SNAP is poorly managed, feds say
State may have been too generous with benefits
The state Human Services Department caught flak recently from the federal government for alleged overpayment of food benefits — even as it defends itself in court from allegations that it has mismanaged the program and denied benefits to recipients, with some supervisors telling employees to falsify applications to accomplish that.
The department, whose program formerly known as food stamps was labeled by a federal official recently as “probably the most fouled-up” in the nation, says it plans to hire a consulting firm and provide ethics and other training to employees.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food and Nutrition Service recently told HSD that a review showed “severe compliance issues” with the administration of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. They included certifying applicants as eligible without proper verification, incorrectly keeping applications pending beyond the deadline, and improperly paying retroactive benefits.
As a result, the department “may be liable for incorrectly issuing millions of dollars of SNAP benefits,” the May 27 letter said.
Officials at HSD responded this week that the agency is prohibited by court orders from taking some of the actions that are required by federal regulations — for example, denying applications or closing cases for procedural reasons, such as failure to provide proof of income or attend a required interview.
“HSD is bound by the orders issued from the court,” even if they’re con-
trary to federal regulations, HSD Secretary Brent Earnest said in a letter.
The Center on Law and Poverty is asking a U.S. District Court to order the department to change the way it is implementing SNAP. The center contends that HSD is not complying with earlier court decrees stemming from a 1988 lawsuit and that SNAP should be placed under a court-appointed overseer to ensure compliance.
Earnest said HSD will ask for the federal government’s help in aligning its response to the court orders and federal regulations, and will try to get one of the court orders modified.
He also outlined a corrective action plan that includes “ethics training for all employees” and an “objective reviewer” to determine the outstanding issues from previous court orders.
The department will also bring in an outside consulting firm to help it comply with court orders and federal law, to assist with procedures for application processing, and to create a desk reference binder.
The bidding process for the consulting contract would take up to nine months, and the work would take 18 months, according to the HSD plan.
Much of the corrective action will be overseen by Marilyn Martinez, director of the agency’s Income Support Division. She was one of the HSD employees who repeatedly invoked the Fifth Amendment right not to testify when asked questions during a May court hearing. The questions revolved around about whether workers were told to add phantom assets to food stamp applications, making them ineligible for emergency assistance.
Meanwhile, a USDA official said during a hearing last week that he was willing to recommend a federal investigation of SNAP in New Mexico.
Kevin Concannon, undersecretary for food, nutrition and consumer services at USDA, was questioned at a June 9 congressional hearing by Rep. Michelle Lujan Grisham, D-N.M.
“Let me just, in support of the congresswoman’s concerns, confirm that I believe New Mexico is probably the most fouled-up SNAP system in the United States right now and has been, unfortunately, I think, for years,” Concannon said at a House Oversight and Government Reform hearing. “There’s been a major federal lawsuit underway there for many, many years. I think even the courts have been less than successful in getting the state to fully respond,” he said.
When he said USDA was offering support and conducting evaluations, Lujan Grisham jumped in and objected to technical assistance as an answer “when they’re lying to you, they’re cheating the beneficiaries, they’re not protecting the beneficiaries, they’re in federal court.”
“This requires investigatory action and audits,” she said.
A final hearing before U.S. Magistrate Judge Carmen Garza rules on the Center on Law and Poverty’s request for receivership is scheduled July 6-7 in Las Cruces.
HSD’s inspector general, Adrian R. Gallegos, is expected to present the results of the department’s own investigation into statements made during sworn testimony at two previous hearings that department workers had been ordered to falsify emergency applications by adding nonexistent assets, shortchanging applicants who otherwise would have been eligible for expedited assistance.