DHS ordered to process food stamp applications promptly

Federal law mandates that food stamp applications must be processed within 30 days, but in Hawaii benefits for thousands of low-income recipients have long been delayed. On Jan. 23, however, U.S. District Judge David Ezra ordered the state Department of Human Services to reach full compliance by the end of the year.

The department is also behind in processing emergency applications by those facing extreme hardship within the federally mandated seven days. Ezra's order also directs the department to process those applications in a timely manner by the end of the year.

State officials blame the delays on the economic downtown, which led to an increase in applications and layoffs in the department. They say a new application system adopted last year has resulted in a timely processing rate of 76 percent and that they expect the state to be in full federal compliance by this December. Still, the state is liable to pay hundreds of thousands of dollars in fees and costs to the lawyers who represent the recipients.

About 173,000 people in low-income Hawaii households are helped by the federally funded Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, also known as food stamps. The annual cost is about $440 million, according to the state. An average recipient receives benefits worth $215 per month.

DHS receives between 5,000 and 7,000 applications per month – in January 2011, for instance, the state processed 5,596 applications. According to papers filed in the case, 1,737 of them (31 percent) were not processed within 30 days. Processing delays mean many applicants wait months for their food stamps.

Victor Geminiani, executive director of the Hawaii Appleseed Center for Law and Economic Justice, one of the recipients' lawyers, estimates some applicants wait a month and a half beyond the 30-day period. Once they qualify, recipients receive the benefits right away, including any retroactive amounts dating back to their applications. But in the meantime many go hungry.

The class-action lawsuit was filed in November 2010. In the state’s defense, lawyers cited furloughs and cutbacks of 94 supervisory, clerical and other positions that dealt with food stamp applications and recipients. A DHS spokesperson said from 2008 to 2011 the number of food stamp applications the state received annually increased by nearly 30,000 and that no other state has met the 100 percent federal compliance rate, while only six states have reached the 95 percent rate.

Geminiani said he expects the state will "do everything in its power" to comply with the federal order. "We're hoping they will be able to meet the deadline," he said. "But time will tell."