New York City is processing cash assistance applications at its slowest pace yet, leaving thousands of low-income residents waiting longer than the required 30 days for critical help, new city numbers show.
Between July and October of last year, just 14% of cash assistance applications were processed on time, according to early data from the preliminary Mayor’s Management Report, the city’s yearly report card. That’s worse than the 55% timely processing rate for the same period the year before and the record-low 28% rate the city set in the last fiscal year.
“It is absolutely, positively insane. That is not something that should happen, you knew your numbers were at 28%, you said you would do better, where is the doing better part?” asked Diana Ramos, a volunteer with Safety Net Activists who also received public benefits. “Fix it.”
The lag in processing cash assistance applications, which are available to help low-income families and unemployed or underemployed individuals help pay for basic necessities or rent, come as rents in New York City reach new highs and as record levels of homelessness strain the city’s already fraught safety net further.
For months, the Adams administration has been under fire for failing to address ongoing delays with cash assistance and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits, or SNAP, which help families or individuals supplement the cost of food.
The Human Resources Administration, which is part of the Department of Social Services, attributed the ongoing delays in processing cash assistance to a spike in the number of applications.
DSS spokesperson Neha Sharma said in the first four months captured in the preliminary data cash assistance applications rose 70%, when compared to 2019 pre-pandemic numbers.
“On average, more New Yorkers are receiving these benefits than ever before, and since the start of this administration, we have seen a more than 25% increase in the number of New Yorkers receiving cash…
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