ATLANTA — July marks another month of waiting for Georgians trying to renew and receive their SNAP benefits. Meanwhile, state officials warn delays with receiving benefits could continue.
11Alive began digging into the issue after families started reaching out earlier this summer, claiming their Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits had been delayed.
A spokesperson for the USDA's Food and Nutrition Service, the federal agency which oversees SNAP, confirmed to 11Alive that Georgia was experiencing a backlog of approximately 67,000 Georgia Snap renewals, from April and May 2023. A spokesperson for the Georgia Department of Human Services also confirmed some March application and renewals were impacted.
RELATED: Friction mounting as Georgia officials and feds work to clear SNAP backlog of over 30,000 people
While data from the state released June 26 shows the backlog has declined, with more than 36,000 renewals overdue, new posts on GA Department of Human Services Facebook page indicate the problems with renewing cases continues.
Still waiting on my renewal from April
What about SNAP Renewals?
OVER A MONTH TO RENEW A CASE IS UNACCEPTABLE!! MY CASE RENEWAL DUE DATE IS IN 3 DAYS AND I SUBMITTED MY RENEWAL OVER A MONTH AGO! How is this possible or acceptable? The gateway system still only says that my renewal application has been received by the department. There has been no updates. Do the job that taxpayers pay you to do in a timely manner!
RENEWAL DELAYS
This is not the first time 11Alive has reported on recipients having to wait. In November, the state also faced a backlog of renewals that left families scrambling ahead of the Thanksgiving holiday. In response, the USDA FNS granted Georgia a waiver allowing the state to extend certification for those households up to six months.
A spokesperson for Georgia DHS did not answer 11Alive’s question as to whether postponing those renewals contributed to the current backlog but did confirm a “higher-than-normal number of SNAP renewals coming in” is partly to blame for the current holdup, with a seasonal spike in renewals stemming from back-to-school applications also a factor.
“Without federal flexibility on how we process applications/renewals, this problem will continue,” the agency said.
A PUSH FOR TECHNOLOGY
Georgia's Department of Human Services has made requests to the federal government to utilize certain processes they say will more quickly fix the backlog, including requests to use attended bots (i.e., bots operated by a human user) to automate processes without caseworker interaction and approval for ex-parte renewals (a term that describes an automatic renewal without any input from the SNAP recipient) when "necessary information is already known and sufficient."
A spokesperson from Georgia DHS told 11Alive federal regulators were "willfully holding up our attempts to streamline and expedite these applications/renewals."
"We are working as fast as we are allowed to under the circumstances dictated by their unwillingness to improve the process for the benefit of Georgia families,” a DHS statement said.
A spokesperson for the USDA Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) meanwhile said the agency is evaluating four requests "involving emerging, somewhat untested technology" from Georgia.
“As these requests involve emerging, somewhat untested technology, FNS must first assess the allowability of the request in terms of statute and regulations and second, if allowable, determine to what extent the waiver may increase or decrease processing times overall for the State on a permanent basis,” the statement reads.
The agency is also looking at similar technology related requests from other states.
SEPTEMBER 30 DEADLINE
Georgia is already taking advantage of an interview waiver "to streamline the SNAP administrative process and help to disposition cases faster." The waiver, offered by the USDA FNS, is intended to provide relief as all states deal with the complex Medicaid unwinding and redetermination process and adjust back to regular SNAP rules after the pandemic.
Yet, that flexibility is expected to expire September 30 and was always meant to be temporary, David Super, professor of law at Georgetown University and an expert who has followed Georgia SNAP issues, explained.
“Many states have phased out the waivers. They figured out what they're going to do in place of one of them,” Super said. “And one by one, they work their way through the waiver, so they get back to normal operations.”
According to Super, the ongoing worker shortage continues to hamper efforts in Georgia.
“I think because of its staffing shortage, Georgia has been holding on to everything it can till the last minute,” he said. “But this does leave the serious risk of falling off a cliff when it all comes to an end.”
A DHS spokesperson said the state is hopeful the backlog will be resolved prior to the Sept. 30 waiver expiration, when regular SNAP interview requirements are expected to resume. The state, the agency said, is continuing to work on new options and technologies to streamline the process.
But Super said Georgia’s insistence the USDA is standing in the way of such progress is “ironic,” given the state has not utilized other USDA recommendations to help with workload issues, like a longer, 12-month certification period with a six-month check-in.
Georgia DHS maintains their current process is similar, with recertification every six months but interviews every 12 months.
“Plus, we currently have a waiver that removes the requirement for the interview, so we just need to receive a packet from the client every six months. We only have to make contact with the client if there is conflicting data that needs to be resolved,” the agency responded.
But as delays persist, so do questions about the state’s process, according to Super.
“The [SNAP] system is built to be doable,” Super said. “It's also a system that's built with a certain amount of flexibility. States can ramp up how rigorous they make this. If they have the adequate staff, and they can they have things that they can do to temporarily cut corners to get over rough times, and Georgia has certainly done some of those things.”
“The problem is that its staffing shortage means that it's always having rough times, and it's hard to keep putting things off or saying I'll do a better job next time, if next time you're just as jammed as you were this time.”
11Alive viewers who want to speak with a reporter about the delays can email the newsroom.