A new Nevada County Grand Jury, also with a new foreman, has been sworn in for the next fiscal year that begins on Wednesday, July first. But one more report has been issued by the outgoing group. And it says the county is still not very effective in enrolling all potential residents for CalFresh benefits, with the tenth-lowest enrollment rate, at 58-percent. The report says a lack of information about the program and eligibility rules, as well as misconceptions, are among the barriers. And Foreman Gordon Mangel also cites frustrations with the application process…

The county’s Health and Human Services Director, Ryan Gruver, agrees that better outreach is needed. He says they’ve been attending more community events, including the farmer’s markets…

The report says outreach could be directed at a larger and more varied number of locales and events. Also, prepopulated applications for Medi-Cal recipients. It says in 2016, the county didn’t receive over 10-million dollars in federal funds, due to the enrollment shortcomings. And it says since it’s estimated that every dollar of CalFresh benefits generates a-dollar-79 in the local economy, the loss to the county was about 19-million dollars.