Attorneys Say Box of Unprocessed Applications Just One Example of Dysfunction
by Christine Stuart | Nov 28, 2012 2:11pm
(6) Comments | Commenting has expired
The box of unprocessed applications for state assistance found earlier this month is just the tip of the iceberg, two legal aid attorneys said Wednesday.
Greg Bass of Greater Hartford Legal Aid and Sheldon Toubman of New Haven Legal Assistance both filed class action lawsuits against the state earlier this year for its failure to process food stamp and Medicaid applications in a timely manner.
“I think this controversy highlights that fact that the agency is not complying with federal law,” Bass said. “This situation may point to Hartford, but it’s a statewide problem.“
On Tuesday, Department of Social Services Commissioner Roderick Bremby told the governor’s chief of staff in a letter that five people in the Hartford regional office were placed on paid administrative leave after unprocessed applications were found.
Bass said his organization hears on a regular basis from individuals who have submitted their applications for food stamps and have not heard back from the department or their case worker about their eligibility.
Because the phone system is still antiquated, clients can’t call to find out if they’ve been approved for benefits and when they go down to one of the 12 regional offices they are often told by the workers there that they can’t find their application, Bass said.
He said the agency is extremely dysfunctional and understaffed. It also doesn’t help that all the applications and the re-determinations of eligibility are still filed on paper. Food stamp applications are supposed to be reviewed within 30 days.
The Department of Social Services is in the midst of an upgrade, but Bass said progress isn’t being made quick enough. He said some of the upgrades are related to a lawsuit his organization filed eight years ago when the agency wasn’t helping disabled individuals receive assistance.
Toubman painted a similar picture of dysfunction at the agency, but warned that it’s a mistake to focus on the box (whether it’s “boxes” is unclear) of unprocessed documents.
“The problems are statewide, and focusing on this one incident ignores the far larger and systemic problem,” Toubman said. “It’s happening statewide, and it’s not because of malfeasance.”
He said he doesn’t understand what difference it makes if the box of applications was under the desk or on top of it.
Toubman is referring to this image Bremby captured as he toured the regional offices searching for a solution to the paperwork problem. Bremby featured the photo in a PowerPoint presentation to all the state’s commissioners back in January.
Currently, there is no electronic document management system, which means the agency handles 5 million pieces of paper along with 900,000 phone calls per month through obsolete phone systems. There are times when paper gets lost and at the beginning and at the end of the month the phone system is “so compromised people inside the agency can’t call out,” Bremby said back in July after clients protested outside DSS headquarters.
It’s a system which has been neglected for the past 20 years “where the services are not at the level Connecticut residents deserve,” Bremby said.
As for the box of unprocessed applications, Bremby called the incident “a disturbing situation that warrants strong corrective action.”
Gov. Dannel P. Malloy said he was “pretty darn annoyed” at the situation, but believes Bremby is handling it appropriately.
In addition to applications for benefits, which Malloy said dated back to 2009, there were requests for assistance with voter registration.
DSS is one of several state agencies required under the federal Motor Voter law to help people register to vote.
“While we await the outcome of this investigation, I can say that it’s very unfortunate if any eligible voter requested assistance with voter registration and did not receive it,” Secretary of the State Denise Merrill said Wednesday. “This would not be fulfilling their professional mandate under federal law.”
Merrill said her office has had concerns that not all state agencies are complying with their voter registration requirements.
“We routinely do get complaints from people, sometimes about [the Department of Motor Vehicles], not getting a form there or not being informed about it,” she said.
There also are concerns that the Department of Correction hasn’t been informing inmates of their voting rights when they are released, as is required by law, she said.
“It’s very disturbing to think that some very poor people could be disenfranchised by this. That was the whole point of the Motor Voter Act,” she said.
Merrill said it’s possible there could be federal repercussions for not transmitting the paperwork, given that it appears to have violated a federal law. She said her office would work with the Federal Elections Commission or the U.S. Attorney’s Office if they chose to get involved.
Hugh McQuaid contributed to this report.
Tags: Department of Social Services, Sheldon Toubman, Greg Bass, legal aid, food stamps, medicaid, voter laws, class actions, dh
(6) Comments
posted by: timelord | November 28, 2012 5:23pm
I have a different take on the situation - by NOT processing this paperwork we’re saving the state millions of dollars. Give these managers a bonus and have them train other managers to train their staff to ignore paperwork!
posted by: GoatBoyPHD | November 29, 2012 11:33am
To properly understand this you need to understand just how badly the State’s Department of Information Management is run. Sure they recently made some changes which by all accounts have made things even worse. They earned their nickname “DO IT? NO! Can’t DO IT”. It’s embarrassing.
Then there’s the state’s LEAN iniative and auditors who go after the low hanging friut in the better run administrative agencies with comft seats. They miss this stuff completely 
That should tell you something about their internal efficiency and accoutanbility audits.
The auditors and LEAN group need a citizens LEAN and auditors oversight committee to babysit them.
They concentrate on stuff like “Did the streams get stocked? Let’s go to the Farmington River and check it out with a state vehicle on a Sunny Day!”
Yes I believe in using faith-based institutions to handle food programs Non-profit, Non-union. And moral. Unlike SEBAC.
Oppose SEBAC with your dying breath.It’s organized crime in a bottle.
The only way this will change is if citizens begin haunting the state agencies and watch the workflow and document it. Once seen and doumented we might see some changes and some arrests.
posted by: mmal231294 | November 29, 2012 12:15pm
IMHO this is simply EEOC type hiring run amuck. The DSS as an agency has a very diverse group of employees, formed at the expense of competence. They need to weed out the simpletons of the bunch and re-hire based on competence, with no “bonus points” assigned based on race or gender. Best candidate wins, period. But it will never happen so we will go through this mess over and over and over…
posted by: lkulmann | November 30, 2012 9:38pm
CT DSS is so much more than just dysfunctional. This is intentional neglect. They intentionally denied poor and disadvantaged CT residents entitlements, State and Federal entitlements. If this was the States way of saving taxpayers money, I can understand the logic even though it is sick, mean and twisted, I get it. The real issue here is that these agencies get the funding without a question, but why give it to new applicants when we can pocket it instead. Just throw the current clients a bone just like always and ignore the new applicants. CT has a well thought out money laundering game going on. I’m impressed…now we just need to figure a way around transparency…no problem! CT has the feds bought and paid for…
posted by: William Jenkins | December 2, 2012 2:26am
Anyone know the real story as to why the six figure manager and the others are on paid leave? Something tells me there’s more to this then meets they eye. Would be nice if someone were to do some real investigation and uncover the real problem.
posted by: lkulmann | December 3, 2012 10:17am
@William there are not enough jail cells to house the criminals in Corrupticut… CT DSS can’t reveal the real problem.
CT marches to the beat of its own drum. Laws, regulations, policies are just written not followed. What happens as a result is unthinkable…