Programs News

Atlanta- The U.S. Department of Agriculture had told Georgia officials to make changes in its food stamp program as it is out of compliance due to delay and error rates in December.

USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack sent a letter to Governor Brian Kemp more than 2 months later that there are still improvements to be made with the program.

The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program is a federal program meant to help low-income Americans but the program is managed by state governments.

Georgia officials had one month to address the concerns. The officials also submitted a plan in December by saying that part of the issue was down to staffing and the Medicaid unwinding process.

A letter sent in November to state officials indicated that Georgia was “severely” non-compliant with federal program requirements due to significant delays in processing SNAP applications. This has led to families and households in need experiencing up to a month-long wait for access to SNAP benefits.

Georgia officials, in a statement, mentioned that they were collaborating with federal partners to address the SNAP case backlog. Additionally, they were focusing on preventive measures to ensure such backlogs do not recur once the current issues are resolved.

The USDA revealed that 47 government entities receiving SNAP benefits from the federal government were having issues with compliance.

Errors that USDA is talking about include taking too long for the applications to be processed, payment errors, and case errors.

The acceptable rate for application processing is 95% but Georgia is at 84.9%. Likewise, the acceptable rates for payment errors are below 6% but Georgia is at 11.75%.

Vilsack said to Kemp, “Timely 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. People should not lose access to food because States are unable to review their applications in a timely fashion. States must deliver benefits in the right amounts, to the right individuals, and in the required periods. Both timeliness and program integrity are critical to maintain public confidence in States’ management of SNAP and to maximize the impact of Federal investment in addressing food insecurity”.

Georgia has completed extended certification periods for SNAP renewals, hired workers, and expanded training support for new workers.

Also, the areas that are in progress include voluntary overtime, hiring for entry-level positions, automating repeatable tasks, and working with integrated eligibility systems.