Food aid management improving in Iowa

Iowa was one of the most-improved states when it came to delivering food aid last year, cutting its error rate nearly in half, the Department of Human Services announced Thursday.

Iowa's error rate was 3.36 percent for the federal government's fiscal 2010, compared to 6.49 percent a year earlier. The national error rate for fiscal 2010, which ended last Sept. 30, was 3.81 percent - an all-time low.

Iowa's error rate was 19th-best in the nation, but its improvement was the fifth-best.

The error rate combines the state's overpayment and underpayment rates - 2.72 percent and 0.64 percent, respectively.

Florida had the lowest error rate, at 0.78 percent. The lowest-ranking state was Maryland, 7.68 percent. The most improved states were Texas, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan and Iowa.

“This success comes despite record numbers of recipients and huge caseloads,” DHS Director Chuck Palmer said in a statement accompanying the announcement.

Palmer said the growing use of electronic case files, which enable DHS workers to evaluate applications from any part of the state regardless of the worker's location, played a large role in Iowa's improvement.

The number of Iowans who receive food assistance, a federal program administered by the states, continues to climb. In May, 382,412 Iowans in 177,067 households received food aid, up 11 percent from May 2010. The average allotment was $270.38 per household.

According to the DHS' monthly report, 12,943 Linn County households and 5,245 in Johnson County received food aid in May.