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Some say 'online' will mean 'out of reach'

Soon, people in east Pasco who need DCF services will have to apply online or through a community partner. Some say that may not work.

By MOLLY MOORHEAD
Published October 20, 2005

LACOOCHEE - Inside a one-room mobile home in the middle of a low-income housing complex, Isa Blanford sits at what might be the area's only publicly accessible computer.

It's a few years old, connected to the World Wide Web via phone line.

And because of its outdated innards, it crashes while trying to load the state Department of Children and Families online application for food stamps, Medicaid and temporary cash assistance.

"I've had people come to my center to apply, but I don't have the appropriate (equipment) for them to do it," Blanford, director of the Lacoochee Family Neighborhood Center, said Wednesday. "You're shutting a whole set of people out."

DCF has announced plans to close its office on State Road 52 across from the Pasco County Fairgrounds in February and ship the 29 employees who work there to its New Port Richey office.

Then, people in east Pasco who need its services will have to apply online or through a "community partner" that serves as an access point to DCF.

But the list of those partners - there are 18 in the Dade City area - is not public.

Blanford worries that the online approach, which has saved Florida taxpayers $49-million over two years, won't work in Lacoochee, a poor community of about 1,840.

Blanford identifies challenges such as illiteracy, lack of computer knowledge and lack of transportation.

"A lot of people here have no idea how to even get started," she said.

The situation may be similar in nearby Trilby.

A community center with an active association has no computers. The group's outgoing chairman, Denny Mihalinec, says acquiring them has long been a goal.

"Now it's even more urgent," he said. "It's really a huge disadvantage for people out here."

Dade City and Lacoochee have a total of eight low-income housing complexes that are home to roughly 700 people, many of whom also rely on DCF services. None of the complexes has public computer access, so the county's housing authority directs people to such places as the Hugh Embry library in downtown Dade City.

DCF suggests that, too, along with working through its partners.

Andy Ritter, the department's spokesman in Tampa, said he didn't know whether there are any community partners in Trilby or Lacoochee.

All but one of the 18 chooses not to publicize its role. The only one that does is Children In Need of Services/Families In Need of Services, but it serves only its clients. The names of the other agencies, which include hospitals and nursing homes, aren't made available because some of them may not serve the public.

DCF says it is working to recruit more partners before February.

Ritter said the shift to doing business online will be a convenience, even for poor people.

"Obviously, if they're not computer literate, they know someone that is that is helping them," he said.

Of the 683 applications the department received in Pasco County during the first week in October, nearly 85 percent were done online, he said. That's higher than the statewide rate of about 60 percent.

"The data . . . suggests that, I think, people are a lot more computer savvy than maybe we give them credit for," he said.

That's true of Betty Ballard, a 34-year-old unemployed single mother in Lacoochee. She said she applied for food stamps and Medicaid online several months ago. She called the process tedious but said once the application went through, she got her benefits without any problems.

Blanford still worries: "If you're not computer-literate, imagine."

Molly Moorhead covers news about east Pasco. She can be reached at 352 521-6521 or toll-free 1-800-333-7505, ext. 6521. Her e-mail address is moorhead@sptimes.com

[Last modified October 20, 2005, 01:20:19]