The state is streamlining its food stamp application procedures and urging social service providers to increase outreach after the number of food stamp users in Hawai'i plummeted by 19 percent over the past five years — while every other state saw more people using the federally funded program.

The number of residents receiving food stamps in Hawai'i has declined by more than 20,000 since 2001, federal statistics show. In June, the latest month for which figures were available, about 86,200 people were in the program.

State officials and advocates for the poor say there are probably several factors at play in the participation drop, including red tape involved in applying for food stamps.

Food stamp users must earn a net monthly income at or below the federal poverty guidelines, which was $1,591 in 2005 for a family of three in the Islands. Participants also have to fulfill a work requirement or take job training.

"We haven't done outreach in the past, but we've decided this is something we want to do," said Linda Tsark, food stamp administrator for the Department of Human Services.

"We want to make sure we are serving whoever is eligible."

POTENTIAL ROADBLOCKS

Hawai'i's decline comes as the other 49 states are seeing increases in food stamp use. Nationally, the number of people in the program increased by 49 percent from 2001 to 2006.

Lisa Martinez, who gets $108 a month in food stamps for her and her teenage daughter, said the work requirement for food stamp eligibility discourages mothers of young children from applying.

Martinez, of Wahiawa, also said some choose not to participate in the program because they don't know whether they'll qualify or how to apply. And some don't want the stigma of paying with food stamps, she said.

Tsark said people wanting to get food stamps must have an in-person interview with a social worker; that can be a hardship for residents without a car and others.

Application offices aren't always nearby. On Maui, for example, two food stamp application offices are in Makawao, but there are none in Lahaina or Hana, advocates pointed out.

FUNDING FOR OUTREACH

Tsark said she wants to allow telephone interviews for applicants and envisions creating an online form for signing up. The state Department of Human Services will ask for outreach funding in the coming legislative session.

In the meantime, Tsark is getting in touch with providers who help with low-income residents in hopes of boosting participation in the food stamp program.

Hawai'i historically has had a high food stamp participation rate. In 2001 it ranked second in the nation, reaching 85 percent of those eligible for the program. A year later, the rate fell to 76 percent.

In 2003, the latest year for which such figures are available, 67 percent of Hawai'i residents eligible for food stamps were in the program, well above the national average of 56 percent.

The state this year co-funded a study with the Legal Aid Society of Hawai'i to investigate potential barriers for low-income residents using food stamps. The report is expected to be finished as early as next month.

Rochelle Sparko, the Legal Aid Society attorney who conducted the survey, said it appears hundreds of Hawai'i residents who are eligible for food stamps choose not to participate because of the hassles involved.

She declined to discuss the results of the report, but said many social service providers have expressed frustration with food stamp application procedures.

"The benefit amount is not huge. Sometimes it's not worth all of the paperwork," Sparko said. "People just drop out."

Though Tsark said at least a portion of the decrease could be attributed to a healthy economy here, advocates pointed out the poverty rate has not decreased significantly since 2001.

HUNGER SURVEY

Meanwhile, a survey of Hawai'i Foodbank clients shows only about 37 percent are getting food stamps.

About 25 percent of those who had never applied said it was too hard to get to the food stamp office, and 10 percent said they didn't know where to apply.

The survey appears in the Hunger in America 2006 study, and represents a sampling of the 131,862 people who were helped at the Hawai'i Foodbank last year, said Polly Kauahi, director of development at the Hawai'i Foodbank.

Kauahi said upping participation in the food stamp program is a national priority, not just a local one.

"I think there's a lot of work to be done," she said. "We're all pitching in and trying to get it done."

Reach Mary Vorsino at mvorsino@honoluluadvertiser.com.