New York City's Food Stamp Program Re "Stigmatizing Food Stamps" (editorial, Jan. 2): With an increase of nearly 500,000 people since 2008, the New York City Food Stamp program today provides more than 1.8 million New Yorkers benefits worth more than $3 billion a year. Given the magnitude of the program, it is imperative that we protect its integrity by preventing duplicate benefits. Requiring applicants to be electronically fingerprinted is a simple and effective way to prevent duplication and fraud by ensuring that people cannot be approved for multiple food-stamp benefits, as was too common in the years before welfare reform. Just a quick glance at the facts and you would understand that the purpose is to deter and detect fraud before it happens, which is why it is not surprising that the process does not lead to criminal prosecutions. Referring low-income New Yorkers for prosecution solely because they once tried to get duplicate food-stamp benefits is not our goal, nor is it a good use of taxpayer dollars. During the last year, by catching potential duplicate benefits before being issued, the process has saved $5 million in taxpayer dollars at a cost of less than $190,000. Last month, the Obama administration awarded the city the Hunger Champion citation, for our efforts to help struggling New Yorkers receive food-stamp benefits. New York City should be proud of the outstanding efforts we have made in providing assistance to people and families in need. ROBERT DOAR Commissioner, New York City Human Resources Administration New York, Jan. 2, 2012