RI ACLU Dismisses Lawsuit Over Food Stamp Benefit Delays Caused by UHIP
Friday, October 18, 2019
The Rhode Island ACLU and the National Center for Law and Economic Justice (NCLEJ) dismissed its lawsuit challenging the failure of the state Department of Human Services (DHS) to timely provide SNAP food stamp benefits to families due to the troubled UHIP computer system.
“When we first brought this case in December 2016, we were met with the claim that ‘everything was under control’ and our presence was unnecessary. As we reached and passed August 2017, when approximately half of eligible households were still not receiving their food stamp assistance in a timely manner, we heard excuses and explanations that a 96% compliance rate was unrealistic,” said attorney Lynette Labinger.
She added, “We pressed on, and with the determination of the plaintiffs, supported by the ACLU of RI and the NCLEJ, the sustained efforts of the State administrators and line workers, and the stewardship of the federal court and the Special Master appointed by the Court to oversee compliance, the State has now reached the goal set out by the Court. We are satisfied that the State now has systems in place to sustain its obligations to timely process food stamp applications for our most vulnerable Rhode Island families.”
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLASTThe dismissal follows the state’s compliance with a settlement agreement entered in February of 2017 by U.S. District Court Chief Judge William Smith.
Lawsuit Dismissed
The February agreement authorized dismissal of the lawsuit if the State achieved at least a 96% timeliness rate for 11 out of 12 consecutive months in processing both emergency and regular SNAP applications.
As GoLocalProv reported, in November of 2017, Smith appointed a Special Master to oversee the efforts to comply with the agreement.
The Lawsuit
When the suit was filed in 2016, the ACLU and NCLEJ argued that the “systematically inadequate and faulty statewide implementation” of UHIP was causing “thousands of households to suffer the imminent risk of ongoing hunger as a result of being denied desperately needed assistance to help them feed their families.”
The two named plaintiffs, representative of thousands of others, faced multiple delays in getting their food stamps.
According to the ACLU, the figures for last month showed a 96.1% timeliness rating, making it the eleventh month out of the last 12 where the timeliness rate exceeded the 96% goal.
In dismissing the case, the state also agreed to make a final payment of attorneys’ fees to the lawyers who handled the case.
Once the suit was filed, the ACLU set up a hotline to expedite applications for the people facing hardships getting their SNAP benefits due to UHIP problems, and within days had received over 100 calls, as GoLocalProv reported.
An informal process to address those complaints was set up and codified in the 2017 settlement agreement, and helped accelerate the resolution of numerous problems brought to the attention of the ACLU and NCLEJ.
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