Tens of thousands of SNAP claimants are facing delays to their applications in Tennessee.
A statewide backlog of applications has been caused by a system transition enacted in summer 2023, according to a Fox 13 report . The state moved on from a 32-year-old system for processing applications to an updated, modern program which required extensive training for staff. Some 35,000 people are currently awaiting approval for food benefits as a result, Fox 13 reported.
The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), commonly referred to as food stamps in reference the program’s previous name, helps claimants pay for groceries and is in place to ensure Americans do not forgo their right to food and sustenance. The federal government benefit is available for low- and no-income households, with a focus on supporting the elderly, those with disabilities and other vulnerable groups.
“This program puts food on Tennesseans’ table,’ said Commissioner Clarence Carter, leader of the Tennessee Department of Human Services (DHS). “We have almost a desperate sense of urgency to do be able to do this right.” Newsweek has contacted Commissioner Carter for comment via email outside of regular business hours.
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He said that workers at the DHS juggled learning the new system, implemented in June 2023, while continuing to process applications with the previous technology, saying it “clogged the pipeline.”
“Think about a piece of technology that’s 32 years old,” Carter told state lawmakers in a hearing on Wednesday. “Our eligibility workers were working, pretty much with bubble gum and spit, but managing to get the job done.” He said the department has 1,400 employees currently working to process the backlog of applications, Carter added.
Those being forced to go without the benefits due to the long application list have hit out at the department for the delays.
“I mean, it’s just a mess,” Lavonna McKenzie told Action News 5. “They’ve just been cutting people off, and that backs them up. It backs us up and we have to wait on benefits and everything. That’s just awful and I don’t think that’s good at all.”
Shannon Bascue told the local news outlet that she has been waiting since October for approval.
“This is the 10th time coming here,” she said, speaking outside the DHS office in Memphis. “I came back up here, and they said they didn’t even put in the computer my interview on the 13th of December. Now I have another letter for an interview tomorrow which is after two months of not having anything and I’m raising three grandkids.”
Some families said they have been forced to turn to local food banks, according to a December report by News Channel 9.
All SNAP recipients are required to go through an interview to determine if they are eligible for the benefit. Fox13 has reported that officials in Tennessee applied for a waiver to this rule but it was denied. SNAP applications usually have a 30-day response time.
State lawmakers criticized the DHS decision to continue with the new system as the backlog of applications continued to grow.
Democratic state Senator Jeff Yarbro said: “A new system should make things work better. It’s not really a great way to foster trust in a new system when the transition to the new system results in delay.”
“Two months is a long time for people to be without food,” said Republican state Senator Becky Massey.
Uncommon Knowledge
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.