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Summary:

Facing a growing backlog of hundreds of food stamp applicants, the state will use federal stimulus money to hire three workers and buy a new telephone system to deal with the problem.

July 14

Facing backlogs, state boosts staff for food stamps

The Providence Journal (Providence, Rhode Island)
Paul Davis
July 14, 2009

Donalda Carlson, associate director of individual and family support services at the Department of Human Services, will also seek permission to hire more workers to help with the surge in applications.

Also, on Saturday, employees at the Providence food stamp office will work overtime to help as many as 700 people seeking assistance, Carlson said. The Elmwood Avenue office is usually closed on weekends.

“We haven’t peaked,” said Carlson at a food stamp advisory board meeting Monday. The number of food stamp users jumped to a record 107,891 Rhode Islanders in June, a 13 percent increase since January. The number has been rising steadily since early 2008, when there were 80,821 users.

The new measures come a week after the agency was sued for failing to promptly process food stamp applications.

“There is no one answer to this problem,” but more workers, weekend hours and new phones will help, Carlson said. The state earlier posted job descriptions for 11 food stamp clerical workers, but it’s unclear how many of those positions have been filled. The Rhode Island Affiliate of the American Civil Liberties Union and the National Center for Law and Economic Justice sued the DHS on July 6.

The suit, filed in U.S. District Court, accuses the state of an “ongoing and persistent failure to timely process applications for Rhode Island’s poorest families.”

That delay, it alleges, “means that thousands of households are denied desperately needed assistance to help them feed their families, and suffer hunger as a result.” Under federal law, states are required to process food stamp applications within 30 days and to provide expedited help to the poorest families within a week.

“We’ll meet with representatives with the ACLU and others to talk about how to resolve the issue,” Carlson said.

At one point, Kathleen Gorman, director of the Feinstein Center for a Hunger Free America, in South Kingstown, asked Carlson if the Saturday opening is in response to the suit.

Carlson said she wasn’t sure. “Are we doing it because of the lawsuit, or are we doing it because we see our own crisis?” she said.

Food stamp offices elsewhere in the state are faring well, but the Providence office “is sorely challenged” by as many as 130 applications a day, Carlson said. “It’s backed up.” Antipoverty advocates urged the DHS to shorten the application form for the food stamp program, now called the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP. The form should be four pages, said Henry Shelton, coordinator of the George Wiley Center, in Pawtucket. A shorter form, he said, would save time “for both the worker and the applicant.”

“I watched a mother hold a baby under one arm while she tried to fill out the form,” said Wiley Center member Jack Colby. “We have to remember what the experience is like for real people.”

But Gorman argued that a shorter form is not a top priority. Making sure the system works is more important, she said.

The state in recent months has worked to make it easier for the recently impoverished to receive food stamps. Passage of the federal stimulus package led to major changes in the system, including a boost in benefits ranging from $2 to $24 a month.

As of April 1, the state added its own modifications. They include fewer financial barriers — a family of four making less than $40,792 may now be eligible — simpler application forms for the elderly, increased use of telephone interviews for applicants and the elimination of the asset test, which made it hard for those with savings or property to qualify.

Shelton said he was encouraged by some of the state’s measures, but noted that officials have been talking about replacing the old phone system for many months. “There’s progress,” he said, “but it’s at a snail’s pace. Meanwhile, there are a lot of hungry people out there.”

Steven Brown, executive director of the Rhode Island ACLU, called the measures “good steps” in addressing the issue. But, he added, “We will continue with our case until it’s clear the problem is resolved.”

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