Thousands of Rhode Islanders who qualify for food stamps don’t sign up for the program, and some advocates say the state isn’t doing enough to encourage them to enroll.

About 140,000 residents qualify for the program, which gives individuals and families monthly food allowances. However, only 52 percent of those eligible actually receive the benefits. Only four states have lower participation rates, according to a federal study.

Many eligible Rhode Islanders don’t think they qualify, think the application process is too cumbersome or simply can’t make it to state offices to enroll because the hours conflict with their jobs.

“The state doesn’t seem to be creative about getting those participation numbers up,” said Henry Shelton, one of the state’s most relentless activists for the poor. “We’re leaving millions of dollars in Washington.”

The food stamp program is paid for by the federal government. Last year, the government gave out nearly $81 million in food stamps to Rhode Islanders.

Adding just 1,000 more people to the program would bring in an additional $1.1 million. Shelton, who is the coordinator of the George Wiley Center, in Pawtucket, said this is essentially free money that would help boost the state’s economy. Food stamps are accepted at large grocery stores, many corner stores and even at some farmers markets. Participants pay for their food with a debit card and can purchase anything from milk to fruit to cereal to potato chips.

“If millions of dollars extra come into Rhode Island, that should equal new jobs,” Shelton said.

The state Department of Human Services administers the program and pays half the expenses for enrolling people and running outreach programs.

Bob McDonough, who runs the program for the state, said the hardest group to sign up is the elderly. Many think they earn too much, he said, while others think the benefits would be insignificant.

“As we go out and try to educate the population, those are the myths we have to deal with all the time,” McDonough said.

To qualify for food stamps, someone generally must have an income of less than 130 percent of the federal poverty level. That’s a little more than $27,000 for a family of four or $18,000 for a family of two. They must also have less than $2,000 in liquid assets, or $3,000 for most elderly or disabled. Ownership of a car or a house where they live is not included in that threshold.

On average, Rhode Islanders get about $92 a month from the program.

Bill Flynn, director of community programs for the Rhode Island Community Food Bank, said that many people think they earn too much to be part of the program. He also said the application process and a recertification every six months is extremely cumbersome, especially considering that — for the most part — they involve interviews with state officials. Finally, there is a small group of people, Flynn said, who decide not to seek help because of a stigma they have attached to it.

Flynn said the state should streamline the process for applying and hire more staff to process the applications.

“Everybody could always use more staff but the reality is that we aren’t going to have it,” Alexander said. “We’re making do with what we have.”

He said the Department of Human Services has wanted to experiment with evening hours but that the state has yet to reach an agreement with the unions to allow different work hours.

“I just don’t buy that,” Flynn said in response. “I think you can improve any process. There just seems to be almost a sense of defeatism about we’re doing what we can.”

The department now offers publications in five languages: English, Spanish, Portuguese, Khmer and Lao. To help complete the applications, the department said, it has translators at some offices during certain hours.

Rhode Island has a lot of ground to make up.

In the last five years, the state has seen the number of people on food stamps grow 1.75 percent, to 73,195. It was one of the slowest growth rates in the nation. Hawaii was the only state in the country to have a lower growth rate. Nationally, the number of people on food stamps grew by 40 percent, according to Journal calculations of data from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which administers the program.

The Department of Agriculture released a report in October showing how many of people of an eligible population were enrolled in the program. Rhode Island ranked near the very bottom of the list with only 52 percent. Only New Jersey, Massachusetts, Wyoming and California have lower rates: 50, 49, 48 and 46 percent, respectively.

In general, the Northeast has the lowest participation rate. But states such as Maine, with a 77 percent participation rate, rank near the top of the country.

Shelton said its time for the state to stop coming up with excuses. He said if the governor wanted the rate to be at 75 percent, people would make it a priority.

“Using the traditional methods doesn’t seem to be cutting the mustard,” Shelton said. “We’ve got to think outside the box with much more creative ways to get people in.”

“It’s a mindset: they’re the poor people, we don’t have to worry about them,” he added. But, “they’re hungry people.”

smayerow@projo.com