Utah's safety net for low-income families is looking a bit frayed.

According to a report out this week by the Urban Institute, Utah is the stingiest state in the nation in public spending for families at 200 percent of the poverty level or lower.

The state provides Medicaid, Food Stamps and other benefits totaling $1,712 per low-income person, compared to a $3,264 average nationwide and $6,401 in Maine. Nevada and Idaho also helped make up the bottom of the pack. Bill Tibbetts, executive director of the Crossroads Urban Center, chalks it up to "a general attitude in the West that people are on their own," despite the fact that "you can't actually homestead a few acres if you don't have anything to eat."

"We have a bare-bones Medicaid program" in Utah, he says. "We're comfortable as a state that it's OK not to help people who are at 51 percent of the poverty level." That means that there are lots of people who qualify for Food Stamps who don't qualify for health care, he added. "Here in Utah, we're very close to covering as few people as we can."

Enrollment in CHIP (the State Children's Health Insurance Program) in Utah was closed for a good portion of 2005, the year analyzed in the Urban Institute report, so that was a factor in the state's low numbers. Utah also has a three-year lifetime limit on eligibility for TANF (Temporary Assistance for Needy Families), compared to a five-year limit in most other states. And the state also has one of the lowest take-up rates for Food Stamps, although it's not clear why, noted Voices for Utah Children executive director Karen Crompton.

"I think some of it goes to the belief in personal responsibility, that it is not the role of state government to be the safety net," Crompton said.

Utah has one of the lowest poverty rates in the nation, so that could also be a factor, she said. It also has an economy that's better than most, noted Utah Issues executive director Doug Macdonald.

In Utah, some of the slack may be taken up by faith-based poverty programs, including those provided by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. "If the church doesn't weigh in with data, we're not getting an accurate picture," Macdonald said. "I'd say the church is a big factor in why people don't apply."

Crompton noted, however, that "the bottom line is Utah government just invests less in these programs than most states."

Per capita of eligible persons, Utah spends $101 on child care, compared to $230 nationally, and $850 for Medicaid compared to $1,660 nationally.

According to the report, the federal government and the 50 states spent a total of $165 billion in 2005 to aid poor families with children, $23 billion more than in 2002. The Urban Institute blamed "a slow economy and more demand for public health-insurance coverage" for the increases.

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