Disgust is an understandable reaction to Tuesday’s Washington Post story, “DC Faces $4.4M Federal Fine for SNAP Failure.” Yes, disgust. The story reports that repeated errors in processing vital Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits for hungry families have placed DC among the worst-performing states or territories in the nation, according to the USDA. Disgust because the city’s mismanagement has gone on for far too long.
Low expectations of Washington’s human services department, which administers SNAP, have also led to disapproval. For example, the USDA puts the error rate in processing SNAP benefits at 6 percent. USDA data shows that in 20 percent of cases, Washington overpaid or underpaid SNAP recipients. Confronted with the findings at a Washington City Council hearing on Tuesday, Deputy Mayor for Health and Human Services Wayne Turnage said, “This means that 80 percent of SNAP recipients are overpaid.” [cases] “It’s not a mistake, so there’s nothing seriously flawed in the system.” In high-performing jurisdictions, this logic sounds like it might warrant dismissal.
During the pandemic, the Department of Human Services undoubtedly saw a surge in demand for food assistance benefits: a 40% increase, Department Director Laura Zeilinger said at the same hearing. She also acknowledged that Washington, DC, has the slowest processing rate for SNAP benefits in the country as of 2022. Think about that for a moment: The pandemic didn’t just hit DC. States were hit hard, too, and most of them responded to demand in a timely or at least acceptable manner. Why is DC among the worst in the country?
“We know we’re not where we’d like to be yet,” Zeilinger said matter-of-factly. “We’ve prioritized speed first and foremost. We understand the importance of people needing benefits as quickly as possible.” Fancy words? Exactly. Results? Not much, really.
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Turnage went a step further, saying he thinks the city is doing a “pretty good job” of helping those in need, given the number of people it serves, including SNAP recipients, people in the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program and about 300,000 people on Medicaid. “That’s half the city,” he emphasized.
Little was revealed during the hearing about exactly how Turnage and Zeilinger plan to fix the problem. The city’s error rate has been far from acceptable for two years in a row, and Turnage testified that administrators are focused on determining whether the frequent errors are due to problems with the computer system or staff. Obviously? If program leaders don’t know by now…
“That would put us well on our way to solving the problem,” Mr. Turnage added, noting that a solution might require either improved technology or better training for caseworkers.
Assemblyman Robert C. White Jr. (D-At-Large), who co-hosted Tuesday’s hearing with Assemblyman Christina Henderson (I-N.), both of whom are seeking reelection, called on Mayor Muriel E. Bowser’s personnel team to produce a document by the end of the month outlining the causes of SNAP’s errors, including the data and metrics officials are using to identify and fix the problems. “I don’t want them to get away with this,” the Assemblyman told The Washington Post.
What have they been doing for the last two years? Apparently they just got hit with a $4.4 million federal fine. Will the City Council hold city leaders accountable? Or will they bluff, yell and act indecisive, letting them get away with it and leave their families without food?
