New Orleans I’ve been talking about Trump’s Bad Budget Bill for some time and its determination to push out of the SNAP food stamp system, and soon Medicaid, people and families that are eligible using onerous work requirements and bureaucratic obstacles. Don’t take my word for it or just nod when you hear the numbers about millions across the country being denied benefits who are eligible. Here’s a real – and annotated – field report from a BRAVO-ACORN organizer in Philadelphia who went with one of our members to the welfare office to help her get back on food stamps. The names have been changed to protect both the innocent and the guilty, and the questions are mine.
Background
Sandra works as a home health aide. Her hours are extremely variable. She has 5 daughters in their late teens and early twenties, and they’ve been in and out of shelters. She was on the waiting list for her section 8 housing voucher for 20 years but has it now. I met her in the welfare office on September 2nd.
On 9/2 they told her they would mail her a packet explaining verification info she needed to submit. She didn’t get any food stamps for October, so she called their help line and was told she needed to submit verification of her income, her daughter’s income, and her other daughter’s enrollment in school, and that she should go to the office to submit those documents.
Our visit
On October 16th, we got to the office at 2pm. Around 3:30pm, we were called up. The caseworker looked at her file and said that they had a record of mailing her the packet with info on additional verification needed on September 3rd, and that those documents were due September 15th. Then on October 2nd they have a record of mailing her a notice saying her SNAP was shut off because verification wasn’t received.
The caseworker was pretty unpleasant, generally blaming Sandra for not getting her docs submitted. She was annoyed by me being there; when I tried to ask her a question, she said she couldn’t talk to me, but then asked Sandra for permission to speak with me but said she wasn’t supposed to do that.
What is the rule at the state level and the federal regulation on attendance or participation of other people as witness, representative, or advocate? What is the truth here? Was the case worker not supposed to let the organizer speak, and, if so, why did she relent, or was all of this fiction?
Since Sandra only had digital copies of the verification documents on her phone, the caseworker gave us an email address to send them to, said we should call the change center helpline once we send the email to notify them that the documents were submitted. We asked why we need to call if we’re already standing in the welfare office. She told us we could wait to speak with a supervisor, which we did. I also asked if it would have made a difference to have brought hard copies of the verification documents with us, and she said it wouldn’t have, because in that case the caseworker would have had to scan them into the system, and we’d still have to wait for them to be processed for her to get her SNAP back on.
Maybe someone in the union (SEIU 668) could tell us whether this is the real procedure from the state. Sure seems Catch22.
We waited another 15 minutes or so and then got to speak with a supervisor, Ms. Supervisor, was much more helpful. There was a typo in the email address they’d given us to submit documents to, which she helped us catch and correct.
Was this human error in the original typing and posting or deliberate? How could we be the first ones to notice this mistake? Is this like the “fax” requirement in Louisiana – another rock in the road.
She also looked over the documents herself to check that they were the right ones. Whereas the first caseworker wouldn’t give us a timeline, Ms. Supervisor said the documents would probably get processed on Monday and gave us her direct phone number to be able to call her today (Tuesday) to confirm that her SNAP is back on.
Since October 2nd was the date, her SNAP was shutoff, I realized that we were within the appeal window, so I asked if we could file an appeal, since others had advised us ask for both, so that’s what we did.
Is this everywhere? what is the timeline for valid appeal?
We filled out the appeal paperwork and had to submit it in the dropbox in the office (there’s two dropboxes since this office covers another that is temporarily closed, you have to make sure you submit it in the correct dropbox).
Once again, inadvertent, incompetent, or deliberate. If you put it in the wrong dropbox, where that office is actually closed, your appeal would be a dead letter.
Ms. Supervisor also offered that Sandra could fill out a new application and come back into the office some day before 3pm and get approved on the spot for emergency SNAP.
Should we always recommend this to anyone eligible who is denied?
Sandra and I called the supervisor together this morning and didn’t get through; Sandra was going to check myCOMPASS to see the status of her SNAP.
Like I say, don’t take my word for it. In microcosm, this story could be repeated across the country, except maybe even in more tragic terms. Statistically and ideologically, Pennsylvania is actually one of the better states. Just imagine how this story might play out in your state – or, even better – if this were your family.