Mary Jo Pitzl

The Republic | azcentral.com

A total of 21,000 Maricopa County residents will lose food-stamp benefits as of April 1

Social-service agencies are bracing for a wave of confusion and appeals for food when a food-stamp benefit expires this spring.

Nearly 33,000 Arizonans will lose their eligibility for food stamps this year, with 21,000 in Maricopa County facing the cut as of April 1.

The change is due to Arizona's improving employment rate, which ended the ability of certain adults to collect food stamps through the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. As of Jan. 1, a three-month clock started on the eligibility of "able-bodied adults without dependents" to get food stamps.

The thinking is with an improving economy, people should be able to find work and end their reliance on government support.

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But human-services groups, from food banks to homeless advocates to the Valley of the Sun United Way, are concerned word of the pending cutoff date won't reach some beneficiaries, many of whom change homes frequently or are homeless. That means they would only learn of the loss of benefits when they go to the grocery store in April, human-services professionals said Friday in a news conference.

To head that off, the groups will be working to find the beneficiaries and get them enrolled in a training program, work or a volunteer capacity that would allow the food stamps to continue. As long as a person works 80 hours a month, the individual can continue to receive food stamps, said Angie Rodgers, president and CEO of the Arizona Association of Food Banks.

"I would imagine there will be some confusion," Rodgers said after the news conference. People with felony records and drug convictions have a hard time finding jobs even in the best of economies, she said, and tracking down homeless recipients could be challenging.

“Our food banks are going to remain concerned about this, as we hit that three-month point," she said. "When those folks need emergency nutrition, will they come to our food banks?”

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There are exceptions. The cutoff does not apply to people over age 50 or under age 18, to pregnant women, or to students, among others.

The end of benefits for able-bodied adults returns Maricopa County, as well as Pima and Yavapai counties, to the policy that was in place prior to the start of the Great Recession. But once the unemployment rate rose in 2009, Arizona triggered a requirement in the federal law that extended food-stamp benefits to a wider population.

In Pima County, the three-month cutoff takes effect on July 1; it's Oct. 1 in Yavapai County.

Reach the reporter at maryjo.pitzl@arizonarepublic.com and follow her on Twitter @maryjpitzl