State officials have known for months that delays in processing applications for food stamp benefits were denying financial assistance to thousands of eligible households — including children — who needed help to afford three meals a day.
There were multiple explanations: Longstanding staffing shortages, a cyberattack on the computer system two years ago, more paperwork and income verification requirements after the state ended its pandemic emergency declaration months earlier. But children cannot swallow explanations, especially ones far past their freshness date, nor should anyone else.
Besides, the unconscionable delays in reviewing applications and issuing benefits to qualified Alaskans violates federal law. Because the program is funded entirely by the U.S. Treasury, the federal government is entitled to set timelines for states to follow. The rules say 30 days; some Alaskans waited more than four months.
More than 80,000 Alaskans, or about one in nine, use food stamps to help feed their families. Most of the participating households have children. Most have incomes below the federal poverty line. Certainly not all are caught up in the delays but, in another frustration, state officials report they cannot say how many are waiting. They just don’t know.
Until last week, the response from state officials had been to talk about doing better, promise more hiring, pledge more staff training and point to improvements in the future, such as a new software system to speed up the process. Then last week, the governor announced he had redirected almost $1.7 million from a program intended to stock up on shelf-stable foods in the case of natural disasters and instead send the money to food banks to help feed people who need help now.
The help certainly is welcome, but it took far too long.
It took too long for the administration to accept the reality that its 2021 budget cut, which eliminated dozens of jobs at the Division of Public Assistance, had a real cost to the public. The losers were low-income Alaskans who were told to wait, we’ll get to your application as soon as we can.
It took too long for the administration to step up with immediate help for hungry families, particularly in rural communities, who have been waiting months for their food stamp benefits. It’s too much to ask of people who are too hungry to have any patience left.
The $1.7 million in food aid is an appetizer, not a full meal.
— Wrangell Sentinel
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