderly Californians enrolled into the program.