Alaska invested millions to fix food stamp backlogs. Some users still can’t get through. • Alaska Beacon

At the height of the food stamp backlog last November, pro bono attorneys and other volunteers at Alaska Legal Services got more than 600 requests in one month from Alaskans seeking a fair hearing to get their overdue food benefits.

So the 97 requests that came in this July didn’t feel like anything the group couldn’t handle, said Leigh Dickey, the nonprofit’s advocacy director.

But the number is still alarming, she said, and it’s double last month’s requests.

Dickey said the state’s Division of Public Assistance is still dogged by the same problem: paperwork processing delays.

“Which is something the DPA, I think, is saying that they have fixed,” she said. “But we are still seeing clients coming in who have delays at recertification.”

Lawmakers and the governor have funneled more than $70 million into tech solutions and new staff, but many Alaskans say they still can’t get their paperwork processed. The Division of Public Assistance, which processes the paperwork, said it now completes 89% of applications on time. That is a significant improvement over January through April of last year, when only about 5% of food stamp recertifications were on time.

Dickey said the division also lags on responding when clients report changes in their household that affect benefits, like losing a job, and that it will ask for paperwork but neglect to file it, which can result in people losing benefits. And she said when DPA asks for paperwork to verify employment, there are often mix-ups: “The clients will gather that information and will turn it in by a certain day, but DPA will close their case anyway.”

“It’s like one hand doesn’t know what the other hand is doing,” she said.

Tech updates

The Division of Public Assistance has taken many steps to get Alaskans benefits faster. It is working to reopen offices, increase training for the staff that processes applications and it launched an online application for public assistance benefits in late July.

The goal of the online portal is to decrease the chance of paperwork mix-ups and increase the percentage of applications that are processed on time, officials say. The online application means people can apply for food stamps, renew their applications or report any changes — like a lost job or a new baby — from home.

It’s called Alaska Connect and it’s one of the first steps in the division moving entirely to a cloud-based system, said division Director Deb Etheridge.

“The primary goal is to provide better customer service to Alaskans and make it easier to access benefits and apply for benefits,” she said.

But Etheridge said it also helps reduce the administrative burden on eligibility technicians, which should reduce delays.

“It actually supports us with some administrative simplification. So if individuals have access to upload their documents and fill out their forms and fill them out completely, then that takes away the time that we have to spend getting additional information,” she said.

Alaska Connect doesn’t allow people to check the status of their applications, but that piece is coming soon, Etheridge said.

But that inability to check applications is a major pain point for some of the 97 people that filed complaints with Alaska Legal Services last month. Several of the state’s public assistance offices are still closed after pandemic shutdowns, or only allow “general inquiries,” which means people who are concerned about their benefits cannot get status updates or help problem solving when slowdowns occur.

Officials say only the Sitka office is completely closed. The Anchorage, Ketchikan and Nome offices are open only for general inquiries, which means dropping off paperwork or basic questions, but no access to eligibility workers who can process applications or problem solve lost paperwork.

Etheridge said they are working towards fully reopened offices and making progress. The Fairbanks office was the most recent to reopen, in July, and the Ketchikan office should reopen in August.