Applications for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, commonly known as food stamps, are pouring into El Paso County’s Department of Human Services at a rate of about 700 a week. The deluge has pushed local food stamp usage to all-time highs.About 49,400 residents in nearly 21,000 households got food stamps last month, Arturo Serrano, economic assistance manager for the local human services office, said Tuesday.“I don’t see it stopping right now,” he said.To meet demand, Serrano’s office this week began offering evening appointments and added Saturday hours. More caseworkers have been hired, and many employees are working overtime, Serrano said.Additional staffing and other measures to maximize work flow have improved the time it takes to process applications, he added. The department had a 45 percent timeliness rate at the end of fiscal year 2008. By March, the percentage had increased to 67 percent, and last week, “we were sitting at our best we’ve been in months: 92 percent timely processing,” Serrano said.

Photo by R. SCOTT RAPPOLD, The Gazette