In Los Angeles, everything is on wheels — mobile blood banks and HIV-testing units; mobile grocery stores, selling produce off the backs of trucks; mobile dental clinics; and of course the vaunted food trucks, which have all but taken over the city’s food scene.

The county’s mobile unit will give people who may not be comfortable going to a county office an alternative. (photo courtesy of the L.A. County Department of Public Social Services)

But now, the Los Angeles County Department of Public Social Services (DPSS) in rolling out a brand new kind of service vehicle: the food stamp truck. Last week, the Health and Nutrition Mobile Unit hit the streets across Los Angeles County to sign up eligible people for food stamps and MediCal.

Demand — and eligibility — for food stamps has risen during the recession.  The Department of Agriculture has reported that 2.9 million Californians who are eligible for Federal Food Stamps do not receive them. Los Angeles County Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky, 3rd District, estimated that only 50 percent of Los Angeles County residents eligible for food stamps actually receive them.

At the mobile unit’s first event, at the St. Josheph’s Center in Venice, Yaroslavsky talked about the importance of signing up those eligible for food stamps, as well as linking them with other health and mental health services, if necessary.

Judith Lillard, chief of the general relief and food stamp division for the DPSS, said the mobile unit will only be one piece of an ongoing effort to get more Los Angeles County residents signed-up for food stamps, which also includes sending outreach workers to local non-profit organizations, and setting up tables at events like job fairs.

Lillard hopes the truck will help get people who might be reluctant to go into a DPSS office linked with food stamps.

“Because general relief is offered in DPSS offices, people refer to them as ‘welfare offices’,” Lillard said. “Those who don’t consider themselves in need of welfare, especially the working poor, sometimes feel it’s degrading to go to a DPSS office. With the mobile unit, we can avoid those issues.”

In addition, Lillard said the truck would be able to link people with social services in case of a disaster, like a fire or earthquake.

“It’s a dual usage,” Lillard said. “We do food stamp and medical outreach, and in case of a disaster, we have a mobile office wherever we need to take it in the county, already fitted with the same computers we have in our offices.”

In the meantime, the truck will be part of a multi-faceted effort to sign Los Angeles County residents up for food stamps. Already, DPSS staffers make outreach visits to local nonprofit organizations like the SOVA food banks runs by Jewish Family Services (JFS).

Joan Mithers, director of food, hunger, and community support programs at JFS, called the DPSS site visits a “well-utilized service” that signs many people up for food stamps.

However, Lillard said the mobile unit allows DPSS staff to streamline the food stamp application process outside the office. People who sign up for food stamps at the truck would not have to go into a DPSS office at all until they wanted to renew their benefits after the first year — especially those who worry about their immigration status.

“Lots of immigrants have misinformation, and think food stamps will effect their immigration standing. They don’t. Cash benefits can, but food stamps do not. A lot of immigration attorneys have given out a lot of bad information.”

In addition, Lillard stressed that getting more people on food stamps is a boon for the whole community, not just those receiving the benefit.

“Food stamp dollars are spent in stores around the county,” Lillard said. “That’s more cash that moves around and helps the economy. It’s good for all of us to see federal money coming in and filling that void that exists right now.”