State officials said Wednesday that by October, Coloradans will be able to check whether they are eligible for food and other kinds of assistance online.
But people won’t be able to apply for help on the new website until March.
Tens of thousands more people in the metro area are on food or medical assistance since last summer.
In Denver alone, caseloads are up more than 20,000 people, from 137,124 in June 2008 to 158,527 this summer.
In Adams County, 42,245 people are on some sort of government assistance. Last summer that number was 36,633.
Counties are behind in getting people food stamps on time because of all the new people, they say. Private foundations, many of which have provided thousands of dollars in food for pantries during the recession, have pressured Gov. Bill Ritter to improve the $166.4 million computer program that processes food-stamp and Medicaid applications.
