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3 months after reported delays, Mecklenburg County food stamp backlog remains

It’s been three months since a Charlotte Observer review revealed Mecklenburg County had staggering backlogs with recertifying applications for food stamps — and after briefly improving, thousands again still are waiting for approval.

Since June, more than 15,000 Mecklenburg County residents have submitted paperwork to reclaim food assistance benefits for another year. But only roughly half of those applications have been OK’d within the state’s 30-day guideline, with thousands still outstanding, a recent public records review by The Observer showed.

For one of the most basic services a county government can offer people facing food insecurity, Mecklenburg County ranks among the worst in North Carolina — along with Wake and Randolph counties — in its efforts to recertify food stamp benefits in a timely manner.

County Manager Dena Diorio says officials are working “to deploy all available resources to reduce the backlog as quickly as possible,” she said in an email obtained by the Charlotte Observer on Tuesday.

The county is working with its department of social services and the state Department of Health and Human Services to find solutions, which could include “policy changes that may help counties with the volume,” the email stated.

Both agencies are facing “staffing challenges amid a historic number of applications and recertifications in need of processing,” the statement said. Currently, the county is working on applications that were overdue in August.

Other requests the county has made to state health for assistance include:

  • Hiring temporary staff to process applications.

  • Automatically extending certification periods for households.

  • Waiving interview requirements.

In June, the Observer published a report showing thousands of Mecklenburg County residents experienced constant delays in getting their food stamps. At that time, county commissioners were told the problem is finding the staff, County Commissioner Pat Cotham said.

“We’re living in a very difficult time right now but certainly food has to be a priority,” Cotham told the Charlotte Observer Monday.

Data published by the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services shows 53% of food stamp applications in August took more than 30 days to complete in Mecklenburg County. The majority of the state’s counties, including nearby Gaston and Union counties, reported processing most of their applications within the state’s guidelines for processing them.

Over the past three months, Mecklenburg County saw an average of 1,031 new applications per week, up from the average of 826 new applications per week reported between March and mid-May.

Between June and mid-September, the statewide average was 9% of new applications exceeding the 30-day period. In Mecklenburg, it was around 31%, an increase from the 20% average between March and mid-May, previously reported.

Some applicants pushed and saw results

Lindsay Brown was one of the many Mecklenburg County residents to experience the delay. When she applied last November for the annual recertification of her benefits’ card, she never expected the process to take months.

Brown, an east Charlotte grandmother, said she tried everything, letters, calls, even coming in person to the social services’ office to expedite the process. For months she went with little more than a dollar on her card. When her repeated attempts didn’t work, she contacted The Observer for help, feeling it was a last resort. Then she saw some results.

“It was almost two weeks after you all did what you did with my information that I got a call saying money was on my card,” Brown said. “I’ve had a couple occasions where it went over a month or two, but I don’t ever remember going through a situation like this.”

North Carolina is receiving record numbers of food and nutrition services applications, NCDHHS spokeswoman Kelly Haight Connor told the Observer.

“North Carolina received an average of nearly 76,000 FNS applications each month in June, July and August — almost double the volume over those same months last year,” Connor said in an email. “In addition, many counties, including Mecklenburg, are experiencing challenges with hiring and retaining the workforce needed to meet the demand.”

Connor said DHHS has worked closely with the county to provide technical assistance and additional funding to hire more staff, and continues to assess other options with federal partners.

“We have streamlined FNS processing,” Connor said. “This includes reducing interview requirements and allowing applicants to ‘sign’ via telephone.”

Brown, who is retired, said she was fortunate to live with her son and his wife while she waited for her recertification to process.

She said having money back on her card has taken a lot of stress out of her life, but she worried about others.

“There’s a reason people were accepted for food stamps and it’s because they need them,” Brown said. “If they need them, then they need to get it to them.”