Officers from Alaska’s Division of Public Help mentioned its workers labored by way of the backlog of functions for meals support that burdened Alaska households for greater than a yr. However that success got here at the price of what officers are calling a “new” backlog.
Division Director Deb Etheridge took over management within the midst of the backlog and mentioned getting by way of the previous backlog is successful.
“We’ve received to have a good time these wins and the workers really feel actually good about it,” Etheridge mentioned. The division received by way of the backlog two months quicker than officers projected.
The division fell behind on newer functions and whereas workers labored by way of backlogged circumstances. Etheridge mentioned this time there are 6,000 Alaskans ready for meals support.
She mentioned the division prioritized getting advantages to the Alaskans who had been ready the longest. “Our federal companions made it clear that we wanted to get by way of the previous backlog — don’t fear about staying present as a lot as getting a few of these previous ones off. In order that’s what our focus was,” she mentioned.
Since July, the division has been processing lower than 20% of latest meals stamp functions on time. The common resolution time for SNAP advantages was greater than 80 days — greater than 4 instances the division’s purpose and greater than double the federal restrict.
“There’s no excellent plan,” Etheridge mentioned. “However we received 1000’s of circumstances labored.”
She mentioned the oldest functions within the new backlog are from April and Could, however most of them are from June. And he or she mentioned they need to be simpler to get by way of for 2 major causes: The workers is now practiced at transferring by way of a backlog and, in comparison with the earlier backlog, functions from two to 4 months in the past are comparatively recent and quicker to course of.
The sluggish processing time for brand new functions is the price of a a lot quicker turnaround for renewals. Nearly 40% of these functions had been processed on time in July, a marked enchancment from final December by way of this April, when the quantity fell beneath 10%.
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