DCF To Hire More Staff To Process Applications

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(Host) State officials say a months-long backlog that some Vermonters have faced in applying for state assistance may begin to ease.

That’s because the Department for Children and Families has won approval to hire more staff who can process applications.

VPR’s Jane Lindholm has more.

(Lindholm) This past August, Williamstown resident Lisa Lamoreaux tried to reapply for Reach Up: Vermont’s temporary assistance program for families with children.  She had been transitioning off the program when she lost her job at Burger King and her husband learned he needed surgery. 

Lamoreaux went into the local office in Barre to reapply and drop off her documentation.  She asked for an appointment, but never got one. Lamoreaux says she called numerous times and even returned to the office, but never got a response.

(Lamoreaux) "I was right in their face screaming "help me, help me! Where do I go? Point me in the right direction. What do I need to do? Help me." And they would not see me for an appointment. Not even pick up the phone and call me. I was willing to do what I had to do, talk to who I had to talk to, see who I had to see, bring in whatever form or paper they needed. And I felt that they just didn’t care."

(Lindholm) Months later, when she got a letter in the mail saying she’d been denied benefits, Lisa Lamoreaux turned to Vermont Legal Aid for help. She has now started receiving benefits.  But her story is unfortunately common among Vermonters trying to apply for state benefit programs including 3SquaresVT, housing assistance, and health insurance.

While the numbers fluctuate, about a third of people applying for food stamps face a delay of more than 30 days.  State and federal law require no more than a 30-day processing time for benefit applications. 

Steve Dale is Commissioner of the Department for Children and Families.  He says a new system designed to streamline the process for people applying for multiple benefit programs has not gone as smoothly as hoped.  But, Dale says, other factors have contributed to the backlog.

(Dale) "We have more demand for services than ever before.  In the last 3 years, the number of people receiving 3Squares has gone up 70 percent, healthcare 25 percent, Reach Up 27 percent.  That’s very good news in terms of assistance for Vermonters but frankly it’s a huge stress on any system regardless of the structure of that system."

(Lindholm) Some Vermonters facing a delay in their applications have turned to Vermont Legal Aid.  Legal Aid Attorney Christopher Curtis says a deep recession and increased demand for social services are exactly the time when the state needs to be prepared.

(Curtis) "And when Vermonters turn to the state to seek assistance, particularly for entitlement programs where a good share of that money is federal dollars that are coming to the state to be provided, the state must be in a position to turn around those applications quickly and get the assistance where it needs to go."

(Lindholm) Commissioner Dale says his department has hired twenty temporary workers to meet the demand.  And, approval has recently been granted for the permanent hiring of twenty additional staffers to process benefit eligibility.  Dale says he’s working closely with incoming DCF Commissioner David Yacavone to make sure the transition goes as smoothly as possible. 

For VPR News, I’m Jane Lindholm.

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