STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. — The federal government is urging states to do a better job distributing Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits to the millions who rely on them to help feed their families.
Last week, U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack sent letters to the governors of 47 states, including New York, imploring them to address issues regarding delayed and inaccurate SNAP benefits.
Although SNAP is federally monitored by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), the administration of benefits falls on the states, nearly all of which have been struggling to meet the acceptable performance rates outlined by the federal government.
โSNAP serves as our nationโs foundational safety net, a crucial resource for the well-being of low-income families, older adults, and individuals with disabilities,โ wrote Vilsack. โTimely and accurate SNAP processing is critical to meeting the nutrition needs of low-income families and protecting the integrity of SNAP. Americans in need should have access to essential benefits without unnecessary delays. States must deliver benefits in the right amounts, to the right individuals, in the required periods of time.โ
To address these concerns, states are urged to take immediate action, including streamlining and simplifying their administrative processes and investing in and expanding their systems and staffing.
In New York, the application processing timeliness rate is currently 64.95%, significantly below the acceptable performance rate of 95%.
The overpayment error rate is currently 10.35%, while the underpayment error rate is 2.54%. The total error rate of 12.89% is more than double the acceptable performance rate of 6%.
The case and procedural error rate in New York for Fiscal Year 2022 was 45.26%, slightly above the national average of 44.12%.
โWe share your desire to build strong service delivery systems that meet the needs of low-income people, and we look forward to continuing our work…
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