D.C. is the worst in the country at processing applications for programs residents rely on for food and other basic needs, like the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), and Medicaid, according to the U.S Department of Agriculture. These delays can leave residents waiting for months without coverage.
On July 2, the D.C. Council held a joint oversight hearing between the Committee on Health and the Committee on Housing to address problems with the D.C. Access System (DCAS), which operates the District Direct portal residents use to enroll in public benefits. The District is facing a $4 million federal penalty for its high SNAP error rate — 20% of all D.C. SNAP beneficiaries receive either too much or too little money to cover their benefits.
Problems with DCAS have also delayed benefit approvals, leaving some residents without access to their benefits as they wait for their applications to be processed, according to testimonies from the hearing.
As of 2022, over 140,000 D.C. residents, or about 20% of the city, received SNAP benefits. District residents have reported issues accessing their benefits in the past, from limited translation options for non-English speakers when District Direct first launched to waiting for months for the Department of Human Services (DHS) to update incorrect information on their applications. And when applications are processed, the high error rate for SNAP payments can still mean that D.C. residents are not getting the right amount of money to cover their food costs.
Despite these issues, D.C. Deputy Mayor for Health and Human Services Wayne Turnage said at the hearing he still believes that overall, DCAS is operating “fairly well.”
“It is a high error rate, and that is 20%. That means 80% of the payments made are not in error,” said Turnage. “The system is not tremendously flawed. It is not perfect but it is doing a lot because a lot is being asked of it.”
In June, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced it would fine the District $4.4 million for having an error rate higher than the USDA’s limit of 6% for the second year in a row. The D.C. government had the option to either appeal the penalty to the federal government or reinvest half of the money into improving SNAP processing to avoid paying the fine in full. The District is opting for the reinvestment, according to DHS Director Laura Zeilinger, who confirmed the information about the penalty at the hearing.
Some common issues D.C. residents experience while accessing their benefits include receiving notices about their applications too late or in the wrong language, LaMonika Jones, director of D.C. Hunger Solutions, testified at the hearing. Jones told Street Sense her clients have also seen their benefits decreased or terminated due to DHS caseworkers misinterpreting information about their expenses and determining they no longer qualify.
Jones said although DHS improved its response time for initial application requests, clients still face extended waiting periods to fix issues with their submissions, going without their benefits until the problem is resolved.
“To delay that, we’re talking about their inability to purchase food for themselves,” said Jones.
Other advocates for SNAP and Medicaid recipients say the process for getting the District to respond to problems with SNAP benefits has become more complicated.
Allison Miles-Lee, managing attorney with Bread for the City, testified that organizations like Bread for the City used to be able to resolve application issues directly with DHS in a timely manner. However, the District has recently been unresponsive to repeated emails and follow-ups about clients’ benefits, she said. Now advocates at Bread for the City are more regularly filing cases with the Office of Administrative Hearings (OAH) about the long application timelines, which can take another one to two months to resolve because the office has a backlog of hearings, Miles-Lee added.
Usually, hearings with the OAH are only meant to settle disputes between an applicant and DHS if the District believes someone does not qualify for benefits. But Miles-Lee said advocates must pursue hearings more often because DHS has responded slowly to respond, even if there is no dispute.
“Now we’re going to these hearings and DHS isn’t disputing that the person is entitled to these benefits, it’s them saying they need more time to be working on it,” said Miles-Lee.
Recently, Miles-Lee said one of Bread for the City’s clients went for around six months without receiving her SNAP assistance. DHS eventually paid the client the amount due in back benefits, but MilesLee said the time spent without receiving these vital payments can be incredibly difficult for people who rely on SNAP to afford food in the District.
“The DHS reps said, ‘we paid her the back benefits, so there’s no harm,’” said Miles-Lee. “That’s not the reality for our clients, they’re paying for themselves, their children, and it’s expensive to live in D.C. They’re qualifying to live on these benefits and they’re entitled to them.”
