Food Stamp Service Interrupted in Guilford County

Thousands of residents in Guilford County have been without food stamps for several weeks.

Jeff Tiberii: Problems started last month when the county department of social services began using a new software program. Steve Hayes with social services says there were significant delays in processing, applications and re-certifications.

Steve Hayes: The primary causes for the delays was when the staff was trying to learn a new complex case management system; there were some glitches in the software itself and our own computers had issues with the software that requires us to our desktops.

Hayes says about 4,000 of the 44,000 families in Guilford that receive food stamps were affected. The county is one of four in the state participating in this new pilot program that will eventually be part of a statewide system. None of the other counties are reporting any problems. Because of the delays, the Urban Ministry has had twice as many emergency food requests this past week.