El Paso Families Wage Legal Battle for Food Stamps

AUSTIN, Texas - January 5, 2010 - Nineteen Texas families, including several
from the El Paso area, are demanding that the Texas Health and Human
Services Commission (HHSC) make decisions on their food stamp applications
immediately or face legal action.

Represented by Texas RioGrande Legal Aid (TRLA), the leading provider of
legal aid in Texas, the families are claiming that HHSC has failed to
provide them with decisions on their food stamp applications within the
legally required thirty day deadline.  As a result, they continue to
struggle to feed their families without much needed assistance.

According to TRLA Executive Director David Hall, "This is a problem
affecting thousands of Texas families in a tough economic time. Having to
wait more than one month to find out if you can feed your family is
unacceptable."

Since December more than one hundred families have sought TRLA's assistance
in demanding HHSC make decisions on their applications. With the
organization's help, ninety-seven percent of the families who have demanded
immediate action from the agency have now received decisions.  TRLA
currently represents seven families who have filed a lawsuit against HHSC
related to the delays.

In El Paso approximately one third of the families who received application
decisions in November had to wait longer than thirty days for help.  One out
every five residents in El Paso County received food stamp aid at the end of
2009.

"This is an emergency where thousands of Texans are going hungry everyday,"
added Hall. "No excuse will put food on the table - the agency needs to act
now."

Texans facing similar delays are encouraged to call TRLA's food stamp
hotline at 1-866-757-1570 for assistance.

The families' demand letter and all documents related to the legal struggle
can be found online at http://bit.ly/trlafoodstamps.
Established in 1970, Texas RioGrande Legal Aid, Inc. (TRLA) is a nonprofit
organization that provides free civil legal services to low-income and
disadvantaged clients in a 68-county service area. TRLA's mission is to
promote the dignity, self-sufficiency, safety and stability of low-income
Texas residents by providing high-quality civil legal assistance and related
educational services.