CHEYENNE -- With Wyoming's unemployment rate topping the 7 percent mark, workers in Department of Family Services field offices in Wyoming are seeing more and more people lining up for food stamps and other public help.

Heather Babbitt, Family Services economic assistance administrator; Coleen Collins, deputy economic assistance administrator; Jacqueline Petroski, consultant with the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), formerly known as food stamps, and Juliette Rule, public information officer, gave an update last week on what the department is doing to help field workers handle the higher workload.

"I think what happens is we see more people walking in the door, with the recession, to see what they're eligible for," Collins said.

The increase has been primarily in the food stamp and Medicaid programs.

Many of these people have just been laid off their jobs and may have too many resources for the month to qualify. They probably will qualify later when their incomes drop.

The workers in the state's 28 Family Services field offices who deal with these people and get them connected to the services they need are called benefit specialists. They are plenty busy these days with a bigger caseload during a time of a state freeze on new hires.

It is also likely they will get busier if job losses grow.

Family Services submitted to the governor's office requests to fill about 25 vacant positions. Three were denied including two benefits specialists and one state position, Rule said.

In his executive order on budget cuts, Gov. Dave Freudenthal gave priority to health and public safety.

Chris Boswell, the governor's chief of staff, said Friday that the Department of Workforce Services, the Department of Employment and Family Services all have had good success rates in filling vacancies.

Family Services also received federal economic stimulus money but the governor does not want those dollars used for new positions. Instead, much of the money is going for weatherization contracts, Boswell said.

The number of Wyoming households receiving food stamps increased from 9,831 to 13,003 between October 2008 and October 2009, Petroski said.

The average caseload is 415, which is quite a bit lower than other states, which can run 1,200 cases per worker.

Those 415 cases are for SNAP, Medicaid, the Power program, primarily for single parents, and child care.

The caseload has increased 15 to 20 percent in the past year, the officials said.

The increases in applications are primarily in areas with layoffs in the mines and oil and gas operations, including coal-bed methane.

These people may not qualify because they had high-paying jobs and owned campers and boats, resources which may make them ineligible for assistance, Petroski said.

Overall, Family Services' goal is to help the field workers work smarter, not harder, the officials said.

Phone calls are held every two weeks with managers and supervisors to exchange ideas on how to streamline their operations.

Increasing the number of telephone interviews of clients is one idea taking hold and appreciated by clients, particularly those who live in rural areas.

Another is to lengthen the time between recertification of clients from three to six months.

Still another is placement of drop boxes for clients to submit their paperwork at Family Services offices.

Even with more cases, the error rates is not up, the officials said.

"Even though we are serving more people, we are providing accurate benefits to the people," Babbitt said.

"The error rate is important to us because it means that people who are eligible for benefits get the benefits they are eligible for," she added.

Contact capital bureau reporter Joan Barron at 307-632-1244 or joan.barron@trib.com

Rising need for help

Here are the county-by-county totals for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, formerly known as food stamps, comparing October 2008 to October 2009:

'08 Total '09 Total

Households Households

District 1

Laramie 2,143 2,643

Albany 583 736

Total 2,726 3,379

District 5

Big Horn 100 130

Hot Springs 98 146

Park-Cody 214 276

Park-Powell 261 343

Washakie 185 214

Fremont-Lander 423 503

Fremont-Riverton 578 729

Arapaho Tribal 217 263

E. Shoshone 174 208

Total 2,250 2,812

District 6

Campbell 343 625

Crook 38 90

Weston 109 102

Johnson 92 119

Sheridan 523 695

Total 1,105 1,631

District 7

Natrona 1,470 1,979

Carbon 351 488

Total 1,821 2,467

District 8

Converse-Douglas 163 226

Converse-Glenrock 62 83

Goshen 442 513

Niobrara 67 85

Platte 178 213

Total 912 1,120

District 10

Lincoln-Kemmerer 33 63

Lincoln-Afton 108 154

Jackson 42 75

Uinta 367 517

Uinta-Lyman 46 102

Sublette 25 33

Sweetwater 396 650

Total 1,017 1,594

State Totals 9,831 13,003

Source: Department of Family Services