Although the state of Alaska is said to have been making progress in providing more people with food stamps, some advocates claim that the appeals process for delays or denials by the state is deteriorating.
Food stamps, which are federally funded program that the state of Alaska administers. There are rules regarding how quickly the state is required to provide the benefits to those who qualify. The state has taken an inexplicably prolonged period to take care of the majority of applications since the fall of last year.
The citizens have the right to an appeal hearing if the state is taking too long to give the food stamps they need or reject their request.
State law stipulates that for the Division of Public Assistance to make appeals, referred to as fair hearings for fair hearings to Office of Administrative Hearings to be scheduled within 10 days, however advocates say this isn’t happening. Thus, fewer people are waiting on benefits, but those who are waiting still don’t get legal due procedure.
Leigh Dickey, an advocacy director of Alaska Legal Services Corp. A free civil legal service source for Alaskans with low incomes she said the outcome is that the department violates state law yet again.
“Increasingly, DPA is failing to meet the deadline, presumably due to inadequate staffing,” she wrote in an email. “Our clients are denied their right to fair hearing as their cases linger in the backlog of DPA.”
Alaska Legal Services Corp. has submitted nearly 2000 requests for fair hearing on behalf of clients since September the previous year. Dickey said that most cases will take more than the 10 days timeframe for scheduling, and it took an average of Division of Public Assistance 30 to 60 days to refer certain cases for fair hearing.
The department of health in the state’s Department of Health acknowledged there an increase in delays for requests for fair hearings. Shirley Sakaye, a spokesperson for the department, explained the reason is because of staffing shortages — as well as an increasing demand for fair hearings.
“Most of hearing applications are made due to the delay in getting benefits due to delays in receiving benefits,” she said in an email. “As the backlog of applications decreases and fair hearings are being held, the number for fair hearings is decreasing, but the amount of fair hearing requests is still high compared to number of requests submitted before the backlog.”
She said that the issues are usually resolved without a hearing and the Division of Public Assistance often just issue the benefit of food stamps.
There are typically three staff members who provide the referrals, Sayake said, but one position is not filled and two other staff were absent from the office. Others have been assigned to fill those positions as of now she added.
The Division of Public Assistance is also in charge of managing Medicaid payments for state residents. This year the COVID-19 block on Medicaid benefits ended and Alaskans are required to enroll again. Dickey who works for Alaska Legal Services said the delay in referring people to food stamps has led her organization to be worried that those who are denied Medicaid coverage will be faced with more wait times, and may have to fight for it when the division is back in the right direction.
“We expect an increase in the number of applications this year from those who have been denied Medicaid coverage because of the unwinding process. In addition, we’re concerned about the ability of the State to manage the increase in fair hearing applications that will be a result of the unwinding process,” She wrote. “It appears that the DPA has anticipated this.”
