State doing a more accurate job of issuing food stamps

ESSEX JUNCTION, Vt. (AP) - The state of Vermont is doing a more accurate job of issuing food stamp benefits to 87,000 residents.

Department of Children and Families Commissioner Ken Schatz reports that the payment error rate for the program, called 3SquaresVT, has dropped to 2.58 percent for Fiscal Year 2014. It was 9.66 percent the previous year.

The Food and Nutrition Service of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which oversees the program nationally, requires states to achieve a minimum accuracy rate of 94 percent when issuing benefits, or face penalties. This means that the percentage of total recipients who were either under- or overpaid must be below 6 percent to be in compliance.