The Jeffco Action Center in Lakewood burned through its $300 monthly budget to help the poor obtain proper identification in just 10 days this month. In Denver, Metro CareRing ran out of its monthly allotment of about the same amount a few days later.
Both nonprofit social-service agencies have been hit by a wave of indigent people seeking to comply with Colorado’s get-tough stand against illegal immigrants.
They’re beginning to flock to agencies such as Jeffco and Metro for financial help to get the birth certificates and state-issued ID cards they need.
Other community groups that feed or provide help to the needy say this may be a harbinger of future problems. They are bracing for a rush of new clients unable to obtain services for lack of identification or proper legal status.
Community groups and churches worry they’ll eventually have to turn people away. Some, like Jeffco Action, already are.
“We are the trauma unit for those in dire circumstances, and our resources, which are already stretched to the max, are at the snapping point,” said Mag Strittmatter, executive director of the Jeffco Action Center.
The center provides a variety of services to the needy, including money to obtain documents.
“Everybody’s in the same boat, and we’re referring people back and forth, and the money’s not there,” Strittmatter said.
Without Jeffco’s help to pay for her state ID card, shelter resident Glenda Gerbitz figures she would be shut out from the services that keep her going.
“I’d probably be out there picking up pop bottles,” the 55-year-old woman said.
A hike in the state’s fees for key documents has compounded the problem, Metro CareRing executive director Jonathan Holmer said.
The Department of Revenue on July 1 bumped the cost of state identification cards to $7.60 from $4.10, a move that was mandated by the legislature in 2000.
Similarly, the Department of Public Health and Environment increased the fee for a certified birth certificate from $15 to $17 in June, the first boost in 11 years, department officials said.
The press for identification documents is eating up funds quicker than agencies had planned.
“We expect to serve about 200 fewer people over the next six months,” Holmer said.
Metro CareRing has $5,000 per year to help with ID-record purchases, leaving little room for the demand the new law has created, Holmer said.
Colorado’s law limits the documents an applicant can use to prove their legal status.
A valid driver’s license or state identification card tops the list, but military IDs, tribal records, immigration visas or citizenship papers are also allowed.
Birth certificates, while acceptable proof of lawful residence under federal laws governing Medicaid and food stamps, are not sufficient for other state benefit programs.
They are accepted, however, when someone is applying for a driver’s license or state-issued identification card – but a second ID is required.
“I didn’t have the money for my birth certificate, but Jeffco did,” said Mitchell Tafoya, 18, an apprentice carpenter from west Denver. “Without that help, I wouldn’t have my apartment or my job.”
The Colorado Department of Revenue offers temporary waivers to people without any documentation, but not if their only problem is money.
Agencies that do not require a recipient to apply for aid – food pantries and shelters among them – are exempt from the law.
“We anticipate a roll-down effect to other parts of our operation, such as personal-care items that people desperately need to have,” Strittmatter said.
The impact would be on food pantries and agencies that offer items not paid for by food stamps, such as toiletries.
Staff writer David Migoya can be reached at 303-820-1506 or dmigoya@denverpost.com.
