Food stamp applications mired in bureaucracy

County agencies' backlog totals more than 1,000

By Myung Oak Kim

Saturday, December 15, 2007

It shouldn't take more than 30 days to process a food stamp = application - and=20 no more than seven days for emergency cases, federal rules say.

Tell that to Margaret Stearns and more than 1,000 local residents = who've been=20 waiting for months because of bureaucratic snags.

Stearns, a 47-year-old former mountaineering instructor, was cut off = from=20 food stamps in March after her renewal application was held up at Denver = Human=20 Services. It took more than 10 months to get things straight. She got = food=20 stamps Thursday after a reporter contacted Denver Human Services about = her=20 situation.

Stearns said she felt lost in a government black hole. "I think = people should=20 know how difficult they make it and how a lot of people just give = up."

On any given week in Colorado, 1,200 to 2,400 residents who applied = for food=20 stamps in the state's 10 largest counties are waiting too long for their = papers=20 to be processed, according to the Colorado Department of Human = Services.

County welfare agencies continue to violate federal protocols - a = problem=20 that dates back almost two years - because of funding shortages and = staffing=20 problems, including high caseloads, high turnover and workers' = resistance to=20 changing procedures.

The state's notorious computer system - the Colorado Benefits = Management=20 System - compounds the problems because of errors and a complex network = of=20 screens that take a long time to navigate.

CBMS also is sending out erroneous rejection letters to food stamp=20 applicants, causing unnecessary panic.

It's sending out scores of letters saying applicants are denied food = stamps=20 because their cases weren't processed within 60 days. In fact, the cases = are=20 still being worked.

"It's a huge problem involving thousands of people," said Ed Kahn, a = lawyer=20 with the Colorado Center on Law & Policy who sued the state in 2004 = because=20 CBMS was restricting public benefits for low-income residents.

The vast majority of overdue cases are in El Paso, Denver, Arapahoe, = Adams=20 and Jefferson counties.

Liz McDonough, spokeswoman for state DHS, which oversees the county = welfare=20 agencies, said the processing delays were better than they were a year = or two=20 ago.

"We have an issue with timely processing, still," she said. "We're = doing=20 everything we can with those counties to get those time frames = down."

The feds can sanction a state for lateness, but they have not. Nor = have they=20 set a deadline for compliance, McDonough said.

More people are resorting to court appeals to protest benefit cutoffs = or=20 reductions.

The state Office of Administrative Courts said it handled 549 appeals = regarding food stamps between December 2006 and December 2007, although = some of=20 those cases might involve other programs. In the year earlier, 415 such = appeals=20 were filed.

To get food stamps, residents must fill out a 21-page application, = and show=20 ID, proof of income, and housing and utility costs. They also must = interview=20 with a county caseworker.

Jeffco DHS is taking two months or more to process regular = applications, and=20 about a month for emergency cases, said Mary Boland, the county's new = director=20 of community assistance. The county has seen applications rise from = 4,406 in the=20 first 11 months of 2006 to 6,648 in the same period this year.

Playing catch-up

Boland has instituted several measures to address backlogs.

She said two workers at the main office in Golden are processing only = food=20 stamp applications instead of other benefits such as Medicaid. She's = trying to=20 get the office's 18 intake workers to conduct interviews by phone = instead of in=20 person.

To reduce turnover, Boland removed a bachelor's degree requirement = for intake=20 workers. People with degrees often leave the intake department for other = jobs as=20 soon as they're available, which increases backlogs.

Jeffco DHS also just got a grant to pay for a worker who will process = applications at the Jeffco Action Center, a Lakewood social service = agency,=20 Boland said.

Boland said she's trying to change the culture at her office. Intake = workers=20 are very careful to weed out fraud, so they're asking for more documents = than=20 are necessary, she said.

"They're trying to be very conscientious, but they're being overly=20 conscientious," Boland said.

Barbara Drake, director of the El Paso County Department of Human = Services,=20 which has the most late cases, said she's hiring temp workers and = bringing=20 workers in on Saturdays to do interviews. Workers also give food boxes = to=20 applicants.

"We know this is a difficult time of year," she said. "When people = are=20 hungry, you want to get their food stamps as soon as possible."

Kahn said CBMS is making matters worse.

The $223 million computer system was designed to coordinate and = streamline=20 welfare benefits. Instead, the system is creating headaches for = government=20 workers and hardships for residents who are losing services when they = shouldn't=20 be, he said.

Colorado Legal Services and other aid agencies say many low-income = residents=20 are getting CBMS-generated letters that say they have lost benefits when = they=20 should be getting services.

The 60-day food stamp denial letter automatically goes to anyone = whose=20 application exceeds that time, McDonough said.

McDonough said the letters must be sent out to follow federal rules. = She said=20 her office might change the wording and suggested that people call their = caseworker if they get the letter.

She disputes criticism of CBMS.

"There is nothing inherent in CBMS that is causing applications to go = beyond=20 processing guidelines," she said.

Letters cause panic

Clay Smaine was hired earlier this year through a federal grant given = to the=20 Jeffco Action Center to help clients access food stamps and improve the = low=20 participation rate. He said 75 percent of the people he helps hit = unnecessary=20 roadblocks and delays. He said clients were panicked about the 60-day = rejection=20 letters.

He said he has seen about 50 such letters in the past two months and = hundreds=20 over the summer.

Stearns, the Lakewood woman who was cut off in March, had been on and = off=20 food stamps since 2000 after she became addicted to pain killers, went = to jail,=20 became homeless and was hit by a bus.

She moved from Denver to Lakewood in the summer and didn't get a = notice that=20 Denver DHS needed bank statements. Frustrated, Stearns put in a new = application=20 with Smaine on Oct. 12 - to no avail until Thursday.

Barbra Castro also went to Smaine for help. She applied for food = stamps in=20 Jeffco on Sept. 17. She was scheduled for an interview Nov. 28. Castro = told an=20 intake worker by phone that morning that she couldn't get a ride.

She was supposed to do the interview by phone later that day, but the = worker=20 didn't call, Castro said. Then she got the letter saying she was = ineligible=20 because she was past the 60 days.

Castro, 48, is on Medicaid and suffers from seizures and heart and = thyroid=20 problems. She has no income and said she was upset about the food stamp=20 problems.

"It's just really depressing."

kimm@RockyMountainNews.com or 303-954-2361

Food stamps in Colorado

* 250,700 people statewide are getting food = stamps.

* 10,000 to 11,000 people apply for food stamps = every=20 month.

* 2,181* applications statewide are taking more than = 30 days=20 to process in the 10 largest counties.

* 632* late applications in El Paso County

* 479* late applications in Denver County

* 293* late applications in Adams County

* 288* late applications in Jefferson County

* 241* late applications in Arapahoe County

* 549 appeals protesting food stamp cutoffs or = reductions=20 were filed between Dec. 1, 2006, and Dec. 1, 2007.

=C2=A9 Rocky Mountain News